Justin Hartley Gives A Nod To His ‘Passions’ Past In Cheeky ‘This is Us’ Scene

Justin Hartley gave a subtle shout-out to his days as a soap star on the most recent episode of This Is Us.

In the episode “New York, New York, New York,” a Passions Easter egg was in the script as Hartley’s Kevin Pearson argued with his brother Randall (Sterling K. Brown) over their aging mother’s heath following her Alzheimer’s diagnosis. In the scene, Kevin took issue with Randall’s suggestion to enroll Rebecca (Mandy Moore) in an inpatient clinical trial in St. Louis, which caused Randall to point out that Kevin is unreliable.

“We both know that at any minute, you could take off for Morocco to go do a movie. Or go live in a trailer. Or hook up with Susan Lucci,” Randall said, per TVLine.

“Well, it was her daughter. But whatever,” Kevin replied.

As daytime TV fans know, Hartley started his career as a soap hunk on the now-defunct Passions, where he played Nicholas “Fox” Crane from 2002 to 2006. Susan Lucci’s daughter, Lisa Huber, played Gwen Hotchkiss on Passions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Her character never hooked up with Hartley’s Fox, but the Passions nod on This Is Us was a dream come true for fans of the late soap, which was canceled by NBC in 2007 after nine magical seasons.

Hartley’s breakout role on Passions was followed by an Emmy-nominated two-year stint on The Young and the Restless.

Shortly after he debuted his game-changing role on This Is Us, Hartley told Glamour that some fans still couldn’t look past his Fox Crane alter ego.

“It’s interesting because I’ll be out, and someone will say, ‘I just loved you on Passions! Did you just quit acting after that?'” Hartley said in 2017. “I don’t know what to say so sometimes I’ll just say yes.”

On This Is Us, Kevin’s life is a bit of a soap opera. Viewers are still waiting to find out who his pregnant mystery fiancee is, but are slowly piecing together Kevin’s career trajectory as the show fills in pieces to the Pearson family puzzle. After his college football career fell through due to an injury, Kevin moved to New York to try his hand at modeling and acting.

Fans know that he landed a Sunny D commercial and a nonspeaking “extra” role on Days of Our Lives, but now it appears he was on Passions with Susan Lucci’s daughter, too. Of course, Kevin’s TV crowning glory is his starring role on the sitcom The Manny before he scored fame as a major movie star.