It was a heart-wrenching moment on This Is Us when Randall’s biological father William passed away from stomach cancer toward the end of Season 1. It was just as heartbreaking to fans in real life when the actor who played him, Ron Cephas Jones, passed away at the age of 66 in August 2023. Now, Mandy Moore and Sterling K. Brown are reflecting on the memories they have of their beloved co-star struggling with his health while on set.
On an episode of the podcast That Was Us, the stars spoke about Season 1’s episode “Pilgrim Rick.” This was when Jack and Rebecca had a marriage goal moment after a car accident made the married pair and their kids stuck in a motel missing Thanksgiving dinner. They came up with their own traditions of watching Police Academy 3, roasting hotdogs on the furnace and wearing the famous Pilgrim Hat.
Mandy Moore remembered when her co-star, Ron Cephas Jones, filmed a hiking scene and what a “physically taxing exercise” it was for the Tony Award nominee:
Because he was suffering and it was really hard for him to breathe. And I remember him sitting was scripted, but also because he genuinely needed to do that. It really brought home knowing what was actually happening in real-time in those moments while we were shooting this show and this season. You're right that Ron just had this intrinsic connection to what his character was going through and it makes it all the more poignant.
Ron Cephas Jones struggled with health scares and was diagnosed with emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2020, he received a double lung transplant, spending two months at the hospital being on and off a ventilator. That year, the actor eventually recovered and he went on to make Emmys history with his daughter Jasmine by being the first father/daughter duo to win awards at the same show.
Despite his character’s death, Ron was able to cameo in the series finale with William escorting Rebecca, who was dying from Alzheimer’s, on the train towards death. Then, a few years after the show ended, the Emmy winner passed away on August 19, 2023, from “a long-standing pulmonary issue.”
In “Pilgrim Rick,” William, who was battling stomach cancer, was asked what it felt like to be dying, which he described as “beautiful pieces of life are flying all around me” and the importance of “catching the moments.” After Mandy Moore read William’s monologue, Sterling K. Brown was in tears remembering his on-screen biological father on the podcast, saying:
You really get the sense that he had a profound understanding of what he was saying. And because he's not with us anymore. The beautiful human being that he is, it's just like wow.
It’s truly tragic that as Ron Cephas Jones was going through health issues of his own around this time. However, he was able to draw from his personal experiences and bring them to William, making his character all the more authentic.
When the cast of This Is Us was tributing Cephas Jones after his death, Brown posted on Instagram a still photo of the two from the episode “Memphis.” He touched on how “the world is a little less bright” without him there, but he will be “loved” and “missed.” Mandy Moore’s post also sent kind words to the beloved actor remarking that “he was such an intrinsic part of the fabric of the show.”
Mandy Moore and Sterling K. Brown recalled that their co-star Cephas Jones was “struggling” during moments on the set of This Is Us due to his real-life health issues. However, the celebrated actor continued to be an iconic presence on the show with his recurring appearances, earning himself two Emmys and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
You can watch Cephas Jones, Moore, Brown and the rest of the cast of This Is Us with a Netflix subscription or Hulu subscription.
