-We actually saw each other this morning.
NBC upfronts for this morning -- for those who don't know,
that's where basically NBC comes up to advertisers
and talks about their shows.
Needless to say, they talked a lot about "This Is Us,"
a show they're very proud of. -Yeah.
-We have to be there. We're contractually obligated.
-It is the one thing we have to be at, per our contracts.
But it's -- it's fun? -It's not bad.
-It's not bad. Like, this is the fun part.
-Yeah, this is -- I'm glad. You were in New York for that.
But the one thing that's nice is,
you guys genuinely seem to be a cast that gets along.
And you guys haven't seen each other for a while,
because you wrapped, obviously, way back.
Was it nice to see everybody today?
-It was fun, but it was also -- it was one of those things
where it's kind of like -- even like --
I'm on the show, but I'm kind of dead.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. [ Laughter ]
-So it's like, um, I'm kind of in my own world with Mandy.
So when I see, like, the rest of everybody,
I kind of feel like, "Man,
I'm not really in on some of the jokes."
-Oh, yeah, that's true! -A little bit.
-Yeah, unless there are some ghost episodes,
you don't ever work with those people.
-I know. Or, you know, they're on drugs or mushrooms.
-[ Laughing ] Right. -Or, like, you know,
hitting the bottle really hard. Those are the times, yeah.
-That could work out, yeah. -Exactly.
-You've been on some other sort of cult shows --
"Gilmore Girls," "Heroes." -Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-What is -- Have you seen a difference
between the kind of people that approached you for those shows
and the kind of people who approach you about "This Is Us"?
-"Gilmore Girls" was like, "Hey!" --
a lot of moms and daughters, you know,
that say they're best friends. -That tracks.
-And then occasionally, there'd be, like, one dude
who's like, "Oh, man. Jess?"
[ Laughter ]
And then "Heroes" was, you know,
the person that's into comic books.
This is everyone. -Yeah.
-And it's so encouraging that a show like this --
it's so encouraging that, like, the arts
can still make an impact on a wide group of people.
I mean, young, old, every ethnicity, every -- everything.
It's just, people watch the show.
And they're talking about it and it's important to them
and it's part of the good.
It's part of the good that is out in the world right now.
It's inspiring hope. It's inspiring communication.
I don't know, inclusion. A lot of things
that some places are missing right now.
-Well, that's really nice you guys do that.
-Yeah. [ Cheers and applause ]
-One of the things, obviously, people were talking about,
from the beginning of the show, was how Jack was going to die.
-Of course, of course.
-And it turned out it was a slow cooker.
[ Light laughter ]
-I think it was like a slow-cooker combo
with, like, you know, the neighbor dropping it off
and, like, no batteries in the smoke detector.
-Yeah. A lot of different things.
-It's Colonel Mustard in the library.
You really don't know if that's him.
-There is now a decal out
that people have been putting on their slow cookers.
Have you seen this? -I have seen it.
It says, like, "Please unplug me. Love, Jack."
-[ Laughing ] Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-Yeah, I know. Which is clever.
It's like, "Man, that person, hopefully,
they can make a lot of change off of that."
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-It would be nice for them. And, hopefully,
they use that money for good, as well, you know?
-Totally. Donate it, donate it, donate it.
Please, please. -Yeah, exactly.
-One of the things I love about the show
is based on the fact that I am a huge Steelers fan.
This is a show about Steelers. This is a Steelers family.
-This is a Steelers family, 100%.
-And has the -- And it sounds like
the actual Steelers family has been very good to you guys.
They've embraced the idea. -The Rooneys are awesome.
Everyone in the organization
has really embraced our embracing of them.
And I got to admit, you know, before the show,
I didn't know a whole lot about the Steelers.
I knew they were kind of
one of the dynasty teams that have been around.
They have this magical history, and I knew some awesome players,
you know, past and present. And so I'm a new fan.
But that doesn't make me any less of a fan.
I'm still excited about the Steelers.
And when they were marching up toward that Super Bowl,
like, "Please, please, please. Come on, that would be great."
-It would be great for the show. Yeah.
[ Laughter ] -We actually -- We actually --
-It'd be great for the show. -If you watch the episode
where -- I know, it would be amazing!
If you watch the episode where my character --
yeah, where he dies in the Super Bowl --
we had actual real Super Bowl footage in there.
So had it been the Steelers,
we would have had, in the present day,
Steelers actual footage in that episode.
-That's fantastic. -It was crazy.
-And I'm always a fan, because, otherwise,
I just have to watch old Super Bowls on YouTube.
-Like, "oh, yeah, that was --" Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-So, for me to be able to watch something with my wife
where I also see old Super Bowl footage,
that's like a double bonus. -Right? Yeah.
She's like, "Honey, we've already seen
the Bradshaw victory." -"Come on!
Come on over to the computer.
Let's watch some old grainy YouTubes."
[ Laughter ] -Totally.
-Next -- Is it correct, the next season,
you're going to sort of explore the fact that Jack --
a Vietnam vet? -Yes.
-And that was true of your father in real life.
-Yeah, my dad's a two-tour Vietnam vet.
And you know, when I was -- Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
When I was younger, you know,
I'd always ask my dad stories and everything.
And he was very candid with me, his son, about his experience.
And when I knew that was
the road we were going to travel on for Jack,
I wanted to know more
the feeling, like, the understanding,
like, what it is to be in the theater of war
and what you take from that experience
and what you try and leave behind
in a situation that's so horrible.
I mean, I've got a lot of friends, even,
that are present day, in uniform
or, you know, combat veterans, combat wounded veterans.
Like, I've got great friends that are serving.
-And you've gone over. -Yeah.
-You've visited troops overseas. What's that experience like?
-Heavy. -Yeah.
-It's really heavy. And you know what?
The one thing that I really took from it, when I got home --
I mean, we were in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain,
you know, different operating bases.
You know, flying in Chinooks and Black Hawks
to places that no one's every heard of.
And you're experiencing this visceral thing
and you're seeing the beat-up faces
of these soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines.
And you get home, and no one else that's at home
really remembers that there's a war
and there are Americans in other countries
that are coming together to, hopefully, do something good.
It's just -- It was one of those things
where I wanted to,
in the duty of being an American citizen,
as well kind of honoring my father
and what his generation experienced,
acknowledge soldiers that are coming home,
and be like, "Hey, we see you.
Let's see what we can do
to, like, kind of plug you back into society
and do something bigger for you."
-That's wonderful. I look forward to that.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Yeah.
-Last thing I want to ask you about --
you -- true that you are a motorcycle aficionado?
-Yeah.
-You drive them around L.A.? -I do.
-Do people ever recognize you, or are you helmeted up?
-Not so much. I'm fully helmeted up.
I mean, that's the good thing about motorcycles.
You kind of get in and out of traffic,
park wherever you want. -Yep.
And is it true that you know motorcycles so well
that you can tell a motorcycle by -- from sound alone?
-Sometimes. -Yeah.
-I was actually -- I was doing an interview
for the upfront presentation up in Vancouver.
That was a weird train. -Yeah.
-But I was up there, and the sound guy,
he had to stop the take or stop the interview
because he goes, "Oh, sorry, motorcycle is going by."
I'm like, "Yeah, that was, like,
'88 Road Glide Special with extra piping, yeah."
And then like two or three bikes went by.
I'm like, "That was a Triumph." -Wow!
-So you're like a motorcycle Rain Man.
-Kind of. Yeah, I know. [ Laughter ]
-That is a skill that's going to make you no, no money.
-None at all. There's no fun with that at all.
-There's no... [ Laughs ]
-Yeah, I can't impress anybody, nothing.
-Yeah, there's no Vegas game called "Name That Motorcycle."
-No, no, there's no slot machine, nothing.