Sterling K Brown says being part of Black Panther was a “cultural moment” that allowed him to be “part of history” – and he’d jump at the chance to become part of the Marvel world again.

The 48-year-old actor, who’s currently starring in the mind-bending drama Paradise, told Sky News: “I remember reading that script – they don’t give it to you – you have to read it and then turn it back or your hands burn off or something like that…

“I remember thinking, this is a cultural moment. This is so big, not only for black America but for black people across the globe to see themselves front and centre in the largest, most zeitgeisty pop cultural machine in the world right now, the MCU [Marvel Cinematic Universe].

The superhero movie won three Oscars – Marvel’s first ever Academy Awards – including a win for costume design and best production design, the first in both categories for women of colour.

Brown goes on: “I just want to be a part of history. It was history. It was awesome.”

The Missouri-born star’s career trajectory has been impressive, from “living beneath the poverty line” to being nominated for an Oscar, he’s always been single-minded in his pursuit of acting.

He explains: “I didn’t have a hard knock life. We grew up in a house. My mom was a schoolteacher. My dad was a grocery clerk. All our needs were met.

“But I would tape my basketball shoes up if the sole came apart because that fixed them. And my mom got mad at me one time, she’s like, ‘You know, we can buy you shoes?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but I fixed them. What’s the big deal?'”

He says making his living through his craft was always his focus, adding, “I know that’s a luxury that’s not afforded to a lot of people. The fact that it’s gone my way, I’m incredibly thankful for.”

A three-time Emmy winner, The People V O J Simpson: American Crime Story saw him gain public attention, followed by a season in The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the multi-award-winning This Is Us.

‘I’ve got good taste’

When his role in American Fiction earned him an Oscar nomination, he insists he didn’t see it coming, saying: “I just knew it was a great story, a great script, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

He goes on: “They’re all sort of game-changers. People will give me credit. I’ll take credit for having good taste, but you never know when lightning is going to strike, right?”

A fatalist, he says: “I leave it in the hands of the universe and just say, ‘If you want me to step here, I’ll step there and whatever happens, happens’.”

Now he’s leading the cast of Disney+ drama Paradise, playing Agent Xavier Collins, a man charged with protecting a second-term president – played by James Marsden – in a serene community of high-net-worth individuals.

Brown admits the role came with obligations: “There is a different level of responsibility when you’re one on the call sheet. I think people do look to you to help set the tone of what the environment is going to be like, and I don’t mind that.”

The brainchild of Dan Fogelman, best known for his work on This Is Us and Only Murders In The Building, Paradise is a murder mystery with something much bigger underneath.

‘Billionaires on camera’

Impossible to elaborate on further without giving away spoilers, it’s enough to say the first episode throws up a twist few will see coming.

Despite various parallels with the current political climate, Fogelman says he came up with the idea over a decade ago, but concedes the timing is “certainly unusual”.

Fogelman tells Sky News: “We’re openly seeing billionaires on camera having a big hand in government. And while money and wealth have always been a factor in things behind the scenes, it’s very out front and centre right now in a way that the show openly discusses [and] things about the environment and climate change.”

Brown too says the themes are prescient: “The world is unpredictable and a little bit nutty and a lot of people are on edge as to what is next. I don’t know if it’s across the world. I definitely know that it’s in the United States for certain.

“I think the show in a very strange way, is sort of asking the same questions like, ‘All right, we’re in new territory right now. I have no idea what happens next. I’m a little scared about that.'”

He goes on: “People are going to draw all sorts of conclusions and inferences and comparisons. I will leave them to draw whatever they wish because if I was an audience member, I would too.”

The first three episodes of Paradise are available on Disney+ now, with new episodes dropping each Tuesday.

Nickel Boys has become one of the surprise additions to the 97th Academy Awards.

Based on the 2019 Colson Whitehead novel of the same name, it has been nominated in the best picture and best adapted screenplay categories at the Oscars this March.

Shot entirely in the first-person perspective, it follows the friendship between two black teenagers living in the harrowing environment of a racially segregated reform school in 1960s Florida.

In trying to give a voice to the voiceless, director RaMell Ross tells Sky News he made a conscious decision to shift the narrative away from the violence and instead shine the spotlight on the people at the centre of the story.

He describes it as “a multiple fold”.

“One of the folds is just the history of cinema and its relationship to the voyeurism of black folks being harassed, tortured, and beaten. And knowing that enough, the image is already in our heads,” he says.

“The second fold would be that there’s so many ways to explore trauma, and I would say most of them are by far unexplored. And so, what other ways are there?”

What makes Nickel Boys even more distressing is the fact that it was inspired by a real place, the Dozier School in Florida, where mass graves containing the bodies of young black boys were discovered.

Ethan Herisse plays Elwood in the film, a promising teenager who unknowingly gets into a stolen car and is arrested just as he’s on the cusp of creating the life he desires.

The When They See Us actor says being involved in the project was a unique experience.

Herisse says: “While we were making it, it felt like we were doing something special and there was so much love from all the people that were working on that set. So, I was just hoping that it was able to come across when it was all said and done.

“I can’t remember the last time that I had been so absorbed and immersed in a world of a movie. It was in such a unique way with this one.

“I wasn’t necessarily in my own body, and I think that that’s a really rewarding experience to have as a viewer.”

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Nickel Boys takes some bold risks in cinematography and Herisse believes audiences are looking for films that challenge the viewer.

Herisse says: “I think there is a real deep desire from audience members to watch, like original and exciting and unique new films that bring them to a different place or force them into a different perspective.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing.”

The film is something of an underdog for best picture, simply because the others, like Conclave, A Complete Unknown, Emilia Perez and Dune: Part Two, received much wider releases and are currently available to watch either in cinema or on streaming platforms.

Donald Trump has said he will place 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China from today.

The move raises fears of price increases for US consumers as the US president suggested he would try to blunt the impact on oil imports.

He has been threatening the tariffs to ensure greater co-operation from the countries on stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl.

And he has also pledged to use tariffs to boost domestic manufacturing.

Analysis by economics and data editor Ed Conway:
Trump’s changed tack to focus tariffs on Mexico and Canada – why?

“Starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday.

“These are promises made and promises kept by the president.”

The tariffs carry both political and economic risks for Mr Trump.

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Many voters backed the Republican on the promise that he could cut inflation, but tariffs could trigger higher prices and potentially disrupt the energy, car, lumber and agricultural sectors.

Mr Trump had said he was weighing issuing an exemption for Canadian and Mexican oil imports.

“I’m probably going to reduce the tariff a little bit on that,” Mr Trump said.

“We think we’re going to bring it down to 10%.”

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The United States imported almost 4.6 million barrels of oil daily from Canada in October and 563,000 barrels from Mexico, according to the Energy Information Administration.

US daily production during that month averaged nearly 13.5 million barrels a day.

China responded aggressively to tariffs Mr Trump imposed on Chinese goods during his first term, targeting the president’s supporters in rural America with retaliatory taxes on US farm exports.

Both Canada and Mexico have said they have prepared the option of retaliatory tariffs to be used if necessary.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday: “We’re ready with a response, a purposeful, forceful but reasonable, immediate response.

“It’s not what we want, but if he moves forward, we will also act.”

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Mr Trudeau said tariffs would have “disastrous consequences” for the US, putting American jobs at risk and causing prices to rise.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that Mexico has maintained a dialogue with Mr Trump’s team since before he returned to the White House.

But she emphasised that Mexico has a “plan A, plan B, plan C for what the United States government decides”.

“Now it is very important that the Mexican people know that we are always going to defend the dignity of our people, we are always going to defend the respect of our sovereignty and a dialogue between equals, as we have always said, without subordination,” she added.

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said the two countries should resolve their differences through dialogue and consultation.

“There is no winner in a trade war or tariff war, which serves the interests of neither side nor the world,” Mr Liu said in a statement.

“Despite the differences, our two countries share huge common interests and space for co-operation.”

Mr Trump also spoke about a plan for tariffs on the European Union without giving specific details.

He told reporters at the White House that he would “absolutely” put tariffs on the bloc, adding “the European Union has treated us so terribly”.