‘This Is Us’ Promotes Lyric Ross to Series Regular

The story of Deja will continue into This Is Us season 3. Actress Lyric Ross has been promoted to series regular, NBC said Monday.

Deja is the troubled foster child Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) took in during season 3. During the season 2 finale, she became frustrated after her biological mother abandoned her again and bashed Randall’s Mercedes during Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby’s (Chris Sullivan) wedding.

Ross, 15, was previously a recurring guest star and appeared in nine episodes last season, reports Entertainment Weekly. Her other credits include an episodes of Chicago Fire and Sirens in 2015. Ross also stars in the upcoming indie movie Canal Street.

“She’s so nuanced,” Watson said of Ross’ performance in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last season. “I like that she doesn’t try to act it. She really does just speak and feel out a situation and sense a situation. And so it’s this beautiful, nuanced, soft performance that doesn’t feel performative. … She’s just a very special young actress.”

Aside from Deja’s growing role in Randall and Beth’s lives, viewers will also get to take a look at Beth’s past which has remained a mystery in the first two seasons.

“That’s something we’re going to learn about in season 3 — that she has a Jamaican background,” Watson said of Beth’s backstory in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Her mom is still alive, her dad isn’t, obviously. She has sisters and comes from a big family. Seeing how that plays into her life, who does she go to for advice and help outside of the Pearson clan … she’s like a slow-peeling onion. There’s all these layers that weren’t laid out immediately. We keep getting to meet her.”

There has been more concern over Beth’s health in the future though. During a flashforward scene in the finale, we saw an older Randall with a grown Tess (Eris Baker) going to see someone referred to only as “her” in the hospital. However, Watson told the Times she does not think she is dead, even if the “her” in the scene is Beth.

“Stuff changes sometimes,” Watson said. “But I feel like I know … there is some real stuff that happens in the future. And it involves the whole family. Does it necessarily mean Beth is dying — no. That’s the spoiler I can give — she’s not dead.”

The second season of This Is Us earned Emmy nominations for Sterling K. Brown, Ron Cephas Jones, Milo Ventimiglia and Gerald McRaney. The series was also the only network drama nominated for Outstanding Drama.

This Is Us returns on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC