Bringing up baby
Working with robots a bit weird, This Is Us star says
Mandy Moore finds it awkward whenever she has to work with a robot baby on the set of This Is Us.
The actress stars as Rebecca Pearson in the hit NBC/CTV show, which follows the lives and connections of several siblings who all share the same birthday.
This Is Us episodes weave through stories of the past and present using flashbacks, which means Moore often has to act with babies, and the occasional robotic version when real newborns aren’t available.
“There’s a new rule with Homeland Security that anybody who works has to have a photo ID,” she said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night. “So what mom is going to schlep her child, her newborn, to the (Department of Motor Vehicles) to get an ID? So, often times when we’re shooting with small babies, they’re either baby dolls or they have this one robotic baby. It’s weird, guys.”
Moore said she really has to try her best to focus when working with robotic dolls, since they make odd noises and movements.
“We were just shooting an episode where I have two very emotional scenes where I’m talking to the newborn in the hospital and I go to put my hand on the robotic baby and it’s like vibrating and making weird movements. And you are just like, ‘Nope this is a real child,’ ” she said.
With This Is Us, Moore is joined by an ensemble cast including; Milo Ventimiglia, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley and Susan Kelechi Watson. But she swears it is Sterling K. Brown, who portrays Randall Pearson, who is the most professional during takes.
“I think Chrissy and I are the most emotional. But I think Sterling gets the award for best crier. I feel like he’s literally at the point as an actor (where he asks the director), ‘What eye do you want me to (cry from)? The dramatic single tear drop down my cheek?’ He’s that good.”