Milo Ventimiglia made a rare comment about possibly appearing on Justin Hartley‘s hit series Tracker after they worked together on This Is Us.
“I would. It would [depend on it being the] right time,” Ventimiglia, 49, exclusively told Us when asked if he’d ever appear on the show while discussing his Netflix movie A Dog’s Perfect Christmas.
Ventimiglia said he would love the chance to reunite with Hartley, adding, “Justin, he’s just the best dude on the planet. We had a great time on This Is Us and if there’s ever an opportunity — of course I would. I’d love to.”
Ventimiglia got his start playing Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls from 2000 to 2007 before finding success on shows including Heroes and This Is Us. The latter scored him three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
After This Is Us ended in 2022, Ventimiglia booked the lead role on ABC’s short-lived series The Company You Keep. On the big screen, Ventimiglia appeared in Land of Bad and I Can Only Imagine 2. He also had a fun cameo on Jensen Ackles‘ Prime Video show Countdown last year before being attached to HBO Max’s American Blue, which was ultimately not picked up.
Most fans — Us included — are still holding out hope that Ventimiglia will reunite with his former This Is Us son on Tracker. Executive producer Elwood Reid recently spoke to Us about the delay in bringing certain stars from the NBC hit over to Hartley’s show.
Justin Hartley, Milo Ventimiglia Everett Collection
“[We discuss it] all the time. If I’m going to go with those kind[s] of big names, I gotta make sure I have a story,” he noted in December 2025. “The show works because we’re with Colter so much and he’s just such an interesting actor that he’s able to carry that big narrative load.”
Reid confirmed there have been ongoing discussions about possible cameos.
“We’ve definitely talked about Sterling K. Brown, we’ve talked about Mandy Moore and we have talked about Milo Ventimiglia,” he shared. “But until it’s really, really right — and matching the windows up in these people’s calendars is impossible.”
Reid concluded: “If I have the right story line, I will do it. But I’m always opposed to just do[ing] a cameo. We have to get a good emotional story out of it or a fun story line.”
Ventimiglia, for his part, has remained booked and busy. He participated in Amy Sherman-Palladino’s upcoming HBO Max documentary about Gilmore Girls and filmed his new Netflix movie opposite Dennis Quaid.
“I’ve always long been a fan of Dennis Quaid, and I had a really great conversation with our director, Cathryn Michon. I just thought this would be a fun thing to be a part of,” Ventimiglia told Us about A Dog’s Perfect Christmas. “[Plus] the dog element, of course. Who doesn’t love a dog movie?”
It wasn’t hard for Ventimiglia to relate to the material as an animal lover. “[My dog Duke] is wonderful. He just has this natural instinct and ability that I think a lot of dogs do,” he added. “Some dogs kind of bounce off walls and chase balls. My dog Duke is very soulful. If you’re having a bad day, he knows it. Just a very soulful, soulful guy.”
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas begins streaming on Netflix Wednesday, November 4.
