SCAD aTVfest: Justin Hartley on directing his castmates in This Is Us

Justin Hartley was “overly impressed” with castmates while directing This Is Us.

Actor Justin Hartley plays Kevin Pearson on the wildly popular series This Is Us.  SCAD aTVfest invited the actor to Atlanta to receive the festival’s Spotlight Award. Hartley accepted the award and fans watched an episode of This Is Us at the SCADshow theater. Following the screening was a Q&A with Hartley moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s JD Heyman.

Attendees watched episode 14 of This Is Us season 4 titled ‘A Hell of a Week: Part 3’, which was “Kate’s episode”. This was the final episode in a three-part series where each episode is from the perspective of one of the siblings. This episode also marked Hartley’s directorial debut on the series.

So Many Shows had an opportunity to ask Justin a question prior to the screening.

Is there anything in particular that you about the experience of directing? 

Justin: You know what’s funny? I don’t know if I was surprised because I knew it, but I think I was just overly impressed with like what is to watch these actors from a different perspective. When you’re in the scene with them, you’re in the scene. When you’re watching them and it’s not scored, it’s raw footage and you’re just watching them on a monitor do their thing, they are world class. They are world class. So, it didn’t shock me, but it impressed me.

The 8th annual SCAD aTVfest included more than 20 shows represented by cast members and crew. Other honorees included Kim Cattrall, Tom Payne, Eric McCormack, Matt Czuchry and Hunter Schafer as well as the cast of the new NBC series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.

SCAD aTVfest provides students a unique opportunity to learn from actors, directors and producers in the television industry. Several SCAD alumni were also on hand to discuss their jobs as actors, costume designers, writers and much more.

Learn more about SCAD at the college’s website.