‘This Is Us’: Jon Huertas Breaks Down How the Series Got Fans to ‘Come Around’ to Miguel
This Is Us Season 6 explores Miguel’s (Jon Huertas) character in more depth, and the NBC series finally revealed why he isn’t in the show’s flash-forward scenes. During a heartbreaking installment, fans got a look at the whole picture of Miguel’s story arc. And if he hadn’t already won them over by now, This Is Us Season 6 Episode 15 probably changed their minds about the character.
In honor of his solo episode, Jon Huertas broke down how the series got fans to slowly “come around” to Miguel. Read on to learn his thoughts on the show’s approach to the character.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for This Is Us Season 6 Episode 15, “Miguel.”]
‘This Is Us’ Season 6 Episode 15 explored Miguel as a character
Following Sophie (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Kevin’s (Justin Hartley) reunion last week, This Is Us Season 6 Episode 15 shifts its focus to a different character: Miguel.
Miguel’s episode proves a more heart-wrenching installment of the NBC series, which reveals he’s no longer alive in the future timeline. That’s why Rebecca (Mandy Moore) is alone as she’s dying, though Miguel stayed with her until the end of his own life. And “Miguel” shows their final days together, as well as how they wound up married in the first place.
Both characters have been through plenty of tragedy, both before and after Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) death. But until now, This Is Us has often kept viewers in the dark about Miguel’s side of the story. His relationship with Rebecca initially left fans with mixed feelings. However, many have begun to appreciate him heading into the show’s final episodes. Even Jon Huertas is impressed by how the response to his character has shifted.
Jon Huertas on how the show got fans to ‘come around’ to Miguel
Miguel has always been a somewhat controversial character on This Is Us. However, season 6 is doing the legwork to make fans understand him better.
During an interview with TODAY, Jon Huertas spoke about how the NBC series played the “long game” with his character. And he believes that tactic worked, as viewers have started to appreciate Miguel more and more.
“People that once really did not care for Miguel, as far as audience goes, they have definitely come around,” he explained.
Huertas also credited showrunner Dan Fogelman with Miguel’s impressive storyline, emphasizing how much he enjoyed bringing it to life:
“And so we could have early on tried to turn the audience around, like with some kind of big story point. But instead to play that long game, and Dan wanted to do that, from the beginning, has been so challenging as an actor and so much kind of fun to play with the story in that way that I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
There’s no denying that Fogelman and Huertas did a solid job of crafting this character. In fact, that seems to be an ongoing trend with This Is Us. It’s going to be difficult bidding farewell to everyone this series has introduced. And after this week’s chapter, fans only have three episodes left with the Pearsons.
‘This Is Us’ has 3 more episodes to wrap things up
With all our questions about Miguel and Rebecca answered, This Is Us has three more episodes to wrap things up. It’s unlikely we’ll see much more of Miguel, especially now that his fate has been revealed. However, his presence will be felt as the Pearsons bring their own character arcs to a close.
And emotions are likely to stay high while that happens, so viewers should keep the tissues on hand. In just three weeks, the series finale will arrive and bring everything together at long last.
New episodes of This Is Us air on NBC on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST.
