Milo Ventimiglia Gets Emotional Recalling How His 'Wonderful' Father Informed His Role on This Is Us

Milo Ventimiglia didn't have to look too far for inspiration for his portrayal of family patriarch Jack Pearson.

During Friday's episode of The View, the Gilmore Girls actor got emotional while reminiscing about how his father informed his character on This Is Us, which concluded in May 2022 after six seasons.

"My mom and dad are wonderful people," Ventimiglia, 45, told the hosts while getting choked up. "My father and Jack Pearson were of the same era, both born in the 1940s, both Vietnam vets, and I saw in Jack the way that my father was with my sisters and I."

As he teared up and paused — which host Joy Behar commended, cohost Sunny Hostin handed him a tissue before he continued.

Ron Batzdorff/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

"What I also saw was an opportunity with the way he was to just kind of be a version of my dad and the big three were actually me," he added. "So I think anything I was doing was kind of just looking up to my dad."

To help him get into the right mindset of a caring, strong dad, Ventimiglia revealed he kept a sweet memento of his own father in his trailer.

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"In my trailer, I had a photo of my dad and I when I was a little kid and it said 'be a good husband, be a good father,'" the actor said. "And I was just like, look at that every day and you're there."

Ventimiglia described his character as an "attainable superhero," someone that audiences could relate to or aspire to be like as they watched the show. He imagined Jack as a "great example" of what a husband and father should be, despite his flaws.

Ron Batzdorff/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Jack Pearson in his wide wale pants

RELATED: Milo Ventimiglia Kept His This Is Us Family Intact — and Might Bring Back Jack's 'Stache — for His New Role

Now, Ventimiglia is pivoting into a slightly less aspirational character as he takes on the role of Charlie Nicoletti in The Company You Keep, where he'll play a smooth-talking swindler he describes as a "good bad guy."

"He's pulling off cons … which is the bad side," Ventimiglia said on the daytime talk show. "The good side is he has a moral compass. They're not just going after anybody, they're going after people that kind of deserve it."

ABC/Eric McCandless

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The Company You Keep premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.