Why Sterling K. Brown Was Cut From M. Night Shyamalan's Split

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan has one of the most varied filmographies of the last 30 years. Ever since he broke onto the Hollywood scene with his acclaimed psychological thriller "The Sixth Sense," his knack for suspense and character-driven narratives has spawned some of the most boldly original films that were unapologetically of his creative vision. "Unbreakable" and "Signs" both stand out as modern genre classics of the 2000s, but many critics believe that his sensibilities started to go a bit off course in the mid-to-late 2000s with films like "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening," serving as massive swings-and-misses from him. Then there's his infamous live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon animated series, "Avatar: The Last Airbender," widely considered one of the worst films of the 21st century. You can read /Film's review for that film here.

After a few duds, M. Night Shyamalan started to make a bit of a critical and commercial comeback thanks to his return to his horror roots with the underrated "The Visit," which was his foray into the found footage genre. However, the tide really took a positive turn with his film, "Split," which starred James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. "Split" was a bona fide smash, becoming Blumhouse's highest-grossing film until it was unseated by "Five Nights at Freddy's" in 2023, and its success spawned a sequel, "Glass," which in and of itself was also a sequel to "Unbreakable," concluding Shyamalan's original superhero trilogy. Interestingly enough, one of the most notable character actors on the rise during the late 2010s was part of the ensemble of "Split," but his scene was ultimately deleted in the final cut.

M. Night Shyamalan's initial cut of "Split" clocked in at roughly 3 hours. The final runs 118 minutes, which goes to show that Shyamalan cut a significant amount of footage. In the final edit, a character portrayed by Sterling K. Brown had his scenes deleted. Brown played Professor Shaw, the neighbor of Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), who was the therapist to James McAvoy's character. You can check out a deleted scene featuring Brown's character here.

Ultimately, Sterling K. Brown's material was deleted from "Split" because M. Night Shyamalan felt that his scenes came off as unnecessary and distracting from the film's core narrative centered on James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy's characters. Deleting the scenes bummed Shyamalan out, but he explained his decision to Inverse:

"He plays Dr. Fletcher's neighbor, and he's a professor of the brain and he teaches neuroscience and what the brain's capable of. All of his scenes were sort of meant to talk about what the brain is capable of, but it was also meant to show a bit of Dr. Fletcher's loneliness. Dr. Fletcher kind of has a crush on this kind of younger professor who lives in the apartment building and I love that kind of unrequited relationship that they have. And then he comes to realize, 'Oh my gosh, she really has a crush on me, this is really awkward.'"

Principal photography for "Split" commenced not too long after "The Visit" hit theaters in the fall of 2015. At the time of filming, Sterling K. Brown was on the rise, having worked professionally as an actor with numerous roles on television and a few films. However, Brown ultimately had his breakthrough with his acclaimed performance in "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story." Brown played Christopher Darden, a lawyer who served as a co-prosecutor in O.J. Simpson's murder trial. Brown's performance garnered him an Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie in 2016.

Sterling K. Brown rose to further prominence in 2016 thanks to his role as Randall Pearson in NBC's "This Is Us." He would win his second Emmy award in 2017, in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Brown would also make more high-profile appearances in films, including "Black Panther," "The Predator," "Waves," and "Frozen 2," among others. For his performance in "American Fiction," Brown would receive his first Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actor, ultimately losing the award to Robert Downey Jr. for "Oppenheimer."

With such an impressive resume over the last decade, Sterling K. Brown is one of the most in-demand actors working today. So much so, he has even turned down roles in high-profile television series like "The Boys." Although his scenes in "Split" were ultimately deleted, here's hoping that he gets a chance to work with M. Night Shyamalan again in the future, perhaps in a more prominent role that cannot be deleted from the final cut.

"Split" is currently available to stream on HBO Max.