Milo Ventimiglia’s ‘Shave and a Haircut’ Transformed Him From ‘This Is Us’ Jack Into Con Man Charlie for ‘the Company You Keep’
Milo Ventimiglia fans anticipate the actor’s return to television in the new ABC drama, The Company You Keep. The former This Is Us star transformed into a different character in the new network thriller, leaving his Jack Pearson persona behind. However, the actor claims all it took was a “shave and a haircut” to turn him into a suave con man.
‘This and Us’ and the first episodes of ‘The Company You Keep’ were filmed within two weeks of each other
As This Is Us wrapped its sixth and final season, The Company You Keep ramped up production for its pilot episode and subsequent installments. But, the actor only took a two-week break after the emotional rollercoaster of This Is Us’ final season before diving headfirst into his new series.
The ABC thriller-drama, based on the Korean series My Fellow Citizens, was in the works for two years. The actor served as executive producer and developed the project while wrapping the final season of the NBC family drama.
Milo told TV Insider of the challenging schedule, “I just wanted to go faster on the gas. I didn’t want to stop at all.” These changes included switching up a look he had for six years on the beloved NBC series.
Milo’s look was stuck in the past for much of his time as This Is Us‘ Jack. The character wore styles from the 1960s through the 1980s. However, all it took was a “shave and a haircut” to transform the actor into a suave con man for his new role.
How much physical transformation did Milo Ventimiglia undertake for ‘The Company You Keep?’
Milo transformed to switch gears from his portrayal of a devoted father of three to a con man. But going from Jack Pearson to Charlie Nicoletti was pretty easy, he admits.
“Shave and a haircut. No joke. It was a shave and a haircut,” Milo told Entertainment Tonight of the switch between characters. “I mean, we had this wonderful cast assembled by that point. Script ready to go, and then, of course, shot the pilot it, got it going. ABC picked it up, and here we are with the series.”
Milo admits the series brings “sexiness” and “fun” to the ABC network. He said, “Hey, let’s show some sexiness. Let’s show some fun, a little crime, and have everybody ride that train for a little bit.”
Milo Ventimiglia reunites with ‘This Is Us’ BFF Jon Huertas in the ABC drama
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Milo revealed his new series wouldn’t take him too far from his This Is Us, family. The actor shared he was deeply connected to the cast and crew of the NBC series and wanted as many of them on board with The Company You Keep as possible.
“As this show was taking shape when we were developing a pilot episode, I was walking around the This is Us set [on the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles], quietly having conversations with department heads. ‘Hey, you think you’d want to come on board and do this?’” he told EW.
“And people are like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to.’ I talked to [the] hair-and-makeup [department], I talked to the camera [operators], I talked to the grips and the electrics. However, seeing the same familiar faces loading lights and gear and keeping the set safe is important to me.”
Jon Huertas, who played Milo’s best pal Miguel on the NBC series, has also joined the production. Thus far, he has directed two episodes of The Company You Keep. Jon starts his tenure with the show’s fifth episode.
“I can’t tell you how comforting it was to see [Jon] pop up in the prep schedule on emails, talking about characters, story, talking about shot lists,” Milo said. “It goes back to knowing that we have a high-level crew. I don’t have to worry about it.”
The Company You Keep debuts on ABC beginning Sunday, Feb. 19, at 10 p.m. EST.
