Milo Ventimiglia Kept His This Is Us Family Intact — and Might Bring Back Jack's 'Stache — for His New Role
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Milo Ventimiglia wasn't ready to say goodbye to the crew of This Is Us.
In an exclusive preview of his emmy magazine cover story (out Feb. 24), the 45-year-old actor reveals that he "brought a majority of our crew from This Is Us" to his new ABC series The Company You Keep.
"I've got my grips, my electric, my costume designer," he shares. "I've got my cinematographer, my production coordinator. I got one of my location managers on. I got my craft service. I got our gal who cleans up on set, Maria. I got just about everybody, short of writers, actors and, sadly, the art department."
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John Russo
Ventimiglia also refused to film The Company You Keep anywhere besides the Paramount lot in Los Angeles where This Is Us was filmed for six seasons before its series finale last spring.
"They'd say, 'Hey, Mi, how do you feel about Atlanta?' 'No, let's stay in California.' 'Hey, Mi, how do you feel about Vancouver?' 'Nope, let's stay in California,'" he recalls. "I wanted to film it at Paramount because that's where we did This Is Us. It works for my crew. The crew knows the lot — and the lot knows the crew."
John Russo
Ventimiglia believes keeping the This Is Us family together has helped bring some of the same magic to his new show.
"This Is Us was such a wonderful set to be on," he says. "How could I not try to put that magic into a new endeavor that we have? So far, it has really saved us, helped us."
He adds, "I know a lot of talented folks. When you can work with your friends, I just think that's the best recipe. You're going to capture something great and have a good time while you're doing it."
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While Ventimiglia pushed to keep the This Is Us crew together, he was ready to bring his new The Company You Keep character, Charlie, to life.
"Jack, in my mind, became a total caricature," he says of playing the Pearson family patriarch on the NBC series. "When you do a show for six years, you know what the parameters are, what the challenges are. You know the moments when you're operating off of instinct. You don't have to discover anything with the character. With Charlie, I'm still discovering."
However, he may not be not opposed to bringing back Jack's signature facial mustache in his new role.
"I'm sure Charlie will pop up with a mustache, with some facial hair, and maybe blonde at some point or a little wild hair," he teases.
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The Company You Keep premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
