Look, we all know how emotional NBC’s This Is Us makes fans, in fact, watch below as Milo Ventimiglia (‘Jack’) reads some of your saddest tweets below.

 

 

But, if you think it’s hard on viewers, can you imagine what these actors have to go through in playing these complex characters?

 

via GIPHY

 

Well, Mandy Moore – who plays Rebecca Pearson – sat down with Variety and spoke how difficult it was to film those scenes when her character first learned of Jack’s death.

She said, “That one was pretty gut-wrenching for me! Pretty much all of [episodes] 14 and 15, save for the happier moments, was a challenge — just because I feel like there has been so much build up that I wanted to honor these moments. I felt a tremendous responsibility to do that. I think I was just nervous. I wanted to make sure I could properly pour myself into those moments. And I had no idea that [Milo] was going to be in that bed.”

She added, “We filmed that scene, and then he was done for the day, obviously, because then he died. So I just was in my own frame of mind and had my headphones on and was preparing for that scene with the doctor and the candy bar and going into his room, but I was just preparing for an empty hospital bed. So I was shocked. He was laying there, not moving, and it was very, very disturbing…”

She also went into depth about how she prepares for these emotional scenes (full disclosure, as a viewer I prepare with LOTS of alcohol and a box of tissues, oh and a tub of ice cream). But enough about me, here’s what Mandy said,

“I think it’s just about quiet and stillness. Everybody is tremendously respectful to all of us when we all have scenes like this. This is certainly not the first or the last time we’ll have to experience these scenes. We have the best crew in the whole world — everyone is super respectful and super quiet and knows that when we have these scenes it’s not the time to be loud or joking around. Everyone’s there with you, which is so appreciated. But that’s it. I think I wake up on those days knowing this is what I have to do and [I’ll be] quiet and reflective in my own head. And once those moments are done and you shake it off, it’s such a good feeling. Because it’s no fun…”

Check out Mandy’s full interview with Variety HERE and tune in for more tears tomorrow night as a new episode of This Is Us airs at 9PM.

Filed under: kissmornings, Mandy Moore, milo-ventimiglia, This Is Us