You’d think Milo Ventimiglia would be sick of comforting fans over Jack Pearson’s death at this point. But on Tuesday night, the “This Is Us” star was back at it on “The Tonight Show,” telling host Jimmy Fallon and his guests, “It’s OK, I’m here,” while discussing his on-screen alter ego’s shocking Season 2 death.
While Fallon said he was one of the many saddened to learn how the Pearson family patriarch died (cardiac arrest due to smoke inhalation from a house fire), he also bought into some of the crazy fan theories before the revelation.
“Oh, everybody had all the theories about it, and there were some crazy ones,” Ventimiglia said. “There was, ‘Jack’s an alien. He’s still alive.’ ‘Jack’s an undercover cop. He got shot on duty.’ ‘Miguel did it.’ [rolls eyes at audience]”
“That’s what I heard. I heard Miguel did it,” Fallon said, laughing.
OK, so there may have been a fan or two who thought it was possible that Miguel (Jon Huertas) offed his BFF so he could marry Jack’s wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore). Look, they are married in the present day and we didn’t know how they got together for a long time — and, yeah, it’s a little crazy.
“I mean, let’s all be good to Jon Huertas. He’s a good man. Miguel’s his best friend,” Ventimiglia said.
Even though Ventimiglia’s character was officially killed on-screen last season, that doesn’t mean he’s been removed from storylines, as the upcoming installment will delve deeper into Jack’s past.
“Yeah, so what we’re doing this season, Jack goes back to Vietnam, and we explore kind of that younger Jack and what he experienced in war-time,” Ventimiglia said. “And then also, on the positive side, we get to see Jack and Rebecca, budding love. You know, their courtship and how — there’s a lot of that.”
Watch the interview above.
“This Is Us” Season 3 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 9/8c on NBC.