‘This Is Us’ Adds Tim Matheson to Play Rebecca’s Father in Season 4

This Is Us is adding a new cast member for its upcoming fourth season. NBC announced Tuesday that The West Wing alum Tim Matheson will play Rebecca’s (Mandy Moore) father, Dave, in a major recurring role on the drama series, Deadline reports.

The show has been teasing the identity of Moore’s parents, including a promo image from the Season 4 premiere of Rebecca and Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) at the dinner where she introduces him to her parents for the first time.

Fans will remember meeting Rebecca’s overbearing mother, played by Elizabeth Perkins, in previous seasons, but the identity of her father had not yet been revealed until now. Producers are staying quiet on details about Dave’s character and plot line, although Moore has dropped a few hits in interviews.

Moore noted that “Rebecca is a bit of a daddy’s girl” and that “my father plays a bigger role in Rebecca and Jack’s relationship moving forward.”

Matheson is also a series regular on the upcoming Netflix series Virgin River, and recently recurred on Showtime’s The Affair and CBS All Access’ The Good Fight.

In addition to Moore and Ventimiglia, This Is Us also stars Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Chris Sullivan, Susan Kelechi Watson, Jon Huertas, Hannah Zeile, Niles Fitch, Logan Shroyer, Mackenzie Hancsicsak, Parker Bates, Faithe Herman, Eris Backer and Lyric Ross. The multi-generational, multi-time frame family drama was created by Dan Fogelman, who executive producers with fellow co-showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, as well as John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, Ken Olin, Charlie Gogolak and Jess Rosenthal.

Fogelman teased an “ambitious and unusual” Season 4 premiere, telling TVLine that it’s unlike anything that fans are expecting.

“I’m quite proud of our team for what they’ve pulled off, but also curious to see the response and reaction from our audience,” he told the outlet. “I trust our fans to trust us, and to enjoy the challenge of a very ambitious and unusual first episode back.”

The season, set to pick up after the events of Season 3, will see a number of couples encountering “complex and sophisticated” problems, according to Fogelman.

Just returned from Vietnam, Jack will be faced with the prospect of being introduced to girlfriend Rebecca’s parents.

“Jack is being brought into the fold of Rebecca’s family, a blue collar kid entering a world where people drink white wine at noon in country clubs,” Fogelman said, adding that Rebecca will be facing her own worries as she “is unsure where her career in music is going.”

This Is Us returns for Season 4 on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Staff / Getty