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Spoilers ahead forThis Is Us.
An ode to the crying men on ‘This Is Us’
On a specialpostSuper Bowl episode ofThis Is Us,the mystery surrounding Jack Pearsons death was finally revealed.
Weve had a couple of days to settle down with Jacks sad, sad story.
But now youre dealing with peoples grief!I know!
People are genuinely broken up about it.Yeah, I know.
Jack is one of those characters that is a source of great pain and a source of great joy.
I feel like they work simultaneously, [but] they dont completely break people.
Or maybe they have.
I havent run across anyone on the streets just yet.
The good news is this character and this show are impacting people.
Im like, No, no, no.
Last nights episodewas so beautiful.
Were you moved when you read the script?Yeah, I was excited.
It was a beautiful episode.
Plus all those touches like the coffee cup that he leaves behind.
Thats a gutting detail.Oh yeah, thats just unfortunate.
You watched the episode, right?I did, yes.
I think a lot of it is just relative to my playing of Jack.
Im their father, Im her husband, [so] my heart breaks for those folks.
Its tough to watch, but at the same time, really beautiful.
I mean, Mandy, Im constantly reminded how amazing of an actor she is.
I get to have that front row to her performances.
Im just constantly blown away by their work.
Its interesting all the little things Jack seems to know ahead of time.
Even in the Super Bowl episode, Jack seemed to know that he wasnt in good shape.
There is a bit of magic with Jack.
He sees things coming.
He doesnt ever put it on anyone else to make them worry or stress or anything.
He has this true hope and belief.
The only way I can describe it is its magical.
And theres that moment when Rebecca hears Jacks voice while shes at the vending machine.
I believe it was something else.
Thats just me, personally.
It was something spiritual or mystical.Yeah, exactly.
But I dont think were going to see ghost Jack.
That was I took drugs accidentally.
Thats all that was.
Jack is also a master of words.
In last nights episode, he has that whole speech to Rebecca about snow falling.
Where does he come up with that stuff?I dont know.
I think Jack doesnt give himself enough credit.
He may not have that big education degree, but hes a very smart man.
Are we going to see Jacks secret visits to Dr. K?I dont know.
I think its a real possibility.
Lets talk about that fire scene, which was filmed with real fire.
What was that like?
Were the kids scared?
When we were filming the fire, that was very real.
But it was real fire and it was scary.
That was very real.
There was no acting needed.
What was it like filming the sequence when Jack shields Kate with a mattress?
I know a stunt person was involved.Yeah, I did have a double that was in there.
Those scenes are tough because youre working with a real element that could harm someone.
To have Jack stay in the fire, it felt unnecessary.
We didnt as an audience need to know that Jack burned to death.
It was just a very kind thing of Fogelman to let the audience not have that.
We didnt see him die at all, which I found very interesting.
They dont have to see their patriarch actually die.
But at the same time, I really believe that Jack knew something wasnt right.
He probably didnt want to subject his wife to it.
Mandy Moore didnt know that you were going to be in that scene, right?
What was it like to just lie there and listen?It was pretty heartbreaking.
It was a difficult thing because Im hearing my friend break.
John and Glenn told me they used the first take where she was really surprised to see you.
Mandy was just supposed to go into this blank room.
It seems like were going to learn more about Jacks history now.
He makes a decision and he sticks with it.
Jack is one of those who runs into danger.
Im sure you heardthe ratings were hugefor the Super Bowl episode.Yeah, yeah.
I was pretty surprised 30 million, its pretty impressive.
Looking back, almost 30 million people just tuned in to see what happened to Jack.
How does that make you feel?Its encouraging.
Its very exciting and encouraging and theres more to come.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
