“I think we finally did.”
On Tuesday night, the story of Miguel was told.
A thoroughly decent soul who was haunted by regrets.
Jon Huertas as Miguel, Mandy Moore as Rebecca.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Someone who found love, lost it, and found it again.
Blood pressure on the rise.
No time for a stress test.
Jon Huertas as Miguel.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Bad fall trying to help her during an episode one night in the snow.
venture to hide the bad fall from the Big Three.
They hired full-time help to help take care of him so he could help take care of her.
Eileen Galindo as Beatriz and Jon Huertas as Miguel.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
But not before reconciling with his own kids (with a little help from Kevin).
We don’t know.
But it’s a good question.
David DeLuise as Bill Lundy and Jon Huertas as Miguel.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Ask us again later.
How long have you been waiting?
That’s me as a selfish actor saying, “Can it like be more about me?”
Jon Huertas as Miguel and Mandy Moore as Rebecca.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
And I think we finally did.
They really did right by me, and I hope people are happy with it.
Which parts ended up in the episode?
Jon Huertas as Miguel and Mandy Moore as Rebecca.Ron Batzdorff/NBC
The main one would probably be Miguel’s hair journey.
It’s very personal.
I think I’ve only told this story once publicly before today.
Now he looks white.
He’ll fit in.
They won’t tease him anymore."
So I basically gave up my identity at that moment.
It took some growth to be able to really accept my natural hair.
That’s something that Miguel goes through.
When he meets Jack in the suit store, his hair’s curly.
When he starts working at Lundy, his hair is straight.
He blowdries it to fit in.
And Rebecca says, “No hat, I love your curls.”
This is who she likes.
This is who I’m going to be.'"
What should we do?"
In this episode, Miguel’s strong, silent service to Rebecca is bittersweetly explored.
But also honoring Rebecca and her feelings.
Rebecca was like, “He would probably root for us.”
Both of them ended up thinking that.
But most importantly, Miguel always honored Rebecca, and that’s the best kind of love.
That’s why he’s such a great caretaker in the end he’s still honoring her.
I’ve never felt at home anywhere."
It goes back to what I was saying about honoring Rebecca.
But Kevin was the only one that took his time to come around, really.
Miguel takes such honor in caring for Rebecca; it’s his raison d’etre.
I definitely felt like that a little bit myself, even saying it and performing that scene.
We can be harder on ourselves when the stress of life is laying so heavy on our shoulders.
But he did have a strong connection with Jack.
And he did have a strong connection with Rebecca.
He’s had a pretty strong connection with the adult Big Three as well.
And what’s great is that Randall, Kate and Kevin turned that around for him.
They said, “We love you.”
That was such a validating moment for him, hearing that he is just as important to them.
And they say: “We’re not doing this to you we’re doing thisforyou.”
That’s one of the most beautiful scenes that I’ve ever been a part of.
Just their performances, the way that they were connecting with me in the scene.
I could look across into Sterling’s eyes and look right through his eyes and straight into his heart.
Same with Justin, same with Chrissy.
It was just such an emotional scene.
It was a beautiful day at work.
That was good modeling for him.
When we get so focused on someone else’s well-being, we overlook our own.
We forget that we need self-care.
Maybe he could have lived longer, but when Miguel dies, he’s over 80 years old.
That was really cool.
I love that we got to pick the fruit, sit there, stare at it.
It was a nice callback.
It was definitely a wink at the original name of the character.
And it’s also true.
Sterling and I had a conversation on code switching, which a lot of us end up doing.
You end up code switching.
I did that so I wouldn’t be typecast as an actor.
It’s something I still do.
What’s great is that Miguel was smart enough to send in two resumes, one as Mike.
The only way we’re going to change it is to infiltrate and change it from the inside out.
That’s how I saw Miguel handling himself.
He’s like, “I’m going to get in here.
I’m going to infiltrate.
And then I’ll show them how good and how amazing I can be.
There’s so much that Miguel stuffed down, in his personal and professional life.
It was a little bit mean that she said that!
[Laughs] Why can’t I use everyone’s name?
It’s how I remember them!
That’s a nice comeback that he had, right?
I responded to a character and I said, “I love this character.
I’d love to be considered for this character.”
And the feedback came back: “Oh no, no, no.
They’re trying to decide which character they’re going to go diverse with, ethnic with.
That character in particular, they’re going white.”
And I’m like, “Well, then I’m not interested in your show.
They were like, “Look at this other character.”
“Oh, you mean the character with one line?
We talked the most about the scenes when Miguel is taking care of Rebecca.
When I was doing that stuff because I was favoring a part of my body I actually got sore.
I had a bad back and terrible knot in my sciatica [nerve].
I have bad knees already, but my knees were sore.
So it took its toll physically on me in real life.
And then all the falls out there [in the snow], I did those.
Those didn’t feel great.
How long have you known that Miguel wasn’t going to make it to Rebecca’s death bed?
For about three seasons.
Of course, he cared for her right up until his end.
Miguel loves Rebecca and he wants to be there for her when she’s dying.
I just thought it was done so well.
And at the perfect time.
It’s a couple of episodes before the end.
So in the next three episodes, it’ll justify the rapid decline that she may have.
you’re able to see how lost she is without him in this episode.
That’s a loss some people never recover from.
But it’s a good question.
Ask me again later.”
I interpreted it as him saying, “Your life is just beginning.”
Miguel was, at that point, about 25 years old and thought he had it all figured out.
And I think that his dad was saying, “You know what?
Spend some time out there in life.
And then you won’t have to ask.”
Meaning that Miguel didn’t see…
He had a narrow focus, he had tunnel vision.
Miguel wouldn’t have this new job.
He wouldn’t have ambition if it wasn’t for his father.
That’s what I think he meant.
By the way, weren’t there originally plans to show Miguel and Rebecca’s wedding?
We were going to film the wedding, but it’s a big episode.
We still had to cut 15 minutes from it.
We had this whole idea months ago that we might even go to Puerto Rico and film the wedding.
So we instead did a photo shoot and the voiceover stuff.
I mean, it would’ve been really nice.
We had our wedding clothes.
She had a dress.
I had a great shirt that I was going to wear.
How much of Miguel will viewers see in flashbacks or flash-forwards in these final three episodes?
Well, I can’t give out any spoilers.
But it’sThis Is Us.
People die onThis Is Us, but nobody dies onThis Is Us, if you know what I mean.
We do know what you mean.
Let’s look back at Miguel.
What you were given here was a real challenge.
And I realized that [laughs], once I started working on the show.
I didn’t know when they hired me that I was going to be married to Rebecca.
And I loved it.
But also you want people to root for you.
So that challenge for me is interesting as an actor.
And if they’re crying, it means they like Miguel.
And that means that we’ve overcome the challenge.
And that challenge is worth it.
How validating was it to see that fan sentiment slowly turn over the years?
But with COVID, we were supposed to find out a lot more [about him].
We lost two episodes in season 5 because of COVID.
How do you, Milo, and Mandy talk about these two couples?
Do you have your own jokes about the dynamic?
We usually joke about it.
And we’re also protective of our characters.
We don’t play into the “Who’s better for Rebecca, Jack or Miguel?”
We don’t play into that.
Milo and I don’t make a run at compete with one another.
We more joke about the relationship almost as if Jack’s not dead.
It’s just, “This is the way it is.
This is our relationship.
It’s the three of us.”
And it’s fun.
We talk about how it’snotstrange that Jack’s best friend fell for Rebecca.
We don’t want our widows out there in that crazy world.
What are the guiding philosophies of this initiative?
It sounds like quality, not quantity, inclusion is at the heart of this mission.
What kind of characters are we playing and what are they doing for the betterment of our people?
When we talk about quality, we need well-developed characters.
And not as cartel bosses or lower-level cartel members or menial jobs.
It starts at the creative infancy of an idea.
I want to see more directors behind the camera.
I’ve only been directed by one adult male Latino in my 27-year career in television.
And is the one thing that you won’t miss the age makeup?
Yeah, you definitely answered that.
It’s thewigwith the age makeup.
The age makeup doesn’t bother me as much as the wig does by the end of the day.
Those pins that dig into my head it’s crazy.
I won’t miss that, but I will miss just working with the cast every day.
And seeing the crew’s faces when I show up to work.
Everybody on our crew smiles a lot.
I think they realize what a great job this was.
And then my castmates are just the most amazing seeing partners I’ve had.
I hope to find scene partners like that in the future.
I’ll miss them and I hope they miss me.
But it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later.
What’s the first thing that Jack and Miguel did when Miguel walked through the pearly gates?
How was my Milo Ventimiglia impersonation?
You captured his tone.How should Miguel’s tombstone read?
Personally, Jon Huertas does not like tombstones.
I do not like people to be buried.
Let’s not waste that green space!
So let me think…
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
