This Is Us is coming to an end, and while this is devastating news for fans who have invested in the Pearson family saga for six seasons, it’s likely also an exciting time for the actors, who will get to add other — and possibly far different — roles to their resumes. (As an example, Lyric Ross has already been tapped for an MCU role in Ironheart.) Milo Ventimiglia has melted our hearts time and again as Jack Pearson, and viewers are excited to see what’s next for the actor. Will he stay in the family drama milieu or perhaps opt for a different genre after six years as the Pearson patriarch?
Jack Pearson’s poignant speeches, strong morals and heartbreakingly relatable struggles have enamored him to This Is Us fans, and even to the show's characters, as his on-screen death when the Big Three were teenagers gave him a “larger than life” quality in the present-day and future timelines. Milo Ventimiglia’s character is still shown frequently in flashback scenes, but as the show begins to connect the dots that will land viewers in Kevin’s cabin at Rebecca’s deathbed in 2034, Ventimiglia and fans alike are moving on from the character of Jack. But how far will we all be moving?
Milo Ventimiglia recently spoke with press in connection with his panel at the recent SCAD TVfest, and answered a question from CinemaBlend’s Nick Venable regarding where we might see the actor once his time on the hit NBC drama comes to an end. Ventimiglia said:
I can see my next job going in a bunch of different directions. I don't think I'm afraid to play in the emotional family space. At the same time I’m not looking for that, exactly. I think for me, I've always taken each opportunity, each job that comes, individually. If the character speaks to me, if the project speaks to me, if the people that are a part of it speak to me. So I think whatever comes my way next, I think will just be the natural progression of wherever I'm supposed to be.
It sounds like the actor isn’t closing the door on any potential projects based specifically on genre. While he’s had success in emotional dramedies — not just on This Is Us, but also notably as Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls — Milo Ventimiglia as also tackled sci-fi (Peter Petrelli on Heroes) and horror (Strawberry Spring podcast, adapted from the Stephen King short story), among other kinds of narratives. He says he looks more at his character,and/or the cast and crew he’d be working with, as opposed to just the project itself. That strategy certainly worked with the This Is Us ensemble.
While Milo Ventimiglia did reprise the role of Jess for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, he might be hesitant about going back to that character again, since, as he said on Scott Patterson’s podcast in 2021, fans have had their cake and eaten it too after the four-part Netflix revival. At that time, he looked forward to playing “a lot of different men” over the course of his career.
Getting more involved behind the camera is another option, as Milo Ventimiglia has had the opportunity to direct two episodes of This Is Us, with a third yet to come in Season 6. Fans of the NBC drama will be excited to see whatever it is that comes next for the actor, but right now we’re content to soak up every bit of Jack Pearson we can get.
There’s no new episode of This Is Us on March 1 — a pre-emption that was planned for the State of the Union — but have your tissues ready when the Pearsons return at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, March 8, on NBC. Be sure to also check out what other new and returning shows are premiering soon on our 2022 TV Schedule.
