Justin Hartley Teases More Appearances From His Former ‘This Is Us’ Costars on ‘Tracker’ Season 2
Justin Hartley appears to have plans for more of his former This Is Us costars to make appearances on CBS’ hit series Tracker.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive clip from the Tuesday, October 15, episode of Tommy DiDario‘s “I’ve Never Said This Before” podcast, Hartley, 47, was asked whether viewers would see additional This Is Us cameos on the upcoming season of his current show.
“I think we will,” the actor replied coyly during a Q&A event at the 92nd Street Y center in New York City. Hartley didn’t offer any more details, but he did smile at the question after discussing his close-knit bond with the cast of the hit NBC series.
“We’ve all talked about [bringing the show back in some way]. I don’t know if there are plans to reboot it — I haven’t been involved yet — which is a whole other conversation,” Harley noted. “But I still keep in touch with all of those guys. They are all so great, they will be lifelong friends of mine. I love them all.”
This Is Us, which ran from 2016 to 2022, focused on siblings Kevin (Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) in addition to their parents, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore). Before This Is Us came to an end, Hartley was already making moves — with the help of producer Ken Olin — toward a possible cast reunion on the set of Tracker.
“I’m always thinking about ways to get back together with those guys. It’d have to be something really special,” Hartley told Entertainment Tonight back in February. “Maybe we could find out [my character’s] such a good tracker. Maybe he finds Jack? Like maybe he never died, something like that? A plot twist. Could you imagine? Like, he is good.”
Hartley already reunited with Jon Huertas, who directed an April episode of the show. Huertas, 54, exclusively told Us that he was already in talks to return at least as a director for more episodes of Tracker.
“There have been some conversations about me coming back to direct for sure. Justin has talked to me about being in front of the camera on the show at some point. But we’ll see,” Huertas hinted to Us that same month. “I’m going to be directing a lot this year so it’s all about figuring out if I can fit an acting gig in there. We’ll see about the in front of the camera thing but I’ll definitely be back to direct a few episodes this year.”
Later in the season, Hartley recruited Jennifer Morrison to play his character Colter’s childhood friend. There are also plans for her to return as a director and actor.
During his chat with DiDario, Hartley reflected on the unique way he said goodbye to This Is Us.
“We knew for years and years and years that that show was ending when it was ending. A lot of times you don’t get that opportunity. Things just happen and people go, ‘You are not doing it anymore,’” he explained in Tuesday’s episode. “This was more like, ‘You have the opportunity to play this character for six years. It is going to be amazing. What a ride this guy is going to go on. Here is what his journey is going to be.’ I thought that project was remarkable to be a part of.”
