-Our first guest tonight is an Emmy-nominated actor
you know from shows like "Heroes" and "Gilmore Girls."
He stars in the critically-acclaimed series
"This Is Us." The sixth and final season
airs Tuesday nights here on NBC.
Let's a take look.
-Babe, it ain't worth it. [Smooches] Alright?
I mean, the kids they -- they barely knew her.
I mean, when was the last time she visited?
They were what? Like, a year old?
Yeah, but they talk to her on the phone.
And that's all she's been for years --
just a voice on the other end of a telephone.
Look, babe, knowing my mom, I got a funeral to plan
and a lifetime of loose ends to tie up.
Look, it's just -- it's better if I do this alone.
-Please welcome to back to the show Milo Ventimiglia.
Hello, Milo.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-What's happening, Seth?
What's going on, man? Good to see you.
-It's great to see you.
Congratulations.
It's very hard to do a TV show that ends on its own terms.
That must be a very satisfying thing to be a part of.
-Very satisfying thing, although we're not quite
there at the end. We're right in the thick of season six.
But it's nice to know that we've had the runway to land
the plane the way we want to land the plane,
versus other shows where it just kind of, like, crashes.
-[ Laughs ] Or you're in the air,
and then the network calls and is like, "We need you.
We're not going to let you out of the plane anymore."
-Dude, or better yet -- or better yet, they're like,
"Yeah, you're not going to land the plane.
You're going to continue to fly.
You're gonna circle the runway for years and years.
-We talked to some of your castmates about who will be
the biggest crier on the set the last day.
I know you mentioned you're only about half way there.
How are you feeling emotionally?
-Emotionally, I'm pretty good.
I think I feel pretty solid.
I've got a lot of resolve about showing up to work every day,
spending time with the crew.
We got a great crew.
But I'm sure those last moments,
everyone's going to be in tears.
Everyone's going to be crying.
Us in production. The audience --
I think we've established the audience will be crying.
But us in production,
I have a feeling that we'll be emotional.
We'll have a hard time letting go.
I mean, you know this. you're on the show
for so many years, and all of a sudden,
you remember that first moment and then it's done,
and then you're like, "Oh, wait, I may not see these people again
or every day or maybe in passing or social media or whatever."
So it's bittersweet.
-I really do hope the audience cries at the finale of the show.
That would be the great final twist if the last --
if the last episode of the show just wasn't emotional at all.
-Oh, no. it's like a "Seinfeld" episode or something.
All of a sudden, like, people are just like,
"What are all these, like, [imitates rim shot] jokes?"
Like, "What is happening? I don't understand this."
-Super jokey. The last episode's super hacky.
-Totally. -You also got to be --
-You know, we heard -- by the clip, you know,
most of the work you did, obviously, on the show
was with Mandy. And, you know, it was a bigger cast than that,
but because of the different times the show takes place,
you don't interact, obviously. But you did go behind the camera
and direct some episodes.
How was it to direct your other cast mates?
-It was funny. sometimes, you know,
because I don't act with them on a regular basis,
I'm not on set with them, so at first, my direction
is met with a little kind of side eye,
like kind of looking at me,
like we don't have that trust yet.
Like, I mean, we could knock out a press conference together
no sweat.
But it's been a pleasure to be creative with the cast,
to actually be there, get that front row seat
into what they're doing week in and week out.
And, you know, I got to say, I mean, they're all so talented,
and the words are there, and the crew is well-oiled.
The whole process of it is very smooth,
especially for, you know, us directors.
There's not a whole lot we have to do
other than pay attention.
Kind of give like a bit of a Tom Hanks,
you know, faster, slower.
I forgot whatever he said.
He goes, you know, faster, slower, louder softer --
whatever it is, he gives, like --
there's like four directions you need to give as a director.
-Maybe this is why you were getting side eye on set.
[ Laughter ]
-Probably, yeah.
Like, "Mi, can you give us a little more, please?
Mi, please?"
-Well, one thing you've accomplished,
and I'm pretty sure they can't take these away
once you have them, although I actually think
a lot of people have gotten them taken away.
-[ Laughs ] -For, like, bad behavior.
-Well -- Well -- -But you got a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. -I did.
-I think yours is safe, yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Thanks, man. I mean, look, I think you're right.
I think they can lobby to have some taken away
because they continually get destroyed.
You might have -- You know, the previous conversation.
I think that star might have been destroyed a couple times.
-Yeah. -But, yeah.
I'm hoping that mine will stay there for a while.
I'm hoping it inspires young artists.
Yeah, I'm right there next to Mandy Moore, my TV wife.
-I was going to say, when I looked at it, I'm like,
"It's very unclear who you are gesturing to,
but that is very nice." You, uh --
I was like, "Do you -- Were you--
Are you like, 'I got two?'"
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, well, the funny thing was --
-And this is my actor one, and that's my director one.
-[ Laughs ] -Yeah, totally. I know.
Wouldn't that be wild? Actually, there are --
I feel like there are some people, though,
that do have, because there's the movie symbol,
then there's the TV symbol, then there's the radio symbol.
I feel there are some people that do have a couple.
-That seems a little -- that seems like overdoing it.
I think if you have more than one star, that's bad behavior.
-So you grew up out in California.
I guess in -- Was it in Anaheim is where you grew up?
-Yeah. I guess kind of, like, right there-ish,
right around there. -Thank you.
And thank you for bringing a map.
I know we gave you very --
We gave you very short notice that we would like a map,
and you really pulled it off.
-I did some art direction.
I called my friend, Aaron Draplin.
I was like, "Hey, man, do you have that California poster?
Please, please. I got to put it behind me
to let everybody know that I'm not in New York."
Yeah, I grew up in Anaheim.
I went to Disneyland all the time.
I grew up a total normal kid having fun, doing dumb stuff
that kids do.
And then I was also kind of acting,
so it was a good place to grow up.
-So you had an early -- you know, your career
got started, I guess, after college really,
but as a young actor, you auditioned for a movie
and you got pretty close.
-You're talking about "Radio Flyer?"
-"Radio Flyer."
-I think so. Or you're like, "No.
I'm going to go with whatever he says."
You could have said "Terminator."
I tried out for "Terminator." Yeah, yeah.
-Yeah, I heard it came down to you or Schwarzenegger.
It was going to be a very, different movie
where it was a very young -- a young Terminator.
-Can you imagine, like, 12-year-old Milo, like,
running through -- Well, not "Terminator."
Sorry, I went to "Predator."
Being chased in a Colombian jungle by some beast?
I'm like, "No, I'm a kid from Orange County!"
[ Laughter ]
-You also are getting back together with your gang --
"Gilmore Girls" gang, Amy Sherman-Palladino.
-You're in the next season of -- -Yes, sir.
-Next season of "Maisel."
This is very exciting. -Yup.
-Look at you.
-And I feel like -- -Yeah, there she is.
There's Midge walking up a nice hill,
and me in a turtle neck.
I mean, who doesn't want to watch that?
-I want to say, I was like, "Oh, I hope you're proud of
your turtle neck," and based on this pose,
you're very proud of your turtle neck.
-Oh, yeah.
I mean, that is a Proud-of-My-Turtle-Neck stance
right there -- hands on hips.
-Yeah. -You know, like '80s dad bod
because I can't hide jack belly just sticking out there.
-Yeah, this is, like --
I feel like this pose was in every catalog
my dad ever got.
[ Laughter ]
-Sears Roebuck. Sears Roebuck. -Yeah, very Roebuck.
That must be exciting to work with Amy again.
-It's a blast. I mean, you know, she and Dan Palladino,
her husband, and they were just so good to me
back in the "Gilmore" days.
I mean, I don't know if you ever knew, but they were planning on
spinning Jess off on to his own show
when they sent him off to California to meet his father,
and that just didn't work for whatever reason.
But they've been very good to me.
They've kept up with me.
And Amy actually came out to California
for the star ceremony. She spoke at it.
So she is one of those people that whenever she calls,
whenever she says, "Hey, Mi, I need you for this,"
I'm always going to be there.
They're wonderful people. They're crazy talented.
And also, like, Rachel. She's a pal of mine.
So to be on camera, you know, playing the scenes
that we were playing -- I mean, she's just --
She's a lot of fun. She's a lot of fun.
So it's an easy group to be around.
-Well, that's great. I can't wait to see it,
but I also want to ask about this.
So, here you are.
You're at the Indy 500 here, yes?
-[ Laughs ] Yeah. -And you are -- That's you.
-That's me. -Waving the green flag.
And this is -- you just snuck past security, right?
This is -- you just crawled up?
-Oh, yeah. I basically bowled past a bunch of people,
climbed the stairs. You know what I did, too?
I even brought Russ. I brought my buddy, Russ.
Russ is in the back with a jean jacket.
He's holding -- If you zoom in on there,
he's holding up his phone.
Yeah, go right, right, right. -Oh, yeah.
Yeah, there's Russ in the back holding his phone.
No, no, keep going. Keep going, keep going.
Right there. That's Russ. -Yeah.
-That's my producing partner, Russ.
I snuck him up there. -That's great.
-Grabbed the flag from the gentleman who usually
waves the green flag.
His name is Aaron. -Yeah.
-And I just waved the heck out of that thing. It was a blast.
-And none of the cars were ready, and they were all like,
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!"
-Oh, what is it?
They were ready. They were ready.
-Can't imagine a louder honor than that one.
-I had ear plugs in.
It was loud. It was loud.
I mean, when those cars are just racing underneath you,
just ripping around that track.
I mean, I actually --
so my buddy, Conor Daly, he's a racing driver.
He was the one that brought us out there
and said, "Hey, you should come out."
But then before that, the day before, they were like,
"Do you want to get into a race car with Mario Andretti
and have Mario Andretti take you around the track?"
And I was like, "Yes."
That was my first thought.
My second thought was, "Isn't he, like, late 70s, early 80s?"
Yeah, sure. Why not? Let's do it.
Cool, let's do it.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, I think if there's ever --
I mean, I wouldn't get -- you know, most 80-year-olds,
I'd say no, but I think Mario Andretti
would probably be a safe bet. -Yeah, totally.
-Hey, thanks so much for being here.
Congrats on the sixth and final season.
We really appreciate your time.
-Thanks, man. Always great to see you, Seth.
-Milo Ventimiglia, everybody.