Sterling K. Brown opens up about a painful moment in his family’s life and the lessons he learned from watching his teenage son navigate racism with grace. Read more about how Brown’s son responded to being spat on and racially threatened during a soccer game.

People reported that during a recent roundtable for his Hulu series Paradise, the Emmy award winning actor shared that his 14-year-old son, Andrew, was targeted during a soccer match. According to Brown, Andrew was spit on by another player during the game. When he calmly reported the incident to the referee, the official dismissed it, saying he hadn’t witnessed the act and therefore could not intervene.

Unfortunately, the encounter did not end there. After the game, the same player approached Andrew and allegedly called him the N-word. Instead of retaliating, Andrew chose composure.

“He didn’t even tell me until after the game,” Brown explained. “I was like, ‘Yo, man, how come we didn’t beat his a**?’ And he was like, ‘Because that wouldn’t have solved anything. He already did what he was going to do. The ref didn’t respond to it. I didn’t want to make you more upset, which is why I didn’t tell you until after the game.’”

The This Is Us star admitted that his own instinct would have been to fight back, but he praised Andrew’s maturity.

“He’s a more evolved person than me,” Brown said with admiration.

Brown, who shares Andrew and his 9-year-old brother Amaré with wife and actress Ryan Michelle Bathe, often reflects on fatherhood as his greatest role. He emphasized that his children are the center of his world, inspiring both his craft and his personal growth.

“Being a father is the most important job that I have in my life right now,” Brown said. “For the next nine years, if I can keep working in L.A. and be like the one dude who figured it out, I’d be very excited, because I don’t want to miss too much of their growing up.”

Though he’s grateful for the opportunities his acting career provides, Brown is clear that family comes first. Watching his son handle racism with strength and dignity echoed this belief.

“He’s teaching me as much as I’m teaching him,” Brown reflected. “And that’s the beautiful part of being a dad.”

Love to see it.