‘This Is Us’ Star Milo Ventimiglia Teases Dying Rebecca Is ‘Gonna See Jack Soon’
This Is Us ended its third season on a sad note as a dying Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore) was shown in a future-set scene as her family members gathered for a bedside vigil. But not everyone is devastated over the fate of the Pearson matriarch.
In a new interview with Hollywood Life, This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia, who plays Rebecca’s late first husband, Jack, on the NBC drama, teased that his character’s widow might be seeing Jack “soon” after his death separated them decades earlier.
“I was excited for Rebecca. She’s gonna see Jack soon, maybe.”
This Is Us fans were stunned to see a bedridden, elderly Rebecca in the final seconds of the This Is Us Season 3 finale. In another unexpected twist, Rebecca’s second husband Miguel (Jon Huertas) was not by her side, but instead, Jack’s long-estranged brother Nicky (Griffin Dunne) was sitting in the room with her.
It is clear that Rebecca Pearson’s days are numbered as she battles an unknown ailment. Ventimiglia warned fans that they will need to keep their tissues close by as the sad storyline plays out in the show’s upcoming season.
“My warnings these days are like, ‘It’s gonna make you cry,’ knowing what we’re going to get into this fourth season.”
Unlike Rebecca, This Is Us viewers did not get to see Jack grow old, as Ventimiglia’s character died in his early 50s after suffering a heart attack fueled by smoke inhalation. But what about Miguel, Jack’s longtime best friend who ultimately became Rebecca’s second husband?
In an interview with TV Line, This Is Us executive producer Isaac Aptaker revealed the show’s writers are very careful about who and what they decide to show in future-set scenes. When it comes to the whereabouts of Miguel, the family friend Rebecca married more than a decade after Jack’s death, Aptaker teased a new mystery coming up on the NBC drama.
“What happened to Miguel and where he is in the future is a bit of a longer-term mystery for the show.”
This Is Us has played some interesting games with time throughout its three-season run. The show has featured everything from flashbacks to Jack and Rebecca’s childhoods to the future-set scene of Rebecca’s deathbed. A reunion for Jack and Rebecca would mean breaking yet another wall by showing the beloved couple in the afterlife. Producers have already confirmed that the future set scenes, set in what appears to be the early 2030s timeframe, will be the series’ ending timeline.
Still, Rebecca did “reunite” with Jack once after his death. In the This Is Us Season 3 closer, titled “The Wedding,” the couple’s daughter Kate (Chrissy Metz) had a dream about the milestone 40th wedding anniversary of her parents. That was the only time viewers got to see Old Jack, but maybe it won’t be the last.
This Is Us returns to NBC this fall.
