‘This Is Us’: Jon Huertas in Miguel’s back story, that shocking ending

SPOLER ALERT: Don’t read if you haven’t watched Miguel’s May 3 episode of “This Is Us.”

“Miguel Over the Years” was the simple description given to “This Is Us” on Tuesday, the fourth to final episode of NBC’s Dan Fogelman family drama. While accurate, this record doesn’t fit the hour, aptly titled “Miguel,” as it really was Jon Huertas’s daily spotlight video fans of Miguel Rivas waiting six seasons — and also the season in which the character died.

The episode shows viewers Miguel’s Puerto Rican origins, how he came to Pennsylvania as a boy with his parents and aunt, how he initially did not get along with his best friend Jack (Mello Ventimiglia) wife Rebecca (Mandy Moore), and how years after Jack’s death, Rebecca and Miguel find Rebecca and Miguel They made their way to each other, this time as romantic partners. In the current schedule, the increasingly degraded Miguel Pribeca—whose children Kate (Chrissy Metz), Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) prefer—allows a professional caregiver to lean in, leaving his kids the comfort of an aging body. In the end, Miguel admitted that he couldn’t do that anymore, allowing someone else to take care of his wife with Alzheimer’s And Himself for change.

The episode ends with Pearson’s sons and Miguel, having reunited with their father before his last days, bidding farewell to Miguel after his untimely death among the viewers.

Variety spoke with Huertas about filming the Miguel-focused “This Is Us” episode and whether we’ll see him again before the May 24 series finale in just three episodes.

How did you first learn about Miguel’s episode and do you have an opinion on the story?

I’ve known about this episode for a few seasons now. The way the timing was done, the episode is different than it would have been if it had come sooner, because it’s so close to the end and we have to address Miguel’s death in this episode. I knew the details about what kind of story we were going to tell, but we already started eating it a couple of months before the holidays. And I walked into the writers’ room with Dan, and he helped us bring all these ideas and influences out of my life. And our writer Johnny Gomez made it a really complete episode.

What do you think of fans’ reactions to Miguel’s story and death?

There might be some fans like, “Wow, it’s gone!” But you know where those fans can go. There are other fans who will hit them hard. They will worry that they haven’t invested enough in Miguel. But if they go back and think about all the wonderful moments and wonderful little tales that Miguel manages to bring into certain episodes and certain situations with the Pearson family, they’ll realize, “Oh, it all makes sense. The story he told us in this episode makes a lot of sense for who Miguel is and how he played in Pearson family dynamics. I think they will leave feeling very full and satisfied. But I don’t think they will be ready for the end, for Miguel’s departure. I don’t really think they would be ready for that.

What similarities have you seen between Miguel’s relationship with his father and his relationship with his son?

When he was brought to this country, it was a period of time in this country in which the defense of civil rights was still going on. There was certainly this dichotomy that still faces immigrants and people of color. The thing about Latinx people is that we’ve always been indigenous, black and BIPOC demos, and the idea of ​​assimilation has always been drilled into like Latino people. This story is that classic story of a kid who internalizes and says, The only way to move forward in life and achieve success and have the things that make you an American is assimilation. And as much as his father wanted to bring him to this better place with more opportunities and wanted him to succeed, I think his father really felt this guilt with Miguel. This is how Miguel felt with his son. It was one of those things he stuck to for a long time, the idea of ​​“I need to succeed. I need to improve my life.” Instead of realizing that maybe his life is really great. You probably have everything you could have dreamed of, you don’t have to keep driving. And because he did, he pushed his kids away. Although he thought he might do it for his son, daughter and wife, Shelley, he ended up like creating this void between them – just like what happened to him and his father.

Miguel’s romance with Rebecca is seen throughout this episode, right up to the end. The stage of taking care of Miguel means a lot, and he won’t leave her easily, even when his stepchildren ask him to let a professional take care of Rebecca and him. Why do you think so?

When Miguel has to be that sponsor, I think it’s a very important aspect of this episode. That people take something away from it, and never forget or underestimate what that person who takes care of them means. Whether they’re dealing with cognitive decline, whether they’ve had an accident and can’t take care of themselves the way they used to. I loved the way you told that story.

And Mandy and I talked a lot about it. I found myself never wanting to leave Mandy’s side while we were into older makeup. Even when we were on stage and not filming the scene, I was wondering where Mandy was and I wanted to be next to her, I wanted to be close to her. I was feeling this way, I wanted to make sure she knew I was close to her. I fell into it by chance. I noticed I was doing it right now, and I didn’t show up for work and say, “I’m not going to leave Mandy’s side because that’s what Miguel would do.” What happened happened.

Miguel’s death does not appear on the screen. Do you think it had to be?

I had this conversation with a completely different show and presenter, and it’s something I was going to be directing this summer. I feel that when someone dies, even if it’s a thriller or a horror movie, the more exciting thing for me is people’s reactions than actually seeing the person die. When you see someone’s reaction to that person, that’s where the feelings come from. Our show is based on emotional moments that we hope will evoke the emotions of our audience. So instead of seeing Miguel take his last breath and finally gasp, to see how it affects Rebecca, how you brought these two boys together seemingly had been at this rift with Miguel for a long time – his eldest son and then his stepson – coming together and sharing in this moment of scattering his ashes I think that’s more exciting than watching Miguel take his last breath. And we see Rebecca on her deathbed as we head towards it. And this is Rebecca’s device, this is for Rebecca’s death. So what is the different device we can use for Miguel? And I think it’s great the way we did it. It’s also more surprising this way. To me, it surprises you that Miguel is suddenly gone.

There are three more episodes of “This Is Us” to the left. Will we see Miguel again before the end?

I’ve said the entire time I was on this show, Miguel is a time traveler. He’s the one who goes from the fifties to the present day. So you can never count Miguel. may appear.

This interview has been edited and condensed.