Sterling K. Brown recalls having an unexpected warrant out for his arrest: 'Ya boy had warrants at 19'

Before beginning his tenure as a secret service agent on Paradise, a young Sterling K. Brown had a run-in with the law.

But in the actor's defense, his innocuous interaction with a traffic cop happened when he was just a teenager — and he had no idea that it would have lasting repercussions. The This Is Us alum delved into the story during his latest visit to Good Morning America, laughing when Robin Roberts brought up the subject.

"Listen, it's not like Brown was out there in these streets like that" he joked. "One time I was driving my car [and] a motorcycle cop pulls me over. He goes, ‘Do you know why I pulled you over?’"

Brown affirmed that he wasn't being "sassy" when he replied, "No sir, I don't."

As far as he knew, he wasn't speeding or breaking any laws, but the officer soon offered an explanation, pointing to Brown's passenger, a friend of his named Brian. "I bet your friend in the backseat knows," Brown recalls the cop saying, to which his friend replied, "Oh, ‘cause I threw a cigarette out the back?"

The dropped cigarette led the officer to write Brown a ticket, which his friend — who the actor referred to as Donk, "‘cause he talks like a Donk," — vowed to pay. But, Brown would later find out, not all promises are kept.

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"I go off to college, I come home to renew my license — I had a warrant out for [my arrest]," Brown exclaimed. "Ya boy had warrants at 19! That’s not a good feeling, I'm not that dude."

He slyly added, "I never paid it off."

As for where Donk is today, Brown immediately laughed, admitting, "That's a very good question. We kind of stopped talking."

Brown's GMA visit also saw him promote his new Hulu thriller Paradise, which sees him reunite with This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. In the lead up to the series debut, Brown affirmed how excited he was to work with Fogelman again, telling Entertainment Weekly, that he was quick to sign on after falling in love with the pilot script.

"Dan Fogleman has a certain amount of currency with your boy after six years of no bad scripts,” Brown gushed. “He’s been so supportive. He was one of the first people to rave about Waves. He’s seen me do a number of different things and not only seen me do them, but made it possible for me to do those things in the midst of [This Is Us] production. Black Panther wouldn't have happened; Waves wouldn't have happened if Dan wouldn't have said, 'Yo, go do your thing.'"

To that Fogelman said simply, "There’s nothing I don’t think Sterling can do.”

The first three episodes of Paradise are now streaming on Hulu.