‘This Is Us’ Almost Cast Oliver Hudson as Jack Instead of Milo Ventimiglia

This Is Us was not originally supposed to star Milo Ventimiglia, but we can thank a fishing trip for the fateful casting.

Splitting Up Together star Oliver Hudson revealed he read for the part of Jack Pearson and was even invited to do a chemistry read with Mandy Moore.

According to E! News, Hudson spilled the beans on his missed opportunity while chatting with Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin and Jac Vanek on the podcast The Ladygang.

“So I went in and read, and it went very well, and they wanted me to come and do a chemistry read with Mandy Moore,” Hudson said. “But this will tell you how much I love to fish.”

Yep, Hudson skipped on the This Is Us call-back for a fishing trip.

“I had a 10-day fishing trip planned. It’s my life! Fishing is a big part of my life and it was this 10-day fishing trip and my agent says, ‘We have to test, and they really like you, and this, this, and that.’ And I said, ‘Oh. I’m supposed to go on a fishing trip’… And he’s like, ‘Ok, yea…so? I mean this is a big thing.’ And I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do my fishing trip, so…’”

Hudson said he had a test deal, but it was just with his audition tape from the room.

The actor then assured the hosts that he loved the script for the NBC drama, but just couldn’t pass up on his fishing trip.

As for Ventimiglia, TODAY writes, he knew he wasn’t the first choice for the role, but he didn’t let that stop him from going for it, and now he is one of television’s most beloved dad characters.

“Apparently I wasn’t who they were looking for,” he revealed in a chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors series last year. “They wanted somebody completely different. I walked in with my beard and my long hair and set my motorcycle helmet down and they went, ‘Who is this guy?” … I think they just saw something different than someone who had practiced the words, and they picked me.”

Hudson did not get the short end of the stick, however, as his comedy series Splitting Up Together was recently renewed for a second season at ABC.

The comedy tells the story of Lena (Jennifer Fischer) and Martin (Hudson), longtime married couple who call it quits, but continue living under one roof to co-parent their children. Diane Farr, Bobby Lee and Lindsay Price co-star.