Spoilers ahead for the January 14, 2020 episode of This Is Us on NBC.
Sophia Bush was the latest of the rotating list of high-profile guest stars This Is Us has nabbed, and many were excited to see the former One Tree Hill and Chicago P.D. actress cut it up with Justin Hartley's Kevin right up until she broke his heart. That aside, some may be wondering how Bush ended up on the NBC drama to begin with, and now we have an answer.
Executive producer Isaac Aptaker said that Sophia Bush got involved with This Is Us primarily because of another project she was working on with them:
We originally were going to have Sophia Bush do an arc on our other show based on our movie Love Simon, and she’s just the coolest person. She’s really politically engaged, she’s always traveling around, serving on panels and doing great stuff for the world, and she’s an incredible actress to boot. So we had this really cool, little part come up and we were there with her and we were like, ‘Hey Sophia, want to come do our other show, too?’ And she was super-excited. I mean, it’s pretty great: ‘Hey, you want to go spend a day at the Hollywood Bowl watching John legend sing?’ [Laughs] So she was pretty excited, and we were lucky to have her.
Who would say no to a private performance with John Legend at the Hollywood Bowl? Few people would, even if it wasn't actually a full concert like Kevin arranged for "Lizzy" before she broke his heart and revealed she had a husband. It was there that Kevin learned that a "hall pass" is more than an urban legend, and that some people do actually attempt to cash in on them even when it can put a committed relationship at risk.
Isaac Aptaker described Sophia Bush's role to EW as a "little part," which makes sense considering her Chicago-based character more or less broke Kevin's spirit in the worst way. It didn't seem like she was going to up and leave her marriage to pursue a "fairy tale" romance he's in search of. Plus, Kevin's phone ended up getting a call from ex-wife Sophie not long after Lizzy was out of the picture, so perhaps he'll have forgotten all about her by the time this season is up?
It could go either way, as there appears to be a connection between the arc of Kevin and young Jack and Rebecca this season. Kevin is searching for a romance as perfect as his parents had, but viewers are learning the fantasy Kevin has of Jack and Rebecca's perfect relationship was a lie. There were plenty of speed bumps on the way to them becoming the loving couple viewers now know and love, so maybe there's hope for Kevin and Lizzy yet!
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for more on television coming in 2020, and for the latest word on what's happening with movies as well.
