On Justin Hartley played Kevin Pearson: A man whose dreams of playing college football were derailed injury 鈥� so he decided to try acting, and ended up a big star.
Hartley's own story has some strong parallels. He loved to play sports growing up but realized, as he got older, he wasn't cut out to play professionally.
鈥淵ou realize there are too many people out there that are way better than you are. There鈥檚 no more room for you. You have to find something else to do," he told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
Like Kevin, that something else turned out to be acting. While in college, Hartley joined a theater group where audience members could get onstage and join in the dialogue, leaving the actors to just go with it.
鈥淗ow you prep for something like that is you just do a lot of improv work, so you鈥檙e kind of prepared for everything. They come up, they think they鈥檙e being clever, they say something, you鈥檝e already heard it. And I just fell in love with that that energy," he said. "You get that same kind of adrenaline rush from playing sports."
Fueled by the boldness of youth and the lack of any real responsibilities, Hartley decided to move out to Los Angeles and join the countless other wannabe actors looking for their big break.
鈥淚 know no one. I have no prospects. I have no job in LA. I鈥檝e never been. I have no talent to speak of, and I don鈥檛 know how to develop it," said Hartley. "'OK, let鈥檚 go to LA and roll the dice and see what happens.' It kind of makes me sweat just thinking about it.鈥�
The experiment obviously paid off but it wasn't until 鈥淭his is Us鈥� debuted in 2016 that Hartley reached a level of fame that led to security and opportunities. He has his own production company, Change Up Productions, where he's developing projects.
鈥淵ou look at television and streaming. There are a million things out there. There are a million roles. They don't compare to how many talented actors there are out there," said Hartley.
Hartley's first big role since 鈥淭his is Us鈥� aired its series finale last May is the Netflix holiday movie 鈥� " based on the novel by Richard Paul Evans. He plays a popular author who returns to his childhood home to settle his late mother鈥檚 estate and finds an old diary that leads him down a road of romance and reconciliation.
The film is directed by Charles Shyer, who directed 鈥淔ather of the Bride鈥� and 鈥淔ather of the Bride II.鈥�
鈥淲e shot this movie a while ago, so for people to finally be able to see it is pretty exciting for me,鈥� said Hartley, adding that while the story takes place around Christmas, they filmed in the middle of summer.
鈥淚t was in the nineties and it was muggy. And (Shyer) would just look at me and go, 鈥業鈥檓 so sorry. You must be miserable.鈥� It was hot," he added. "It was uncomfortable, I guess, because they kept putting coats on us, but it wasn鈥檛 miserable. It was magic. It was wonderful. To celebrate, Christmas in the summer and then also get to celebrate in the winter is kind of cool.鈥�
Hartley just shot a pilot with a former 鈥淭his is Us鈥� executive producer and director, Ken Olin, for CBS called 鈥淭he Never Game," based on a book by Jeffrey Deaver. He's also a co-executive producer.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a really neat sort of a throwback to classic older television in a way, these characters that you don鈥檛 really see anymore,鈥� he said.
He also recently guest-starred in an episode of N小蓝视频 鈥� 鈥� reboot with his wife, Sofia Pernas. The two had shared a couple scenes on 鈥淭he Young & the Restless鈥� before, he said, but didn't really know each other 鈥� so he counts this as the first time he really got to work with her.
鈥淪he鈥檚 hilarious. I got a kick out of it. Sofia is my best friend. She鈥檚 my wife. I love her to death," he said. "She means everything to me, but my character on that show 鈥� she was annoying him, and I thought that was kind of funny. We had a blast."
Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press
