Sterling K. Brown "can’t wait to see little white kids dressing up as Black Panther" he shares in latest episode of The Jess Cagle Interview

Sterling K. Brown on the Power of Representation in Black Panther: 'He Looks Like My Son'

There’s a reason Sterling K. Brown is looking forward to Halloween.

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The Black Panther actor explains that as a kid, he looked up to Christopher Reeve as Superman and Michael Keaton as Batman, but Brown didn’t grow up with a superhero who looked like him. But with Chadwick Boseman taking on the titular hero in Black Panther, that’s about to change.

“I get to take my kid to go see a black superhero movie and he gets to see an image of himself as the man,” Brown, 41, shares. “Chadwick Boseman looks like me. He looks like my son.”

Watch the full episode of The Jess Cagle Interview with Sterling K. Brown on the People/Entertainment Weekly Network! Download the PEN app on your favorite device or go to PEOPLE.com/PEN.

Brown, who currently stars in NBC’s hit drama This is Us, says he earned his role in the upcoming Marvel film after meeting with executive producer Nate Moore.

“I said, ‘Listen, I’ve been practicing my Wakanda. I know you’ve already got the titular characters taken care of, but how can I be down? Because man, it’s a black superhero,’ ” he says. “It’s huge.”

His inquiry worked, landing him the part of N’Jobu, a character Brown can only describe as “someone from T’Challa’s past.” And while it’s not the lead role, the Emmy nominee is just glad to be aboard the first black superhero movie.

For more from Brown, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

“I don’t have a huge part, but I’ve got a good part,” Brown tells Cagle. “I’m happy with my part.”