Milo Ventimiglia On Playing Jack Pearson in NBC’s ‘This Is Us’

This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia talks to Awards Daily’s Jazz Tangcay about his acclaimed turn on NBC’s freshman breakout sensation.

It’s a gorgeous afternoon in Hollywood. Milo Ventimiglia is sitting on the balcony of The London Hotel in West London. Less than an hour ago, he participated in a panel at the DGA for Deadline’s Emmy Contenders series to discuss NBC’s smash hit drama This Is Us. The show ended the season on a high as the network’s number one drama with fans hooked, anticipating the second season return.

If you haven’t been tuning into the show, then you’ve probably seen social media light up every Tuesday night with posts in reaction to the show. This Buzzfeed post perfectly captures some of the emotions felt when the show airs. The season finale had over 105,000 tweets according to Canvs.

Ventimiglia plays Jack, the patriarch of the Pearson Family. Here’s our conversation about the complexity and emotional truths of This Is Us.

I always tell people my award and rewards are to show up for work the next day. Being a part of something that is “award worthy” is flattering but to me, every job is the same. You go to work, you build the character, you work with people, and hopefully, the memory is left in people’s mind that you get from watching it. For me, it’s always the memory and the feeling that I get from performing something. The work is satisfying enough for me that I never consider the excitement around the awards.

Jack is such a complicated character. There’s so much to him, and we’re still learning about him with each episode. What’s that like playing someone like Jack Pearson, a character who is simple and yet complicated?

He’s very simple to me, but he’s not without his complexities. I think there’s a lot that Jack bottles up and keeps in for the sanctity of his family. I think what audiences are seeing and why they’re falling in love with this man is that he has the best intentions. He’s very easy to understand if you’re looking past his shortcomings and his mistakes. He loves his wife and his kids, and I think that’s what we all want, a more simple life and a more simple view toward that view. A lot of the love that I get, I know it feels it’s transferred from people’s love for the character.

I definitely feel that people are connecting to him. They want him to be their husband and their father, and their best friend. I think it’s beautiful when you can see that on TV, and you can aspire to want that or to be that. People say my character has raised the bar for husbands out there. I think when we do make that commitment to be a husband or father, there’s a lot that’s asked of us. Hopefully, we all rise to the occasion and do what Jack would do.

Before that final episode, everyone had their theory that this was it for Jack. Do you ever read that online and follow it?

It’s such a great thing that people are engaging and following it. I haven’t paid attention to too many theories probably because I know the reality and I know Jack’s demise and I know what happens to him. At the same time, I think it’s exciting that audiences are engaging and speculating and really want that answer. I don’t think it’s going to be that long into the second season that they get some answers to a few of the questions.

I’m going to go all the way back. The first time we see your character, Jack, he’s butt naked. That was in the script right?

[Laughs] Can you imagine if that wasn’t in the script, and I just show up for the first take and I’m butt naked. That was Dan Fogelman. It’s an honest display of a marriage. Here’s this guy who’s just excited to be with his wife and get his birthday present. It doesn’t matter that she’s nine months pregnant and ready to pop. It’s all part of the honesty of the character. I look at playing this man and all of his excitement and heartbreak to the fullest and showing the world my rear end on TV. I thought, “That’s what you do” because it adds to the dynamics of who this man is.

What were some of the highlights of this season?

Too many to cover with Mandy Moore. What a treat to be her TV husband, and she really is as kind and as talented as she displays on camera and in the press. Spending time with these great artists from spending time with the actors who play the young kids to the adult kids whether it’s in front of the camera with Sterling [K.Brown] or behind the scenes with Chrissy [Metz] and Ron [Cephas Jones].

The other day I was in New York with Ken Olin and Dan, and we were part of this advertiser discussion. They played a reel of moments from the first season, so we were behind the stage looking at it in reverse. It felt like one of those recaps of great moments in your life. I remembered everything, but it was backward and distorted. Everything resonates with the last year’s experience of playing this man that is just trying to keep his family together.

How did you get involved?

I was cast at a time when there wasn’t other contention for TV shows. It stood alone and was the only show being cast and put together. I read it, I loved it, and I met with Dan and we got along. I did the reading and remember everyone looking at each other, and I got the call that they really liked me. I think I was the guy to beat which always gives you confidence. As an actor, I can never be relaxed in knowing I have the part until I’m standing on set. Like, when the camera rolls and I’m doing that first take, that’s when I breathe and say, “OK, you’ve got the job.” But before that, projects can fall apart. Someone can decide they don’t like you, whatever it is, and it changes. For me, it was a great meeting with the guys in charge, up until that first day on set, naked with Mandy Moore. [Laughs]

How is that for you as an actor having to be all the different Jack’s?

Physically it’s hair and clothing, right? That’s all that is. Emotionally, it’s decades at a time and understanding where Jack is in the moment that he needs to be. Jack in the 90’s is not Jack in the 70’s. There’s a light that has dimmed or turned direction, who he is inherently never changes. It’s just how world-weary he becomes with the responsibility of family and the time-lapse of marriage. By the 90’s, he and Rebecca have been together for 20 years, some of that luster and the newness wears off. You have to remember, and he even says it. Remembering the kids that fell in love in that first apartment and that young spirit. I think that’s a good reminder for people, in general, is to never lose that. You get involved in something. You get involved and remember those reasons and never forget them even though the expanse of your world changes and grows.

Where do you go to draw on Jack?

There’s not a lot I have to do because it’s all there in the writing, but I look at my dad and my close friends that are parents. Those are the people I look to for inspiration. I had some good displays of what successful parents were and husbands were. I just look at the world around me.

We were lucky to have you back on the Gilmore Girls reunion. How had that changed over the years?

So much, the characters and words you’re speaking, that childhood dessert that you remember but never get all the time. That’s what it was like. The process was different because the crew was different, the cameras and props were all different. It’s a different experience entirely. Stepping back into Jess’ shoes was easy because I liked how he left them. It was one of those moments that you know you’re not always going to get to recapture, so it was nice to dive into the world of Gilmore. It was a different experience than being 25 years old and working with people that I’ve known for years. It’s different for us on the inside. It’s a different magic.

Would you want to direct an episode one day of This is Us?

I think there’s a lot of responsibility when you direct something that you’re on. There’s a dynamic shift when people view you one way, especially your peers. I don’t know. I’d love to direct an episode of the show, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want it to get in the way of the work my co-stars are doing or the focus that I have on that set. I almost feel like I’d rather go and direct something else. We have the most amazing crew and I feel there wouldn’t be much for me to do because there’s a beautiful formula.

What was your favorite Jack moment?

You could go per character. With Rebecca, my favorite moments were the opening scene, Episode 5 outside of the bar, and the last episode. There was a lot of road covered from the complete fracture of the relationship to Jack walking out the door still leaving room for hope. Those are some with Mandy.

There are a lot with the kids, watching Niles, Logan and Hannah work and having those moments. The little ones were great. Getting to sit on the couch and to have a laugh with Ron Cephas Jones was great. What a pleasure. Working with Sterling and how that informed what I had done with Lonnie and Niles, there are just so many, but those are some.

Was something hard to film?

The argument. Mandy and I are so close, and we talk through the day. We didn’t talk for that and didn’t look at each other. It hurt. We walked into war knowing you’re going to do battle, and you can only look out for yourself as a character and fight for your views as a character. The whole time it was heartbreaking.

Jack isn’t an emotional man, and there were moments where I was personally. Those were times I had to hold back. I couldn’t let my own persona want to have a good cry because Jack is not a crying guy. It doesn’t diminish who he is, but at the same time it’s a hard line to walk because as an actor you want to emote. If you’re feeling something you want to emote. If you’re feeling something you go with it, to know how he would react is stronger than me flubbering and losing my composure.