‘This Is Us’: Milo Ventimiglia Reveals Jack Pearson Was Inspired by His Father
This Is Us fans have long believed that Jack Pearson is one of television’s greatest dads. Beautifully flawed but with a heart of gold, Jack was played with precision by Milo Ventimiglia throughout the series’ six seasons. The series continues to gain new fans via streaming and the This Was Us podcast, where the show’s stars rewatch and delve deeply into each episode. In a new podcast installment, Ventimiglia revealed a little-known secret: Jack Pearson was inspired by his father.
Milo Ventimiglia based ‘This Is Us’ Jack Pearson on his father
That Was Us podcast hosts Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan welcomed the Pearson family patriarch and their good friend, Milo Ventimiglia to their show to get his take on the series and what it was like playing Jack Pearson. The character is remembered as one of television’s greatest dads.
He revealed, “I felt like I was playing a version of my own father. We all grew up in the same era, the ’70s, ’80s. So we were basically the same age as the Pearson kids.”
Ventimiglia continued, “So when I would read Jack and hear his essence and spirit, I would think ‘This feels like a version of Pete, my father.’ Then I realized there were a lot of mannerisms that I was putting into Jack that were just like my dad.”
“The way he’d stand. The way he’d shift his pants and belt, the wardrobe. Also, my best friend growing up, he’s a really good father and you all have kids. So I would see that and I would start to plug that into the essentials of who Jack is.”
Milo Ventimiglia kept a touchtone to keep him focused on being a good on-screen dad
As the podcast interview continued, Milo Ventimiglia revealed he kept a touchtone in his trailer to keep him focused on being a good on-screen dad. It was a photograph reminding him of what attributes Jack Pearson should embody.
“I had a picture of my dad and me when I was five. I also had a sign that said, ‘Be a good father, be a good husband.'”
Ventimiglia added, “Let me just stick with what I know from an emotional kind of a place. And I built the character.”
However, the actor added that a lot of his basis for Jack wouldn’t have been possible without the help of his co-star Mandy Moore. Ventimiglia credited her with the energy he needed to bring Jack to life.
“It was literally just bouncing off of you,” he told Moore. “Picking up what you did to create that character. There would be no Jack if it wasn’t for Mandy.”
How can ‘This Is Us’ fans rewatch all 6 seasons?
Viewers have several choices for watching This Is Us. All six seasons of the NBC series are available on Peacock TV. The series streams in its entirety on Hulu.
NBC.com continues to stream This Is Us as well. Fans can purchase and download episodes of the series on Amazon Prime.
