The actress fondly recalls her late co-star on the hit television series titled 'This is Us' and the deep understanding he had with his character called William Hill.
- July 17, 2024
AceShowbiz - On the latest episode of the "That Was Us" podcast, Mandy Moore, along with her co-hosts and former "This Is Us" castmates Sterling K. Brown and Chris Sullivan, discussed the show's Season 1 episode "Pilgrim Rick". Moore recounted a poignant moment between Olivia (Janet Montgomery) and William (Ron Cephas Jones), in which Olivia asks William how it feels to be dying.
Reading an excerpt from the script, Moore shared William's heartfelt response, "It feels like all these beautiful pieces of life are flying all around me and I'm trying to catch them...Catch the moments of your life, catch them while you're young and quick because sooner than you know you'll be old and slow and there will be no more of them to catch."
Brown, who portrayed William's adopted son Randall Pearson, was visibly moved by the reading, reflecting on Jones' profound understanding of William's character. "You really get the sense that he had a profound understanding of what he was saying," Brown said. "And because he's not with us anymore, beautiful human being that he is, it's just like, wow."
Moore also shared her vivid memory of filming a physically taxing hiking scene with Jones. "He was suffering and it was really hard for him to breathe and I remember him sitting was scripted. But also because he genuinely needed to do that, it really brought home knowing what was actually happening in real time in those moments while we were shooting this show and this season," Moore explained.
"You're right, Ron just had this intrinsic connection to what his character was going through and it makes it all the more poignant," Moore added.
