Mandy Moore says directing ‘This Is Us’ has been ‘the adventure of a lifetime’
Mandy Moore’s dream of directing an episode of “This Is Us” is all coming to fruition.
“It has been incredible. I am in the midst of it right now,” the actress, 37, told Page Six at the show’s Season 6 premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday, days after announcing that she’s helming an episode for the final season.
“We are all sort of shooting these episodes simultaneously,” she explained. “But I mean, it’s the adventure of a lifetime getting to work with my friends. My so, so, so incredibly talented friends.”
Creator Dan Fogelman told Page Six that giving Moore the chance to direct – all while still playing Rebecca Pearson – was a no-brainer.
“It’s been so impressive,” Fogelman, 45, shared. “It’s been really great watching Mandy and these very talented people [like Justin Hartley, Jon Huertas] step into the director’s chair and spread their wings a little bit.”
Milo Ventimiglia, who portrays Pearson patriarch Jack, called Moore’s directing skills “phenomenal.”
“There’s no advice that she needs, just support. She knows what she’s doing,” Ventimiglia, 44, raved. “She’s able to make those decisions, ‘Yes, I want this,’ or ’No, I don’t,’ and give direction. I told her she’d be a natural and she is.”
The episode Moore is directing is written by David Windsor, Casey Johnson and Chrissy Metz, who plays her onscreen daughter, Kate Pearson.
“It’s so wonderful to work with her in that capacity, because I really do admire her and I look up to her,” Metz, 41, raved. “It’s just really cool to have these worlds collide … it’s really special to have that experience together.”
Metz told Page Six that watching Moore tackle it all, especially after giving birth to baby Gus earlier this year, has been “really impressive.”
“I don’t know how the hell she’s doing what she’s doing. Directing, prepping the episode, acting in how many different decades, with prosthetics, going through dementia and Alzheimer’s [as Rebecca], also breastfeeding,” she said.
“I don’t know how she’s doing it, honestly. And like, not a complaint, not a frown, not a bad attitude. She’s an angel.”
Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Beth Pearson, shared similar sentiments, telling Page Six, “Oh, she is such a boss. I love Mandy!”
“She is putting in overtime,” the actress, 40, explained. “She’s also acting, while she’s directing, because we’re doing sort of three episodes at once.”
Back in September, Moore discussed the possibility of directing an episode this season during her guest appearance on longtime pal Vinnie Potestivo’s “I Have A Podcast.”
“Initially I was like, ’Nope, I don’t think it’s for me,” she said at the time. “But, as time has gone on, and we have almost 90 episodes under our belt, I’m like, ‘I feel like I have a good sense of how this works and I want to try my hand at it.’”
She continued, “If I’m going to dip my toe into those waters and see if that’s something that I truly am passionate about and excited by, I mean, what better opportunity than doing it in this sense, with this group of people.”
“This Is Us” returns to NBC for its sixth and final season on Jan. 4, 2022.
