Milo Ventimiglia talks playing a dad, working with Mandy Moore on ‘This Is Us’

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Milo Ventimiglia has a hunch he knows why his new show “This Is Us” has already struck a chord with audiences -- because it’s the same thing that made him want to be part of it.

“I think people are responding to a human story,” he said at CTV’s season preview in June.  “There’s no premise, there’s no scandal, there’s no superheroes battling for the world against aliens. It’s just people going through what we all experience as human beings, from parenthood and child birth to reconnecting with lost family to figuring out that maybe you kind of got misdirected and you’re in a rut.”

Ventimiglia stars in the family drama, airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET beginning Sept. 20, as Jack, loving husband to Mandy Moore’s Rebecca, with triplets on the way.

The pilot follows their story, as well as those of Kevin (Justin Hartley), a disillusioned actor, Kate (Chrissy Metz), a woman striving to lose weight, and Randall (Sterling K. Brown), a man who seeks out the father that abandoned him. Though seemingly isolated stories, by the hour’s end viewers will realize their lives may be more connected than initially thought.

“We can all relate on a human level to what we’re going through,” Ventimiglia says of the show’s theme of common connection. “At the same time, I can’t walk in your shoes, you can’t walk in mine, but we can at least be empathetic and sympathize and understand, and try and do our best as people.”

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Ventimiglia is no stranger to successful TV series, having broken out with a role on The CW’s “Gilmore Girls,” and starring on NBC’s “Heroes.” So he says in some ways the hype surrounding “This Is Us” feels familiar.

He welcomes the opportunity to play a family man, however. It’s a new experience he’s drawn inspiration from his own father to perform. 

“So happy to not have to furrow my brow and have lightning coming out of my hands or have a body covered in tattoos fighting an alien race,” he says. “I’m just a guy. I’m a dad, I got babies. Sure, I can do that. I got a wife that I love? Yeah, I can do that.”

Ventimiglia is tight-lipped about where the story may go beyond the premiere, wanting to allow viewers to fully experience the first episode for themselves.

On a personal level, he’s excited to continue working alongside Moore, whom he calls “one of the kindest souls I’ve met, but so so talented.”

He says they had an instant connection, and is committed to her as his wife while they are on set. 

“Even when the show was picked up we kind of toasted and it was like we were giving wedding vows,” he says. “She’s just lovely and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be shoulder to shoulder with her on this show.”