‘This Is Us’ Teens Talk Working With Their Older And Younger Alter Egos For Season 2

Just call these This Is Us stars the Middle Three. Hannah Zeile, Logan Shroyer, and Niles Fitch, the teen actors who play Kate, Kevin, and Randall Pearson on This Is Us, know they lucked out when they were cast on NBC’s hit family-themed drama. While they appeared in several episodes of the show’s inaugural season, the teens were recently upped to series regulars, so expect to see a lot more of them as Season 2 plays out.

The teen This Is Us stars are also lucky enough to be able to act in scenes with Milo Ventimiglia, who plays their father, Jack Pearson, on the show. (Not the case for the adult versions of the characters played by Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, and Sterling K. Brown, whose only scene with the late Papa Pearson so far has been courtesy of an acid trip.)

In an interview on the This Is Us set, Zeile, Shroyer, and Fitch talked about their newfound fame, as well as working with their older counterparts and the kids who play the younger versions of the Big Three on the hit drama series. The teen actors said they feel like their roles on This Is Us were meant to be.

“Especially when you look at the older versions [of the characters],” Fitch said. “It’s uncanny. it’s weird because when you’re talking to them it is kind of like you’re talking to yourself because we do play the same character.”

In a unique acting situation, Zeile and Shroyer said they are able to collaborate with the adult Big Three actors on their shared characters.

“They trust us a lot,” Zeile said. “They trust us enough to go, ‘You know, the teenage years are your guys’ years so whatever you need to do with that character, we trust in your abilities.’ In the same way that we look up to them and their abilities.”

While they don’t share scenes with them, the teen trio agreed that child actors Mackenzie Hancsicsak, Parker Bates, and Lonnie Chavis, who play the 10-year-old Big Three, are so much fun to have on the This Is Us set. Zeile said the young actors who play the pre-middle school Pearson kids are at a fun age because they tend to say the things that everyone else is thinking but wouldn’t dare say.

And then there’s Papa Pearson.

“Mr. Milo is like a father figure,” Fitch said.

Shroyer added that when the teen actors first joined the cast, Milo Ventimiglia personally welcomed them all to the This Is Us family. Now, for This Is Us’ second season, fans can expect to find out about Jack’s death story, but also “a lot more” about the teens.

“I’d say Season 2 steps it up,” said Shroyer. “If you thought Season 1 was intense, you better be ready.”

Check out the interviews with This Is Us teen actors Hannah Zeile, Logan Shroyer, and Niles Fitch in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPfp-TkXrAU

[Featured Image by Evans Vestal Ward/NBC]