PERFECT PAIR
Jack and Rebecca Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore) are television’s It Couple on NBC’s This is Us:
ANATOMY OF A HIT
Moore: We’re living in such a divided, divisive landscape right now, that I think people are looking for anything that’s united and unifying. I think our show fits that bill. It’s inclusive and it’s ultimately hopeful, which I think is something people are looking for right now, too. People are looking at it and seeing parts of their family and friends, and it engenders dialogue between both parties. It’s pretty life-affirming. Ventimiglia: There are so many shows in the TV landscape that are about crime or scandal or saving the world, and we can’t always relate to all those things. But we can relate to the daily struggle of trying to communicate with your wife, trying to communicate with a father you never knew, with battling weight, with battling insecurity when you’re in the spotlight of a spotlight job. It’s connecting to all of the fear, as well of the happiness, that we all feel.
VIEWER PUSHBACK
Moore: I went on Facebook the other day ... and so many women are really averse to a lot of the choices that Rebecca has made. ... ‘You have this perfect family and this perfect husband, and shouldn’t that be enough and how could you want more, how could you want your career?’ Those sorts of things I was really surprised by, because I don’t feel that way. I don’t have kids and can’t speak to that. But I imagine that women want to try and have it all, and I think (Rebecca has) done a remarkable job of taking care of her family and the children for 16 years.
Ventimiglia: When I see my co-star at times online attacked for her character’s decisions, it’s like, ‘Hold on a second. If you’re moved by what Mandy’s doing, that means Mandy’s doing her job, and she’s doing it incredibly well.’ Trust me, I get a frontrow seat to that performance every single scene. I look at her character’s desire, as a 40-some-year-old woman (who) has always been driven by performing and singing, her kids have grown up, her husband’s working, she does need something for herself.
THEY HAVE A SECRET
Moore: Occasionally friends will ask me, ‘What happened to Jack? How did he die?’ I keep my lips sealed.