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Who Are the Teenage Actors in ‘This Is Us’? | Heavy.com
This Is Us is one of the hottest shows on television these days, and the stars of the series have certainly skyrocketed.
Names like Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, and Milo Ventimiglia have become household names, but what about the younger stars of the show?.
Who are the teenagers who play the younger versions of the stars? Read on to find out.
Hannah Zeile.
Hannah Zeile is a 20-year-old actor who stars as young Kate Pearson.
The role of Young Kate marks her first since taking four years away from the industry to go to high school.
Hannah tells Variety, "So, coming back to set I sort of felt like a fish out of water.
I had to be told where I was supposed to be, I didn’t really know the routine of everything yet.
I was a little bit nervous because I knew I was going to be working with Milo and Mandy, who are obviously really talented and have been in the business for a really long time and I looked up to them.
I didn’t really know what to expect, but I had no lines that day so I could just kind of watch them, and they were both so welcoming and kind.".
Interestingly enough, Metz used to work as a commercial agent at the agency where Zeile was signed when she was younger.
Zeile says the first day in the hair and makeup trailer for This Is Us, Chrissy turned to her and said, "Oh my God! I don’t know if you remember, but I was a commercial agent at the agency that you’re with.".
Zeile was raised in Thousand Oaks, California.
Both her parents are former athletes.
Her father, Todd Zeile, was an MLB player, while her mom, Julianna McNamara, was an Olympic gymnast.
Niles Fitch.
Niles Fitch was a child actor.
When he was four, he started print modeling in Atlanta.
He then made his Broadway debut in The Lion King after touring in the show across the country.
He's appeared on shows like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Army Wives, and Best Friends Whenever.
Asked what it was like filming the scene when teenage Randall gets a panic attack, Fitch tells Young Broaday, "Difficult at first because I wanted to portray what some people experience and make it look real.
When we started filming it got easier and easier.
Mr Milo was really supportive too.
He treated me just like a dad would treat a son in that scene, with a lot of compassion and love.".
He says if he were to dip his toes into another industry, he would try out photography and directing.
He tells teens who want to pursue acting, "Read a lot.
Don’t overthink it, always be yourself.
Bring your unique self to every role.".
Logan Shroyer. Logan Shroyer is 19.
Before booking This Is Us, he appeared in Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street, and as Cole Campbell on The Thundermans.
In a February interview with Vulture, Logan shared that he was born in Torrance, California, but spent some time in Oklahoma before relocating to South Bay.
He explains that for This Is Us, he went through a very last-minute audition process.
He had one audition and then found out the next day he had booked the role.
"The next day, I got word that I booked it, and then it was this whole transformation process into being Kevin in the ’90s, getting brown contacts to match [Justin Hartley], and then I was on set the next day.
I got the full script that morning, met Dan [Fogelman], Mandy [Moore].
It was just this crazy whirlwind.
It was really crazy.".
He goes to on say that before he booked the role, he had six callbacks for a film.
Then, This Is Us came along and he booked it in just one audition.
He didn't book the film.
Asked about his time with Justin Hartley, Shroyer explains that he hasn't had too much contact with the actor.
"Justin and I will talk.
Many people might think I’m coached by him or something like that, or there are these rigid guidelines.
But in actuality, the first time I talked to him, he was like, “This is your character too.
You really just run with it.
This is Kevin.” Early on, I did study him a little bit to see some of mannerisms and things like that.
It has to become a part of what you do.
But they really give you the respect as an actor to take it and do your own thing.
So, I’m really thankful for that, that they trust me so much.".