- Hey, I'm Milo Ventimiglia,
and you're watching in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
(upbeat music)
- Thank you so much for dropping by.
- Happy to be here man.
- Seriously thanks for being here.
- Yeah, you got it bud.
- [Brian] Now Jack is praised so much as this hero,
this beloved figure,
how do you handle that pressure
and living up to this guy?
- Jack is, he's a hard man to live up to
for myself, for husbands around the world,
for father's around the world.
I get a lot of bereavement from people
who are like man you're ruining my marriage
because everybody sees Jack
and they're trying to like,
I gotta be Jack.
And I'm like no man, just be yourself
because you're real.
You're a real human being.
You can really truly impact your wife,
your family, your community,
whatever you choose to put your positivity towards,
you can actually make an impact.
- That was a good one.
- I know, it sounds like a very Jack thing to say, right?
- No, yeah, but,
no it was a Milo thing to say.
- Very much.
- This past season we see kind
of more of what really shaped his character
and him as a father with his time in Vietnam.
And you said that Jack doesn't really see the war as heroic,
can you kind of talk about that
and explain?
- Um, I mean war's a pretty horrible thing,
and Jack's purpose of being in Vietnam
was to find Nicky, was to find his brother.
So beyond that he became responsible for
this team of guys that were under his command
where he lost one of them.
And heroism isn't something that Jack strives for,
he's a man that jumps into action.
But heroics, he's not in a war to be heroic.
And war is a terrible, terrible thing.
- Now you said yourself you almost entered the Navy at 18,
and your dad served two tours in Vietnam.
Looking back, what do you remember most
about what your dad would say about the war
or not say and how did you translate that to Jack's story?
- I've heard stories of my father's,
you know just talking to me as a son
about his early 20's
and his time in Vietnam in the service,
friends that have been in wars and whatnot,
heard from them,
but for me, you know, it was like a,
I have the good fortune of having a road map.
I know where it's gonna go because we have scripts.
So if anything, what I try to do in the conversations
with my father, with my friends,
is try to just understand the emotional impact
of war and what that really does to a person.
And what they bring home from that experience
because a lot of guys,
and these days women,
that serve, they see horrible things
and they bring it home.
And how are you to unpack it.
So Jack of that era, you know those guys
they didn't unpack it.
They just fold it up in a concrete wall,
compartmentalize it.
- [Brian] That's a tough word to say.
- Exactly.
Just like hung onto it.
- Now Dan Fogelman brought in author
and Vietnam vet Tim O'Brien.
Why was it important to have him there
and kind of getting Jack's story right?
What were those conversations like?
- I think there was a lot
of direct correlation to Tim's experience
in Vietnam to Jack's.
There was a lot of what they were wanting
to tell story wise, they the writers,
about Jack's story that was brought up from Tim.
I mean our writer's room, crazy talented,
we don't have any veterans there.
We have no one who served
so it's bringing in someone like Tim,
who is not only a veteran of Vietnam
but also just an amazing story teller.
He's a storyteller first and foremost.
It had a great impact on the direction
we took Jack, on specificity.
There were a lot of things that I would sit
and I would talk to Tim about
about his time and relating it
to what Jack was going through, and just like details.
- What specifically was it?
- A lot of it was experience,
understanding the weight of being responsible
for other people in the war,
the emotions that happen.
That you kind of really have to just clamp down
when you're in battle when you lose someone,
when you have to complete a mission and move on.
All the way down to where we tucked our Boonie cap
when we were wearing out helmets.
So it was a,
it was a pleasure.
It was really a great honor having him around
and just having the perspective,
the lens of what he experienced
when he was in Vietnam,
but also he's a storyteller first and foremost.
So he was just part of our group.
- Now you filmed in Vietnam,
which must have been incredible.
What were some of your favorite memories from filming there?
- Mostly it was just the people.
I'm pretty amazed that that country,
having been through such a horrible war,
is still so positive and loving and inviting,
and that was the one thing my dad
used to tell me about when
he was in Vietnam in his early 20's
was he couldn't understand how such a horrible war
could be happening to such a beautiful people.
And to still be over there
and see that,
you know people walking around holding hands,
positive when they went through such a horrible conflict
was really striking, really striking to see.
- [Brian] Now looking back to when
you first joined This Is Us,
when did you personally know that it would be
this hit that it is today?
- When reading that first script I knew that it was special.
And then when I saw it cut together
with score, with final edit,
and beautiful picture,
it was like oh this is a really beautiful show.
And then beyond that, when the scripts kept coming in
and we were looking at them it was like wow
these scripts just get better and better and better.
And being someone who watches TV just go
oh well this is good,
this makes sense that people are gonna watch it.
And so then when the audience grew
and it kind of turned into this big snowball
phenomenon kind of like rolling down the hill
it was like wow.
It wasn't surprising because the stories were so great
and the execution was really, really wonderful.
- But people have such an attachment to the show
and to Jack, what have been some
of the reactions that have stuck out to you
about people's reactions to Jack and the show?
- For me mostly it's the inspiration they get from him.
You know, Jack, for all his greatness,
he also is just,
he's a normal guy.
He's not a marvel comic character,
he's not saving the world,
he's looking out for his family.
- Saving his family.
- Yeah.
That to me, I think, is something
that we as citizens of the world kind
of need right now.
We just need good guys.
We need good guys to look up to.
We need, we kind of need like attainable goals.
And I think someone that is kind like Jack is,
that is strong like Jack is,
that is supportive and compassionate like Jack is.
You know any of the short comes he has,
you know his battling with alcoholism,
sometimes maybe his viewpoint
on relationships, it's like well he's a kind man,
he's a good man, so I think I'm always encouraged
when I see people that are...
- He's human.
- He's very human,
but I'm always encouraged when I see people saying like
I wanna be a dad like Jack.
I wanna be a husband like Jack.
I wanna be a friend like Jack.
And I was like that's pretty cool.
- You said you've gotten emotional also while watching.
- Sometimes, yeah.
- This past season, were there any specific scenes
that you got more emotional for?
- Man.
Usually anything having to do with the kids.
It's funny 'cause when I watch the show
I watch it as an audience,
but I also kind of watch it as Jack.
So when I see the adult kids going through things
I'm like oh man, Kate, if you could just,
Kevin, Randall if you could,
you know so those are the things
that kind of grab at me.
When Kevin's going through his struggles,
when Kate is going through her struggles,
when Randall's going through his.
That stuff just kind of breaks my heart.
- One of the things that stuck out to me
was the boxing kind of motif that he explored with Randall,
can you talk about what stood out to you
about that specifically,
and kind of this motif of Jack being this fighter?
- You know it's funny, I feel like Jack got into boxing
because he was trying to stamp down another need,
which was alcohol for him.
And it kind of turned into something different.
What I love about Jack, he's strong in the right way.
He's not overbearing, but he's kind of
feels like this rock in an ocean
that's kind of sticking out
and slowly is taking,
changing shape, being impacted by the ocean around him,
but then he's still a rock.
He's still just like this solid piece
of immovable object that is just sitting there for all time.
- [Brian] Jack the rock.
- Jack the rock.
Or 54 years of his life.
- You yourself boxed,
did that influence that part
of the story at all or no?
- No I don't think that informed one or the other.
I think it was helpful that I boxed.
They were like hey, do you need a boxing trainer?
I'm like nah I think it's already good.
I like I think I'm okay, I'm okay.
You know, said very humbly
because there are many better fighters than me.
- [Brian] What are your thoughts on Rebecca
and Miguel ending up together?
And what do you think Jack would think about that?
- I mean I think Jack and Miguel kind
of had the conversation.
I know close friends of mine,
they always say to me,
like hey if anything happens to me
make sure my family's okay.
I think that's an honorable thing,
it's a noble thing.
And also death is the ultimate finality,
and when someone dies,
you know I think those that are left behind
need to find love and commonality.
And I think it's great that Rebecca
and Miguel found each other in a way of companionship
and romance and any of that.
- At the end of season three we see Rebecca,
Nicky by Rebecca's side,
and you've talked about kind
of having trouble exploring the relationship
between Jack and Nicky, can you talk about that?
- I didn't have trouble exploring it,
but it's all out of order
because we're now,
we were three seasons in filming stuff
that had impacted the Jack that we had already shot,
but it was all brand new.
So for me, I was always, I was a little upset
that Jack never got to repair things with his brother.
But at the same time, Jack is a man
of a certain era that I think held on to,
like we were saying,
compartmentalized those emotions
and he just probably couldn't deal with it.
Didn't want to also because he didn't want it
to disrupt what his life was with Rebecca and the kids.
I'm happy to see that Kevin reached out
and found Nicky and it seems like it paid off
'cause that last image we saw with
Randall walking into the room with her, Rebecca,
and Nicky sitting at the bed,
Nicky looked pretty good.
So his life turned around.
- With the show ending with season six,
what do you think you'll miss the most about the show
and about playing Jack?
We have some time, but...
- Nah, you know for me it's always just the crew.
You know the crew that is there every day,
they're the ones that I think are the real flesh
of the show, they're the ones holding it all together.
They're the ones that are day in and day out.
They're the living, breathing entity,
the family of what we do.
It would be a completely different show
if we had a completely different crew,
so for me it's always the people.
- Do you see it being a satisfying ending for viewers?
- I think so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think so.
I mean the sad truth and reality is everything ends.
Everything ends.
But I believe that when there is a moment
to send something off the right way,
it's almost like into old age,
you can honor the story
and the characters and all that.
So knowing what I know already,
I'm looking forward to what the audience
gets to experience with the closing of the show,
which is still like three seasons later.
- [Brian] And we're like jumping the gun here.
- It's so far away.
- Next up for you is The Art of Racing in the Rain.
- Yes.
- Which everyone's really excited about.
Can you kind of talk about that
and what viewers can expect?
- So Art of Racing in the Rain,
it's based on a book written by Garth Stein.
It's about this race car driver who has this dog.
The film takes place over the course
of the dog's life from puppy until he's old.
And the film is narrated by the dog
as he watches his owner going through life.
Meeting a woman, falling in love,
having a family, auto racing,
and then also the hard times that really befall him.
It was a great experience, good film.
Amanda Seyfried plays my wife,
and lot of great other actors in the film.
And Kevin Costner voiced the dog.
Yeah it just, it feels like one
of those films like if you like This Is Us
you'll really like The Art of Racing in the Rain.
It's a very human story.
- For you as an actor and producer,
what other stories are you looking to tell?
What are you excited most about kind
of exploring ahead?
- I think just telling stories,
having the opportunity to tell stories.
It's less subject matter for me,
it's more, again, people that I work with.
You know I've got friends that are talented writers
or friends that are talented directors,
actors, whatever, and just piling them together
and saying hey let's go tell the story
of this, or let's go tell the story of that.
But subject matter, I kind of look forward to all of it.
- You joked with us recently about
kind of showing up to a Batman and Robin casting call.
- Oh yeah.
- Would you ever wanna play Batman?
Is that something you're a big fan of?
- Who wouldn't want to play Batman.
I think I'm too old now.
- No you're not.
- Yeah, I think I'm too old now.
- Maybe you can do it.
- I think I can do it.
I think other people think I'm too old.
- No.
- It's okay.
- Thank you so much for being here.
Seriously so great talking to you.
- Yeah definitely brother, you got it.