Before Justin Hartley brought Kevin to life on This Is Us, he briefly wondered whether he was meant to play the role of Jack, which ultimately went to Milo Ventimiglia.
“[My friend] sent me this script and I start reading it right away. I got to, like, the first, second and third page and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, [creator Dan Fogelman] wrote me.’ Like, how is he doing this? I’m Jack Pearson,’” Hartley, 48, recalled on the Wednesday, July 9, episode of the “This Was Us” podcast. “I was like, ‘It’s unbelievable. It’s me. I would do everything for my daughter [like Jack does for his kids].’”
Hartley found the patriarch of the Pearson family to be such a “great character” that he nearly missed his connection to Kevin.
“I was like, ‘This is incredible and it’s going to be a beloved character. Look at what he’s doing,’” the actor recalled. “[I kept reading and realized] that I’m Kevin. I’m not Jack at all. My friend thinks I’m Kevin.”
It didn’t help that Hartley’s first introduction to Kevin in the script confused him.
“Then I got to the end and I was like, ‘Wait a minute. If this show works, this is going to be this huge magnificent arc that I don’t know if I’m ready for,’” Hartley recalled. “[My friend] did say he ended up [seeing me as] Kevin. He had read the whole script before he gave it to me. I had not as I was flipping through it. I was like, ‘Why is Kevin in bed with two strange women on his birthday?’”
Hartley continued: “He doesn’t have any friends and he’s surrounded by strangers. He threw this big party for himself and his family was not there [in the pilot]. He’s got his shirt off and he is with two women and they’re like ready to go.’”
This Is Us, which ran from 2016 to 2022, focused on siblings Kevin (Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) in addition to their parents, Jack (Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore). Before This Is Us came to an end, Hartley was already making moves — with the help of producer Ken Olin — with his new CBS series Tracker.
Hartley not only stars on Tracker but is an executive producer. This has allowed him to reunite with several This Is Us costars, including Jon Huertas and Jennifer Morrison.
“We knew for years and years and years that that show was ending when it was ending. A lot of times you don’t get that opportunity. Things just happen and people go, ‘You are not doing it anymore,’” Hartley explained during an episode of Tommy DiDario’s “I’ve Never Said This Before” podcast in October 2024. “This was more like, ‘You have the opportunity to play this character for six years. It is going to be amazing. What a ride this guy is going to go on. Here is what his journey is going to be.’ I thought that project was remarkable to be a part of.”
Justin Hartley‘s CBS series Tracker has won over its audience because of the intriguing cases — and the impressive guest stars. Tracker, which premiered in February 2024, is centered around a survivalist named Colter (Hartley) who travels the country helping people and law enforcement tackle a variety of mysteries. As the series unfolds, viewers learn […]
Hartley was asked at the time whether viewers would see additional This Is Us cameos on Tracker, to which he replied, “I think we will.”
He continued: “We’ve all talked about [bringing the show back in some way]. I don’t know if there are plans to reboot it — I haven’t been involved yet — which is a whole other conversation. But I still keep in touch with all of those guys. They are all so great, they will be lifelong friends of mine. I love them all.”
During Wednesday’s podcast, Brown, 49, Moore, 41 and Chris Sullivan showed their support for possible Tracker cameos. Ventimiglia, 48, meanwhile, has teased that he would like to make an appearance on the show in the future.
“I watched Justin’s show last night too, and [I’m] super proud of him and Ken and Roxy Olin,” Ventimiglia exclusively told Us Weekly in February 2024. “I saw a lot of familiar This Is Us faces or names on the screen in the production end.”
Ventimiglia noted that he “thought the show was great” and Hartley had “a fun role,” adding, “Reuniting with him or anyone else from the cast — or anyone from any number of films I’ve done in the last 28, 29 years — I’m sure that’d be a blast.”
