Milo Ventimiglia Has More To Portray About Jack On ‘This Is Us,’ But Dan Fogelman Has Confession About Death

This Is Us fans finally had their questions answered about how Jack (played by Milo Ventimiglia) died and why Kate (portrayed by Chrissy Metz) continued to blame herself. But Jack’s death opened the door to another burning question: Would beloved actor Milo still have a role on This Is Us?

Warning: If You Haven’t Seen All The Episodes, Spoilers Ahead

Creator of This Is Us, Dan Fogelman, answered the question about Ventimiglia and also offered up a confession that was somewhat of an apology about the ongoing plot involving Jack’s death. Looking back on the This Is Us episodes leading up to the tragic loss of Milo’s character, Dan also answered many other questions that viewers have raised in an interview with EW.

Note: Fogelman’s revelations offer up spoilers if you haven’t seen all the episodes released thus far, particularly the episode that reveals exactly how Ventimiglia’s character dies and why Kate feels so responsible.

This Is Us: So Many Questions, So Many Tears

Fogelman reflected on the manner of Jack’s death, which showed Milo’s character suddenly passing away from cardiac arrest due to smoke inhalation. The death occurred mere hours after he saved his family, dog, and treasures from the Pearson family home. Dan shared that from the beginning, he had that exact death in mind.

“When I started to write [This Is Us], there was a fire at the house, and the patriarch of the family heroically got the family out of the house, and then died…hours later in a hospital by himself.”

Although Fogelman planned to bring on the tears from viewers by crafting Ventimiglia’s character as dying “in a really small way, without proper cinematic good-byes,” he has a regret about what occurred during the episodes prior to that scene, which caused viewers to flood the cast with questions.

This Is Us Creator Wishes He Could Rewrite These ‘Head Fake’ Scenes

One key episode showed Chrissy Metz as Kate showing Jack’s ashes to her boyfriend Toby (played by Chris Sullivan) and confessing to him that she felt responsible for her father’s death.

“I’m the reason he’s dead.”

This Is Us then showed teen Kate, played by Hannah Zeile, receiving a phone call from her dad about his marriage. Jack then appeared drunk as he drove to see Rebecca. Fogelman said that he viewed that as “interesting timing,” planning to tie up the loose ends of the mystery during Season 2.

But Dan and the writers had never dreamed that the questions from viewers and guesses that Jack’s death was linked to his alcoholism “would get so strong.” Looking back, Fogelman confessed that he has some regrets.

“That was a head fake [by the writers]. If I could take back a moment, that’s the moment I’d take back.”

Dan also feels that This Is Us offered viewers a “kind of twist or misdirect” in showing the challenges that Jack and his wife Rebecca, played by Mandy Moore, faced as their marriage matured. Fogelman admitted that he wishes he could rewrite “the way we were messaging the big, big thing coming in the [finale], because we were referring to the separation.” Viewers, however, interpreted the “big, big thing” as meaning Jack’s death.

Milo Ventimiglia Will Show New Aspects Of Jack On This Is Us

Fogelman wants viewers to remember that This Is Us “is not about Jack’s death.” That means that even though This Is Us has shown exactly how Jack died, new layers of his life have yet to be shown.

“In many ways, Jack might be the character we still have the most to learn about, because he’s kept so many secrets in this period before we’ve really known him.”

In discussing the third season, Dan pointed out that the writers can show aspects of Jack’s life that “we really can’t with a lot of our other characters.” He hinted that viewers will see the history leading up to Milo portraying the father of triplets, including his deceased brother and time in Vietnam.

And as This Is Us revealed on Instagram, the writers plan to reveal more of Jack’s and Rebecca’s love story on future episodes.

This Is Us Has One Death That Will Not Be Explored

“It’s one of the things I’m most excited about — where we go next in learning stuff about Jack. Which is ironic because the character just died in the most public way on national television,” added Fogelman.

Viewers may want to take a moment to mourn one other death that occurred recently on This Is Us. Beloved lizard, Mr. McGiggles, tragically got crushed by Beth’s foot in the kitchen. Dan revealed whether the lizard’s past might also be revealed.

“That’s one character that will not be returning to the show. When Mr. McGiggles dies, he’s dead forever.”

This Is Us will return on February 27.