‘This Is Us’ Beloved Actor Griffin Dunne Promoted To Series Regular, What To Expect As Season 4 Progresses

Beloved actor Griffin Dunne, who was featured on This Is Us for one season, has been promoted to a series regular, one season after he made his debut on the prime-time series.

TV Line confirmed that Griffin Dunne has been made a full-time member of the Pearson clan. Dunne, who portrays the adult version of Jack’s younger brother Nicky, was seen in the Season 4 premiere in a striking moment where he threw a chair through a window at a Veterans Affairs office. In the scene, several members, including new character Cassidy Sharp, portrayed by Jennifer Morrison, were having a support meeting. Nicky, drunk and belligerent, was arrested and called his nephew Kevin (Justin Hartley) for help after he was arrested.

Dunne joined the show in Season 3 as a recurring guest star and added a shocking twist to the backstory of Jack Pearson, who stated to his wife and family that his brother had died in Vietnam. Fans would later learn that Nicky did not die. Rather, he had left his service in Vietnam even more broken than before he arrived, and Jack took care of him until he had his own family, where he then left his younger brother to battle his demons on his own.

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During his inaugural season on the show, Nicky was discovered by Kevin and his siblings Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) living in a filthy trailer, drinking heavily, and quite lonely. Nicky was introduced to Rebecca by her son, who had some questions as to why Jack would keep information that his brother, whom she always believed to be dead, was very much alive.

Fans of the show already know that Dunne will be seen throughout the following three seasons of the show, which will conclude with Season 6. He was one of the few people gathered in Kevin’s apartment as an older and ailing Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore) lie dying in her bed.

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The first episode of Season 4 led viewers on a roller coaster journey, where the focus of the episode is on the new characters introduced into the mix.

These included the aforementioned Cassidy as well as Rebecca’s parents (played by Tim Matheson and Elizabeth Perkins), Malik (Asante Blackk), Marsha (Stephanie Blake), and Malik’s dad Darnell (played by Omar Epps). Also introduced is Jack Damon (Blake Stadnik), the adult version of Toby (Chris Sullivan) and Kate’s son, whom we also learned in the episode is blind. Rumor has it that some of these people will heavily impact the characters of Deja and Kevin specifically, and others will eventually affect each member of the extended Pearson family.

The Inquisitr previously reported that Stadnik’s appearance on the show was a closely guarded secret.

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.