Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore are on-set foodie friends! The actors play Jack and Rebecca Pearson on This Is Us, and while the duo is shooting the NBC series they have an adorable mealtime tradition that sounds like something their onscreen counterparts might do.
“We eat a lot of lunches together,” the Heroes alum told Us Weekly at the Hulu/Amazon/National Geographic/ABC Emmys Afterparty on Sunday, September 22, at Otium in Los Angeles. “We trade off who picks up lunch.”
According to Ventimiglia, 42, he and Moore, 35, are “foodies” who have similar taste in go-to snacks. In fact, when it comes to noshing in between scenes, they both tend to prefer something sweet. “I think, like, when we really need it, we both go for the sugar,” Ventimiglia told Us. “But I think we’re both kind of like salty, savory folks, too.”
Though Ventimiglia failed to nab an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series this year (he lost to Pose‘s Billy Porter) the actor still had a great time attending the ceremony thanks to two special guests who came as his dates — his mom and dad, Carol and Peter Ventimiglia.
“It was fun,” he said when asked what it meant to have his parents by his side. “Usually they’re just at home and trade messages and whatnot, but to have them next to me to see how it all goes … it was a lot of fun.”
The trio made the award show into an all-day affair and even got ready with one another. “Actually, I had to put my dad’s tie on him and someone snapped a photo,” the California native explained. “I felt like we were at a wedding or going to a wedding. I’m, like, putting my father’s bow tie on.”
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in August, Milo told the host he’d invited his parents to be his Emmy dates twice before (he was previously nominated in 2017 and 2018) but they politely declined both invites. This year, however, his parents had a change of heart.
When the Gilmore Girls alum phoned them after the nominations were announced to deliver the good news, he was prepared to beg them to join him, but that wasn’t necessary. “Before I even got that out, both of them are like, ‘Oh, we’re going. We’re going,’” he told Kimmel at the time.
And even though Milo’s This Is Us character is dead in the present day on the time-jumping series, the Second Act star promised Us viewers haven’t seen the last of Jack just yet. “It’s amazing to me that a character who’s deceased and we’ve already gotten to know over three [seasons] still has a whole lot of life in them,” the actor said when asked about season 4 of the show, which is currently in production.
This Is Us premieres on NBC on September 24 at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Brandi Fowler
