Justin Hartley Teases His Idea to Revive Milo Ventimiglia's Jack Pearson AfterThis Is UsDeath

Mar. 15, 2025

Justin Hartley (left) and Milo Ventimiglia.Photo:getty (2)

getty (2)

Justin Hartleyis brainstorming ways to reunite with his costars — and bring back one ofThis Is Us' most beloved characters in the process.

Hartley, 46, recently shared withEntertainment Tonightthat he’s open to welcoming his formerThis Is Uscostars as guest stars on his new CBS series,Tracker.

After the actor shared how “fun” it would be to reunite with the cast — which includesMilo Ventimiglia,Mandy Moore,Sterling K. Brown,Chrissy MetzandSusan Kelechi Watson— he said, “I’m always thinking about ways to get back together with those guys. It’d have to be something really special."

The actor then proposed a possible episode that facilitates a crossover between both series and would guest star Ventimiglia. TheGilmore Girlsactor, 46, starred as Jack Pearson, the father to Hartley’s character Kevin Pearson, onThis Is Usfor its entire six-season run.

“Maybe we could find out [my character’s] such a good tracker. Maybe he finds Jack? Like maybe henever died, something like that? A plot twist,” Hartley suggested.

He then quipped about how audiences would react if that plotline actually made it to the screen. “Could you imagine? Like heisgood," he said.

Milo Ventimiglia as Jack Pearson in “This is Us” “New York, New York, New York” episode.Ron Batzdorff/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

While theTrackerstar toyed with the possibility of welcoming his former costars to set, he also emphasized how important his role as Kevin Pearson was to his acting career.

“I will always take pieces of Kevin Pearson with me everywhere I go,” revealed Hartley. “He had so many emotional [scenes] — talk about an emotional spectrum that guy ran the gamut.”

“It’s exhausting work diving into another character, because you you do have to start over," he added.

Prior to Hartley’s upcoming CBS series, he starred in the Emmy-winning NBC series for six seasons before itconcluded in 2022.

The cast of ‘This Is Us’.Maarten de Boer/NBCUniversal

Hartley’s upcoming project will see him star as Colter Shaw, “a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker,” according to the network. Throughout the series, Shaw will use “his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family.”

While speaking toET, Hartley noted that he loves how Shaw is “so free.”

“He’s a restless guy,” he explained. “He’s definitely got his past, but I just liked the idea of this guy just having total control and freedom of his own life and helping people along the way.”

Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw in ‘Tracker’.Michael Courtney/CBS

Michael Courtney/CBS

Addressing what drew him to the show as both the star and executive producer, Hartley said, “It’s a show that I just haven’t seen before. [We] got the rights to the book… and in reading that book, I fell in love with that character.”

He continued, “This lone wolf survivalist, the idea of this guy who is raised in a certain way where his father took him off the grid, taught him how to be a survivalist, and then you have him as an adult using all of those skills to help other people roaming around the country.”

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Trackerpremieres afterSuper BowlLVIII on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024.

source: people.com