Milo Ventimiglia Reveals How His New Role Differs From Jack Pearson: He’s Not ‘America’s Father’ (Exclusive)

Milo Ventimiglia stars arsenic a con antheral named Charlie successful ABC’s caller drama The Company You Keep, which premieres February 19 connected ABC. After playing the beloved Jack Pearson connected This Is Us for 6 seasons, the histrion was crippled for a radically antithetic project. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Milo astir his travel to The Company You Keep.

Milo Ventimiglia arsenic Charlie successful ‘The Company You Keep.’ (ABC)

“It was much than conscionable the role,” Milo told HollywoodLife during the Television Critics Association wintertime property tour. “It was the entirety of the project. It was the scope. It was the taxable matter. It was thing that felt similar amusement successful benignant of the heaviness of the satellite and everything. It felt exciting. It felt fun. In the halfway of that, Charlie Nicoletti and his household and what they’re going done arsenic grifters, arsenic con artists, to beryllium matched with Catherine Haena Kim, who is simply a CIA officer… determination was conscionable thing airy and amusive and exciting, but yet inactive precise quality astir who this feline is. I deliberation for the years that I had spent playing America’s father, playing Jack Pearson, it was like, okay, nary kids. God bless ‘em. Let’s conscionable get backmost to a feline trying to fig things retired for himself, for his family, and gets caught up successful immoderate heat.”

Being a con creator isn’t conscionable a solo gig for Charlie, it’s a household affair. Milo pointed retired that Charlie is the “architect of a batch of the cons.” He was calved into the concern with his sister, Birdie. “He’s truly talented astatine being a con man. He’s truly gifted,” Milo added.

Having been calved into the con world, Charlie hasn’t known immoderate different mode of life. However, helium yearns for thing different. “That’s Charlie’s conflict done the archetypal season. He had plans to get out. He had wanted to get out. He had tried to get out, but yet helium recovered himself inactive successful this life, successful this world, by crossing paths with the incorrect criminals,” Milo explained. “Charlie’s talented astatine it, but I don’t deliberation this is who helium wants to beryllium exactly.”

Fans rallied astir Jack and Rebecca, the aureate mates of This Is Us. In The Company You Keep, Charlie crosses paths with Emma, who conscionable happens to beryllium an undercover CIA officer. Milo explained however the 2 couples disagree from 1 another.

Catherine Haena Kim and Milo Ventimiglia arsenic Emma and Charlie. (ABC)

“Jack and Rebecca, I consciousness similar that was a mates that determination wasn’t overmuch betwixt them that they didn’t already know, adjacent though they were a mates of a peculiar generation,” helium said. Charlie and Emma, they’ve got antithetic parameters. They person antithetic obstacles. She’s successful the CIA. That’s not a occupation you speech about. He’s a criminal. That, too, is simply a occupation you don’t speech about.”

He added, “So if you benignant of already acceptable them up successful absorption with a monolithic partition betwixt them, however bash they travel together? So I deliberation that was the excitement with Charlie and Emma. From the infinitesimal they meet, you’re rooting for them. You genuinely are rooting for them due to the fact that who they are fundamentally is precise close successful a partnership. But who they person go due to the fact that of their jobs, due to the fact that of their worlds, due to the fact that of what they’re calved of — Emma of DC politics, Charlie from vicinity barroom grifting family, connected insubstantial it truly doesn’t ringing true. But if you portion everything away, you instrumentality the worlds retired of it, it works. So past the question is: does it work? Does it actually work? Can it work? I deliberation that’s the exploration. That’s the amusive portion astir Charlie and Emma due to the fact that we travel successful blistery and dense with who they are and they’re gathering and everything, but past astatine the aforesaid time, we are putting them connected other ends of the instrumentality and we enactment them connected this collision people to fundamentally 1 of them could spell down. The different 1 could fail. It gets sticky. In presumption of relationships, romanticist oregon other, it gets really sticky.”

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