‘This Is Us’: Why Milo Ventimiglia Says He’s the ‘Most Isolated on the Show’
Milo Ventimiglia plays family patriarch Jack Pearson on This Is Us. On the NBC drama, his character’s death becomes a pivotal moment for his wife, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), and the rest of the Pearson family. As the show progresses, the lessons he teaches his children- Kevin (Justin Hartley), Randall (Sterling K Brown), and Kate (Chrissy Metz) trickle down to their adult lives.
In March 2020, Ventimiglia revealed why he spends most of his time alone on the This Is Us set.
Milo Ventimiglia booked ‘This Is Us’ after his role in ‘Gilmore Girls’
Ventimiglia began his acting career in the 1990s. After graduating from UCLA’s theatre program, the California native landed small parts in Hollywood. According to IMDb, Ventimiglia appeared in TV shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, One World, and Opposite Sex. The actor also played a soccer player in She’s All That.
During the early 2000s, Ventimiglia got his big break. Following several supporting roles, Ventimiglia received an offer to play Alexis Bledel’s love interest in Gilmore Girls. Once the show ended in 2006, the actor worked on other projects, including Heroes and Wild Card.
Around 2016, Ventimiglia auditioned for the role of Jack Pearson in This Is Us. Although he said the show’s casting directors had a different idea for Jack, he won them over. The actor got hired to play the Big Three’s dad and Rebecca’s true love.
The Jack Pearson actor said he’s ‘the most isolated’ cast member on ‘This Is Us’
This Is Us aired on NBC for the first time in Fall 2016. The pilot episode received rave reviews, as some fans fell in love with the Pearsons. Soon after the show aired, viewers found out that Jack died when the triplets were teenagers.
Due to his death, Ventimiglia also appears in scenes with younger versions of the Big Three and Moore. However, This Is Us allowed Ventimiglia to interact with his co-stars in season 4. During the episode, titled “After the Fire,” Randall wonders how his life would be if he saved Jack from the family’s house fire. In several scenes, Jack connects with Kate and Kevin as adults and his grandchildren.
Ventimiglia shared with People in March 2020 that the “what if” episode wasn’t his idea. Nonetheless, the actor “loved” filming with the cast members he rarely gets to see during production.
“On episodes like this, I was excited to work with everybody else,” Ventimiglia said. “I’m the most isolated on the show, usually it’s just Mandy and I. So when all of a sudden, I’m in a scene with Justin, Sterling, and Chrissy, even Susan [Kelechi Watson] and Sulli [Chris Sullivan], it’s kind of exciting to me. I never get that chance.”
Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore watch every episode of ‘This Is Us’ together
Although he doesn’t get to film with all of his cast members, Ventimiglia and Moore share a special bond on and off the screen. In a 2018 interview with Insider, the actor said he and his TV wife view episodes of This Is Us together. However, due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic and Moore’s pregnancy with her first child, the castmates have missed a few episodes.
“It’s one of those moments where we do the work together, so we get to watch the work together, but also talk about the work after the fact,” Ventimiglia said of Moore.
“I get to sit with my friend and watch the show,” he continued. “But on top of that, it’s good for us, playing this married couple, to understand where we can do better or things that we enjoy or just being able to talk about the other works of the cast or the crew.”
