-Our first guest tonight is an Emmy-nominated actor
who stars on "This Is Us,"
which airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.
Everyone please welcome Milo Ventimiglia!
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
Come on! That's my man right there.
-What's going on? What's going on?
What's going on?
-It's so great to see you, buddy.
Happy, happy New Year to you.
-Happy New Year to you, as well. Sorry I'm not around.
I was hoping to be in New York with you,
but production and protocols and all that, so...
-Next time. Congrats on the premiere.
A good man.
I want to talk to you about a couple things.
You know I follow you on Instagram,
and it's a very interesting follow.
It's a good follow.
I like it because -- -Because it's nothing.
-Yes, that's correct.
It is nothing, and then it's something.
It's like, all of a sudden --
You post like every couple months or a month or so.
You'll post like 100 photos at once.
-Yeah. Like, I've realized sometimes, it's kind of like,
"Wow, I really haven't been on in a while,
and I've been living life and I've been hiking
and I've been seeing people and friends
and family and all that."
And I kind of have this collection of photos
in a folder on my phone that I've just kind of,
you know, taken over a period of time,
like six months, and then I'm like,
"Alright, let me just put up 100.
Why not?" -Yeah, they really are.
They're like -- Yeah, 100 photos.
And you just look through them,
and everyone's like, "Oh, my gosh."
And then they go everywhere.
And they're -- Some are beautiful.
Some are just cool.
Some -- -Some are ridiculous.
-Yes.
-Like, I've had some -- Like, there was one -- It was --
I took a photo of my couch in my trailer.
And just the way the light was hitting it
and the lines, and it kind of lined up.
And people were like,
"Is this a couch that is on your Instagram now?
Are we supposed to like that?"
-Yeah. Pictures of couches. Why not?
-Yeah, sure, why not?
-I started getting my photos printed out
because I miss holding the photos
and putting them in albums and looking at them
and having people go, "Oh, yeah,"
and all these, man, 'cause everything is just on my phone.
I'm going to get a photo that you posted printed out, too.
Is this a picture of your -- Is this just your gym shorts
or what are these?
-Yeah. Those are my shorts.
Ride 'em high, kids. -Yeah, ride 'em high, kids.
I think -- It made me laugh when you said "Ride 'em high,"
because it came from some paparazzi photo I saw of you,
I guess, leaving the gym?
Is that what it was?
-I was leaving the gym, funny enough,
post-appearing on your show.
-Is that right?
You appeared on our show, and it got you pumped up,
ready to go work out?
-I was so excited. I was so charged up.
It was like "Scarface." I was ready to go.
I had the best leg day of my life, and there it is.
-Yeah, and, so, you work out and you have a good workout,
and then you come out, and "Ride 'em high, kids."
This is what's in the -- -Ride 'em high, kids.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Yeah!
-Oh, man.
That was so much -- I really had no idea.
So, when I work out, you know,
I'm with my trainer, Jason Walsh,
and we're just, you know, kind of meatheads
throwing around a lot of weight.
And when I work out, I kind of pull my shorts up.
-Yeah.
-And so then, when I left the gym
and the photograph got taken, and then it went bananas --
-It really did.
-It went crazy. Literally crazy. Like broke-the-Internet crazy.
And I was -- They were like, "Oh, my God.
Milo wears short shorts.
It's the summer of short shorts."
There's "New York Times" articles.
There's "GQ" articles.
There's all these articles about Milo and his short shorts.
Yeah, seriously.
And I'm just like,
"Guys, they were actually really normal length.
I just have, like, kind of meaty thighs,
and I pulled them up and I walked out and they stuck."
-Yeah. You yanked them up, man.
You've got some muscular legs there.
You had a good workout. It was a leg day, I guess.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-Every day is a good leg day.
-Not only is "This Is Us" back, but next month,
we're going to see you in the new season of
"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."
-Yes, you are. -That is -- Reunited.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Reunited with Amy Sherman-Palladino.
-Yeah. It's, you know, back in -- It's amazing.
I mean, you know, Amy and Dan Palladino, her husband,
who also is an incredibly accomplished writer, you know,
they really gave me my break.
Like, they were the ones that kind of put me on the map
with "Gilmore" and with Jess, your favorite, I know.
And they are the kinds of people that, for me,
I was like, "I'm, one, going to know them the rest of my life,
and, two, anytime they call, I've got to be there."
So if they're like, "Hey, Mi, why don't you come in
and do a small bit on a show we're working on..."
"Great."
"Hey, if you could take us to the airport..."
"Sure."
-That's why you're here. You're there for each other.
-Yeah, absolutely.
-They know how to write, too, huh?
-My God, I mean, it's one of those things
where you don't really think about the script
because you just trust and you know it's going to be great.
It's going to be golden.
And, also, I mean, back in the days of "Gilmore," I mean,
we had these massive, massive scripts,
and that, for me, felt like a proving ground
as an actor to really soak in the words,
really understand the poetry of it,
and then deliver it,
you know, put what I can on it to make it come out naturally,
because, you know, the way they write is definitely prose.
It's incredible.
-I want to talk about "This Is Us."
This is the sixth -- This is the final season.
Premiered tonight. -Yes, it is.
-And you're filming the final season now.
And, of course, everyone's going to ask you,
and I probably know the answer, but do you know how it ends
or do you know -- or are there still secrets
that you don't know?
Because the show is always twists and turns,
and right before it's the -- Two minutes before
the end of the show you're like, "Oh, I get this."
And then you're like, "What?!"
-Yeah, yeah. That's how it goes. -And you're crying.
-I mean, listen, Fogelman --
Dan Fogelman is incredibly candid with us
about his intentions with the show, with the characters.
So he kind of ran us through what he was doing at the end.
So I think I have a pretty good idea
of what's going to happen, what's to come.
But, also -- So, right now, myself, Mandy, and Justin
are all directing a trilogy.
And we were all on set right before the break,
and Dan was around and he was talking about his work
on the last two episodes.
And, you know, your heart rate starts going
and the excitement to know what he's working on.
It's like, "Oh, this is going to be great."
It's going to absolutely probably crush people
in the best possible way, because that's Fogelman's goal
is to make people feel something in life.
-Yeah, you start rolling up your shorts.
-Yeah, I start rolling up my shorts.
-Rolling up the shorts, getting ready for the thing, yeah.
-I'm ready. Yeah, yeah. Call Jimmy.
I've got to interview and do some legs.
-I got to see the first episode, and you're phenomenal in it.
And I want to show a clip here.
But I thought it was charming,
because it's you singing to Mandy Moore.
And I just think -- I just know you a little bit,
but I know you, and that's got to be pressure singing
to Mandy Moore, who's a professional singer.
-Yes. A professional singer
whose husband is a professional musician.
-That's correct, yeah. -And I have no pipes at all.
I'm not musically inclined.
But, yet, they are like, "Hey, we wrote this really sweet scene
where you're singing REO Speedwagon to your TV wife."
And I'm like, "Great. Here we go."
-[ Laughing ] Yeah. -That's love.
-That is love.
But you were saying something when you were on the show before
that when you started working with Mandy, you kind of made,
like, a pact with each other.
You just said, "Hey..."
-Yeah. We did. We did.
Right before the show premiered,
we were in New York for the up-fronts,
the big advertiser conference,
and everybody was kind of milling about.
Mandy and I were just, like, off to the side by ourselves,
and we just kind of raised our glasses to one another.
We almost took vows with one another, where it was like,
"Hey, I promise to always communicate.
I promise to not be happy until you're happy.
I will always look out for you." And all that.
And we have stayed very true to what we said in the beginning.
I mean, I've got to say, she has been probably,
in my 26 years in front of the camera,
the best partner I've ever had.
Her commitment, her dedication, her growth as an artist.
Like, you know, the audience --
you guys all get to watch the show in its entirety.
I get to sit there in front of her or stand in front of her
or lay in a bed next to her and watch, front row,
what she does and how impactful it is,
the work is to her, and I've only seen it grow.
So it's been a pleasure to be her TV husband for six years,
and, at the same time,
closing this chapter, I'm very excited to see
what Mandy does next, because she's such a force.
-I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Milo Ventimiglia in the new season of "This Is Us."
Take a look at this.
-REO Speedwagon are the new Beatles.
You remember I said that. -[ Laughs ]
-♪ What started out as friendship has grown stronger ♪
♪ I only wish I had the strength to let it show ♪
-Oh, you're letting it show. -I am?
-Mm-hmm.
-Okay, break it up, people.
-Big day. -Big day.
-I know. Hey, guys.
See what I have for you in honor of today?
Tang.
-Tang! -Hold on, hold on, hold on.
-Whoa! Slow down. Slow down.
Okay, now, dad's off. So goodbye kiss, kiss, kiss.
I want all the details later.
Um...briefcase?
-In the living room.
-What would I do without you?
-Yeah. REO Speedwagon. -What would I do with her?
-REO Speedwagon is the new Beatles.
-Yeah! -Milo Ventimiglia, everybody.
"This Is Us" airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.