Justin Hartley Reflects On The End Of An Era But Looks To The Future As He Says Goodbye To “This Is Us”

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES, ANOTHER OPENS — AND JUSTIN HARTLEY IS READY FOR THE NEXT STEP

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER
PHOTOGRAPHY RANDALL SLAVIN
STYLING ILARIA URBINATI
GROOMING ANDREA PEZZILLO
SHOT AT HOTEL FIGUEROA, LOS ANGELES

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

JUSTIN HARTLEY KIND OF SEEMS LIKE THE PERFECT GUY, NOT GOING TO LIE. He’s handsome, successful, funny, ambitious. Surely he must have a flaw. So I turn to the person who knows him best: his wife.

Sofia Pernas, his wife of seven months, has hopped into his car at the tail end of our Zoom interview, just in time to hear me ask what makes him weird. He’s stumped, so he turns the question over to the expert — a pandemic-era version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s phone-a-friend meets Family Feud.

Her answer: “It’s really hard to catch him barefoot. Sometimes I have to check under the covers to see if he’s wearing shoes in bed.”
The 44-year-old This Is Us star looks at his significant other and then at me. “That’s weird, isn’t it?” he wonders. “I don’t like to walk around barefoot, that’s true. I like to have shoes, socks, toes covered.”

But there’s a reason. “I have a bad allergy to bees, and I’ll be damned if two times this past summer, I was stung. I was barefoot because I was in the pool. I got out, stepped on the grass and stepped on a bee, and it stung the bottom of my foot. A month later, it happened again, on the exact same leg and exact same foot. It swelled up for two months!” he declares, indignantly.

As Pernas, 32, confirms how awful the situation was, Hartley jumps in again to expand on his abhorrence of being shoeless. “Have you seen those people who get on the airplane, take their shoes off and, in their stocking feet, walk to the bathroom?” He pauses. “Forgive me if you’re one of them. I don’t think you’re one of them. But if you are, stop it!” (I’m not.) He continues, “We’ve been doing a little bit of traveling, and when I get off the plane, I use the restroom at the airport. There’s a line of urinals and a line of sinks. And as I’m washing my hands, I see men who have just gone to the bathroom. They will zip up and walk out. I’m like, ‘How the f**k are you not washing your hands in the middle of a pandemic? This is why we’re here, man! This is why we’re here, you dirty bird.’”

But does he say anything? Hartley is a vocal guy, but with such a dry sense of humor that it’s not always easy to tell when he’s being serious and when he’s kidding (though he swears that this quirk is easy to decipher when you’re a close friend). “It depends on how many drinks I had during the flight,” he says (joking, joking!). “I typically give off a sign like, ‘Come on, guy. Really? You can’t take 90 seconds to wash your hands?’”

Now, lit up by his wife’s presence, he wants to add another eccentricity, which, in my opinion, is just plain old common sense, especially given the current climate. “Here’s another weird thing about me, and this might be weirder. Wherever I am, I will go into the bathroom, wash my hands, use the restroom, and then I will wash my hands again and return to my seat. Is that weird?”

No, I say. You’re just very clean.

He nods. “I don’t know where my hands have been! I don’t know how many hands I’ve shaken. I think everybody should do that. It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Justin, I’m with you. It really, really does. And just as much as his fastidiousness has helped him out of unsanitary situations, a similar rationale (albeit for an entirely different dilemma) has helped Hartley’s on-screen self out, too. The season five finale of NBC’s This Is Us saw his character, Kevin Pearson, at a powerful crossroads, ultimately deciding — quite logically, might I add — against marrying Madison (Caitlin Thompson) on their wedding day. He didn’t love her, you see. She realized it, he realized it, and they saved one another from making a giant matrimonial mistake.

As the series comes to a close in its sixth and final season this January, I — and many others — have to wonder where that leaves the most relatable member of the Big Three (the other two being biological sister Kate, played by Chrissy Metz, and adopted brother Randall, played by Sterling K. Brown)?

“Kevin has a lot of decisions to make, and that will be part of the beginning of the final season. We’ll be seeing how he navigates his circumstance with Madison, with his kids, not going through with the wedding. His love life, his career, his family, his mother, all that stuff. It’s like a line in the sand: before this moment and after this moment. He’s a changed man. He’s got a lot more responsibilities now, certainly, than he used to,” Hartley explains.

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

Which he, as an actor, appreciates. Hartley would have been bored playing Kevin as a human who refused to evolve. “The character has changed so dramatically from the time I started playing him [in 2016] to now. He’s almost like a different person, but at the same time, if you took him apart, you would still recognize him. When I think about that now, I think, What parts of him are exactly the same? I keep coming back to his heart. That would still be recognizable from moment one, season one, until the last moment of season six.

His heart and his spirit are intact. They’ve always been the same, and they’re always big. He’s a lover. I kind of hang on to that.”
Inquiring minds want to know: as Kevin has evolved, as Justin has evolved, are he and his small-screen character more alike than not? “If I had to give a percentage, I’d say we’re 50 percent alike,” he says, continuing in his dry, deadpan way, “I’ve just taken a really lazy approach. I don’t like to do any work; I just play him as me. He used to be different and dynamic. Now, I just do me.”

All jokes aside, he maintains, “It would depend on what script I just read. There are times where he makes decisions and goes about life in a way that I’m like, ‘I would never do any of these things.’ And there are other times where I’m like, ‘That’s exactly what I would do.’ And there are still other times where he does things where I’m like, ‘I’ve never done that, but I think I’m going to start doing that because it’s a really good way to go about things.’ I do learn from him, in a weird way. I know that Kevin doesn’t really exist, but much like reading from a book, I have learned a lot from playing him.”

Meanwhile, I’m also not-so-stealthily trying to learn a lot — about the series’ final season, that is. How will it end? Will Kevin wind up with Sophie? (Even though Sophie, played by Alexandra Breckenridge, is loving up another man on Netflix’s Virgin River?) How do Kate and new husband Phillip (Chris Geere) get together? Does family matriarch Rebecca (Mandy Moore) live until the end of the series? Does the finale get it right?

To that question, actually, Hartley has the answer. “It’s a tricky thing to end a series. It’s as tricky as the pilot, really. In the pilot, you’re introducing a lot of characters and a lot of plot and a lot of story. You want people to connect with the characters, and you have a limited amount of time. At the end, you have all these stories that you’ve told and a limited amount of time to wrap everything up. But I have all the faith in the world that [creator Dan Fogelman] and our writing team will figure it out. I think everyone will be pleased — beyond satisfied.”

Still, it’s impossible to make everyone happy, and he’s aware of that. “You can’t please every single person, that’s true,” he agrees. “But maybe that will be part of our ending. I hope [the fans get everything they want]. That’s what we’re working for. Personally though, I love it.”

What he knows of the super hush-hush ending, that is. “I know some of it. I don’t think it’s all been fully written, but I can tell you that I know some of it,” he reveals, adding, “Some of it’s already been shot — years ago.”

I’m hopeful that this means the reemergence of Pearson patriarch Jack, played by Milo Ventimiglia, who died in the season two finale but has been seen in frequent flashbacks for the past three seasons. And if that’s the case, I anticipate that each of the 18 episodes in season six will prompt bucketloads of tears, perhaps even more than usual. Hartley confirms that this is the case — not that you’ll see Kevin turning on the waterworks, though.

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

“When you read the script, you do get emotional,” he says. “If you have a beating heart in your chest, I think you have to get choked up a little bit. And Kevin’s got some hard things that he’s dealing with at the very beginning [of season six]. He’s got a lot of great things as well happening in his life. He’s a fortunate man, and he recognizes that. But Kevin’s not a big bawler. He’s got to be a leader, and you don’t want your leader walking around weeping. You want them to do their thing, handle their shit. And maybe they break down behind closed doors, but you don’t want to do that in front of the people who might need you.”

And though he declares that, like Kevin, he himself is not a crier, is there really no possibility Hartley himself will be busting out the tissues when it’s time to film the final episode? “I have not been weepy at all,” he declares. “I’m not really a weepy person, though.”
That being said, “I didn’t really know how I was going to react [when it came to saying goodbye to the show],” he admits. “I’ve been trying to enjoy every little moment. Even the annoying Covid stuff — because it is annoying; it just sucks — but on the flip side, how lucky am I that people care enough about me, or the job that we’re doing, that I need to be tested so often? So I’m trying to enjoy every little moment and appreciate that these moments in life are fleeting.”

There’s no denying that the beginning of the end is hard, regardless of how much (or how little) he’ll end up crying over it. “It’s sad, obviously. You meet new friends and get close to them to the point that you call them family. When you spend that much time with people, diving into that kind of material, to have it all come to an end is tough. But we knew it was going to end a long time ago; we’ve known for years that it was going for six seasons. It might have even originally been five seasons and ended up being six. So we’ve had some time to adjust.”

Covid certainly helped on that front. He didn’t see his fellow cast members for close to a year as they all quarantined separately. Hartley’s interactions were limited to Pernas and his now 17-year-old daughter, Isabella, from his first marriage, to his former Passions costar Lindsay Hartley.

But to this day, and in the days to come, the This Is Us cast will still be on the nonstop WhatsApp stream that started years ago and surged in scale during the pandemic. They will still be family.

“It’s just a really special group of people who know how lucky they were to be able to act on a show like this, to give those performances and to be able to say the words that are written for us. I think everybody feels really lucky and fortunate,” he says, before going back to the topic of tears. “As much as you would think people are crying — and you would think that we are — we actually spend most of our time laughing. And maybe that’s just a way to get through the emotional stuff… That won’t change.”

Why? Because This Is Us.

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin

LET’S REWIND A WEEK. We’re downtown on a Thursday morning for Hartley’s photo shoot at iconic downtown haunt Hotel Figueroa, and after snapping some shots in the Moroccan-themed Casita bar, he can’t resist ordering a cocktail (the Dios Mio: Altos Plata, Epazote, lime habanero agave and passion fruit). While it’s happening, I think, What a baller move. Which is exactly what I say during our chat a week later.

Hartley opts to explain the moment. “I was like, ‘We’re at a bar.’ There’s a bartender. She’s making these great drinks. I’m like, ‘Can I have one? They look amazing,’ and I had half a drink. I think that every time you get the opportunity, you should drink, [because a drink means a celebration]. Why not celebrate? Celebrate all the time.”

In case you’ve missed it, Justin Hartley is 100 percent living his best life. And although there’s inevitable sadness about the end of this particular chapter of his life, there’s also palatable excitement about what the future holds. When one door closes, another opens, after all. And Hartley’s future is bright.

In 2019, his production company, ChangeUp Productions, launched a pod deal with 20th Century Fox TV, the studio behind This Is Us. His first project is the small-screen adaptation of Jeffrey Deaver’s 2019 New York Times best-selling crime novel The Never Game, which he’ll star in and also executive produce, alongside This Is Us executive producer Ken Olin, who will also direct the thriller series’ first episode. The show revolves around Colter Shaw (Hartley), who travels around the country in an RV to help police and private citizens alike solve crimes — until a new case makes things personal. They’ll shoot the pilot for CBS this coming summer.

But that’s not all. He’ll serve as EP on another highly secretive new TV series, plus has three films in the pipeline for 2022: the comedy Senior Year, alongside Alicia Silverstone and Rebel Wilson; the thriller A Lot of Nothing, with Skye P. Marshall; and the romantic drama The Noel Diary.

And last but not least, he’ll be directing another episode of This Is Us (the first was “A Hell of a Week: Part Two” in season four), which he’s totally psyched to do.

“I’m digging the whole directing thing,” he declares. “I’ll be directing another episode of This Is Us this year, and I’ll be directing The Never Game, too. That will keep me busy. The hours will be different because it’s not an ensemble; it’s a one-man show. I won’t have much free time — I’ll be on set working, mostly — but it seemed like a good fit and something I could have a lot of fun with. It’s also a departure from what I’m doing right now, which is nice. I just think it’s a great next step for me.”

Speaking of great steps, well, his marriage to Pernas would be another one of those. I’m going to kick it back here to the season five finale of This Is Us, “The Adirondacks,” titled as such around the wedding gift of two Adirondack chairs that Nicky (Griffin Dunne) makes for Kevin, the intention behind the gift being that he perceives marriage to be “two people sitting in comfortable silence next to each other.” And while that sweet sentiment makes Kevin realize he’s about to marry the wrong person, the exact opposite is true for Hartley.

“We got married in March, and we are so happy!” he says when I congratulate him on his nuptials. “It’s incredible when you’re not forcing things. It doesn’t have to be that hard. You just meet the right person and you just go, ‘Oh, this is amazing. It’s just so wonderful!’ You’re so attracted and so attached to this person. You just love this person so much. Even though we’ve only been married a few months, it’s hard to remember what it was like without her. When I re-met her, I just knew. It’s so interesting about the human heart and human mind. It’s not a codependency; I’m just at peace with myself. I feel loved and I feel appreciated. I know she feels the same way. We just have a really great relationship and a really terrific family. It’s healthy and it’s wonderful.”

When talking about Pernas, he lights up, and it’s pretty beautiful to see. So I ask him this: Does she complete him, Jerry Maguire-style? And also, does she make him a better person?

“Both, completely both. Everything is easier with her in my life. I also feel like I’m better at stuff. I learn from her. She speaks five languages. She’s brilliant, she’s incredible, she’s fun to look at. Everything about her is amazing — she’s just hilarious. She inspires me to want to be a better man, like Jack Nicholson said in As Good as It Gets. I want to rise to the occasion because she’s so great. She does make me want to be a better person, and [this kind of love] certainly does complete me,” he declares.

I mean, is aww even enough here? I’m about to cry This Is Us-worthy tears.

But first, a lesson. Timing is everything, a point upon which Hartley and I are in total agreement. He initially met his Moroccan-born partner while the two were working on soap opera The Young and the Restless from 2015 to 2016. They were just casual colleagues — plus, he was in a relationship with now ex-wife Chrishell Stause.

He explains that, when he first met Pernas, he wasn’t in the headspace to see her as anything more than a coworker. “You meet in different capacities. We didn’t work together that closely, and we didn’t work together that long. I knew that she was very kind and very nice. I liked being around her. But I was in a different place in my life. I wasn’t available. Timing has a lot to do with that. I’m very lucky to not only have found ‘the one,’ but I found her when she was available and the timing was right.”

Speaking of timing, for Hartley, at this exact moment, life has truly never been better. He’s having the time of his life, so to speak. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been,” he proclaims. “I’m fulfilled in so many ways. My daughter is doing great in high school — she’s off to college soon, which is sad, but it’s also very exciting. I’ve met my life partner. I’ve got a really great imagination, but I could not have imagined someone like this. She’s off the charts. I’ve got my health. Creatively, I’m fulfilled with This Is Us. I’ve got a show lined up. I’m involved in a charity called Operation Therapy. Our goal is to deliver 500 emotional support dogs to veterans who otherwise would not have been able to get them. This stuff saves lives; it helps people who put their lives on the line for us. I’m fulfilled in so many different ways. My relationships in life are great — my friends, my family.”

He pauses, then smiles. “I’m a very lucky, fortunate man. And I know that.”

And there is absolutely nothing weird about that.

Photo Credit: Randall Slavin