Warning: This article contains spoilers for Tuesday’s episode ofThis Is Us, “Birth Mother.”
Randall Pearson just had the mother of all spiritual experiences.
(The revelatory episode, by the way, was directed and co-written by Kay Oyegun.)
Credit: NBC
In her last years, Laurel (Angela Gibbs) and Hai reconnected before she died from breast cancer.
How would you compare those two trips for Randall?
Are they equally meaningful for him?STERLING K. BROWN:They are.
NBC
One of them is kind of saying goodbye, “Memphis.”
And one of them is saying hello.
There is a sense of peace that comes from Memphis.
And that he was able to be present to say goodbye.
He was at the hospital to say goodbye to William.
There’s peace in that.
Because in my mind, it’s Randall’s first real brush with the supernatural.
And that’s one take.
But I, as an actor, choose to think that it’s an actual encounter.
That is probably something that he’s waited for his whole life.
Because there’s so much time between his birth and the possibility of her being able to see him.
The fact that she got arrested.
She punished herself by not giving herself access to her parents.
By not even allowing herself a relationship with Hai, besides just waving to each other from afar.
The question of, “Am I enough?”
in terms of blackness is beginning to abate.
On a macro level, there’s no denying his blackness.
For good and for bad.
Randall already has roots in New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.
Now he owns a farmhouse in New Orleans.
What will that mean for him, Beth, and his family?
Will they maintain a connection with Hai?I don’t have the answer.
Now I have to request the Zoom link.
What was it like filming that scene in the water?
It requires you to be as raw as we’ve ever seen Randall.
I usually listen to some music or something beforehand to get me into a mental space.
The goal is to be private publicly.
All he really wants is to be loved by her.
And to love her.
It’s an easier thing to play if it’s happening.
If I’m getting a chance to actually say, “I love you.”
The spirit of Laurel tells Randall to let his pain go, and he does, screaming it out.
Fair to say?Yeah, it was massive.
Truly, truly massive.
Because going back to this encounter, I consider it to be his initial brush with spirituality…
But I feel like where faith is present, anxiety has a hard time co-existing.
And still something worth being a part of his life.
I think that’s definitely worth several years of therapy.
Is that reunion coming soon, and are they both ready for it?
But there’s always space to come back.
We will all fall short of the mark.
Randall is never one to fail to ride in on his noble steed in a crisis.
He’ll give a shot to be present.
Lastly, you’ve now joined Milo Ventimiglia as one of theThis Is Usbare-bottom boys.
Do you and him now have a bond that Justin can never truly understand?Oh my God.
[Laughs] Listen, we still have another season and a half.
I would never say never.
Justin, hey, put Sully [Chris Sullivan], put [Jon Huertas] in there too.
You never know, maybe all the men ofTIUwill come up with a calendar for you.
You never know what’s going to happen until you see the cut.
And I was like, “Man, that’s a lot of cake for prime time.”
Hopefully America and the world can deal.
To read whatThis Is Usproducer Kay Oyegun revealed about the episode,head over here.
