This Is Us 6 showed fans an emotional Jack Pearson following his mom ‘s death on episode 4: actor Milo Ventimiglia breaks down Jack’s breakdown. Read all about it!
Even Jack Pearson, the rock of the family, has his breakdown moments. As Ventimiglia says, he’s a human after all, he’s emotional! The actor talked about what was like shooting the episode and what viewers can learn form Jack’s experience.
I think a lot of people get so focused on their own lives that they forget that if there’s a time, it’s now. People in our past, let’s say that we came up with, grew up with, were raised by our parents, our sisters or brothers, any of that — they’re running their own independent lives and if too much time passes, you’re basically gonna miss things. So if anything, I hope that idea of “don’t let me keep you,” people should invest in those moments now because they’re now. If you have a thought to do it, reach out and tell someone, you love them. Have a conversation, share a meal. Call someone for five minutes, two minutes, just letting somebody know. It’s a really important thing to do.
Milo Ventimiglia
Men can be vulnerable and still carry a lot of strength
We need to understand that men can be vulnerable and still carry a lot of strength. It’s human, it’s very human to experience loss. It’s very human to let that break you in a moment when you might consistently be the shoulder that everybody else is crying on. I think it was earned if anything. Throughout the whole journey of the show, Dan and I talked about how Jack is. Actors themselves, we sometimes measure our ability based on how emotional we can get. When you see other characters crying left and right, it’s kinda like, ‘Well, I can do that.’ Then you start to understand, “Well, I can do that as an actor, but is that what the character really needs?” So what happens is this realization of, “Am I crying because I’m a performer and I’m an emotional professional? Or is it earned by the character?”
Jack is a man born in the ’40s, a product of the ’60s, fought a war in the ’70s, raised a family in the ’80s. I know that’s basically my own dad. I never saw my dad cry until I was in my 20s and he lost a parent. It’s interesting, the parallel between those stories we tell and my own experience with my father. It was just earned to see Jack actually break, but it was also so very Jack to excuse himself from the table and be away from the kids. And it was so very Rebecca to be there for Jack. I mean, Rebecca is absolutely Jack’s rock so I thought the whole sequence and the way it all worked out was very earned and really beautiful.
Milo Ventimiglia
Ventimiglia talked about what was it like to shoot the scene with Mandy Moore
We shot it chronologically from walking in the door. I think we had, you know, a few things before that whole sequence when they’re all getting back from the funeral the day in Ohio and to the food preparation and then the kids were sitting and eating and all of that. I remember just looking at the kids — and it’s all scripted, you know. Jack is feeding his kids this meal that his mom cooked for him when he was a little boy as well and I remember looking at Kaz [Womack, who plays Young Kevin]. Kaz looked up and smiled at me while he was eating, and it just crushed me — as it was intended to.
And I remember when we moved to the next sequence where Jack actually has to excuse himself and he’s in the other room, I remember Mandy just saying like, “Milo, what can I do for you, what do you need?” And I was like, “Just let me know that you’re there, you know?” But I think the man that Jack is, the product of the ’40s that he is, the man who went to war in the early ’70s, you know, he’s never going to show his emotion. So, knowing that his kids are in the other room and his wife is in there and all of that, he’d still keep his back to them, because he’d never want them to see it.
Ventimiglia isn’t ready to let This Is Us go
“I’m sure those last moments, everyone will be in tears. Everyone will be crying,” he quipped. “I think we’ve already established that the audience will be crying.”
But fans are going to be satisfied with the finale, even though everyone’s going to cry: “I think it’s wonderful. I think it’s incredibly satisfying. I think it’s beautiful.”
I was just on set with [showrunner Dan Fogelman] about two weeks ago and he was talking about some things that I didn’t know about the end. I was there with Mandy [Moore]. We just kind of looked at each other, like, one, excited to get into it, and two, incredibly devastated as human beings because this is probably gonna wreck people in the most heartfelt way.
Milo Ventimiglia
What do you think about Jack ‘s reaction after losing hi mom on This Is Us 6, episode 4?
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