This Is Us has already given viewers a funeral, so how about a wedding? The Season 2 finale of the hit NBC drama will feature the long-awaited wedding of Kate Pearson (Chrissy Metz) and Toby Damon (Chris Sullivan). Now, in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, This Is Us executive producer Isaac Aptaker teased Toby and Kate’s wedding day—and their top-secret guest list.
The This Is Us EP revealed that there will be some new faces as part of Koby’s big day on the Season 2 finale, which is set to air March 13. In addition to Kate’s family, which viewers have already met, Toby’s parents will be introduced for the first time, as will an unidentified member of Beth’s (Susan Kelechi Watson) family.
“We are throwing everyone together up at the family cabin for a very, very big celebratory occasion,” Aptaker told THR .
“We’re going to get to meet Toby’s parents for the first time, which we’re very excited about, and it’s something we’ve wanted to do for quite a while on the show, and this felt like the perfect reason. We’re also going to get to meet a member of Beth’s extended family, which is something people always ask about.”
The This Is Us producer did not reveal who viewers will meet from Beth’s past, but he did hint that all three new cast members are “in demand” actors that may not be shoe-ins to be available for future episodes. But this is the show that has managed to land Ron Howard for recurring cameos, so you never know.
“We cast some pretty in-demand actors, so it’s always a bit of a matter of scheduling,” Aptaker said. “But yes, we cast Beth’s family member and then Toby’s parents. We love all three of them, so I certainly hope [we’ll see them again].”
The IMDB page for the This Is Us season finale gives few spoilers. A partial cast list for the episode titled “The Wedding,” is listed, but Toby’s parents are not yet listed. Guest stars include Alan Heitz, who was previously seen as Rick, one of Toby’s bachelor party friends, and Hashim Lafond, who will play a DJ, presumably at Kate and Toby’s wedding.
While Toby’s parents and Beth’s family member are being kept top secret, This Is Us viewers have learned a little bit about Mama Damon in past episodes. Fans of the show may recall that Toby once mentioned that his mother is a devout Catholic, so he declined to tell her about Kate’s miscarriage. It’s unclear if Toby is close with his mom (probably not, if he felt he couldn’t tell her such an important piece of news), but he may be even less close with his brother, who was a no-show on the night of his Las Vegas bachelor party.
“He couldn’t make it this weekend, I doubt he even tried,” Toby said of his brother in the “Vegas, Baby” episode. “I was 10 when he was born, so I adored the kid since birth…You do not know what it’s like to be a 16-year-old when your 6-year-old brother says he doesn’t want to play with you anymore and you know that he means it.”
This Is Us star Chrissy Metz recently talked about her TV in-laws, telling Entertainment Weekly that Toby’s parents are “everything and nothing you’d expect!” Chrissy also said that in true This Is Us fashion, “The Wedding” episode will include “a bit of a twist.”
“Tonally speaking: upbeat and joyous, through a very important catharsis,” the This Is Us star said.
Spoilers sites have already posted photos of Milo Ventimiglia in prosthetics filming scenes that appear to be set at Kate’s wedding. It is unclear if a 70-something Jack Pearson will be seen in a dream sequence or something else, but it’s a given that the 1998 death of Kate’s father will come back to haunt her as she walks down the aisle twenty years later.
“We spoke to a lot of women who had lost fathers, specifically, and a lot of what kept coming up was imagining the wedding,” This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman told Variety . “That was a big thing. The father at a wedding is so ingrained in traditions — you have the dance, you have the father walking you down the aisle, and so imagining what that day looks like without that man there constantly comes up. So for Kate, that’s the biggest hurdle. Not Toby. She has no doubts there. But it’s about “what does this day look like without my dad?”
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.