‘This Is Us’ Star Calls Jack’s Death a ‘Soul-Crushing Event’

Viewers might think they’re ready for what’s coming on This Is Us – they’re not.

The mystery surrounding Jack Pearson’s (Milo Ventimiglia) cause of death has been looming the NBC hit family drama since the series’s fifth episode, where Kate (Chrissy Metz) introduces her then-boyfriend Toby (Chris Sullivan) to her father, pointing to an urn filled with his ashes.

Since that unforgettable moment, fans have speculated the circumstances behind the beloved character’s demise, and now we are about to get the answer.

Tuesday’s episode ended with the Pearson family’s slow cooker sparking up and starting a devastating fire that spreads from the kitchen to the rest of the ground floor, with no batteries in the smoke detector, the sleeping family is not aware of the blaze in their home, leaving viewers to speculate how Jack’s death will come to pass until the next episode.

Ventimiglia told Entertainment Weekly he has found it “amazing that people are so engaged” by the mystery behind Jack’s death. Adding also that fans have been restrained about sharing their theories when they interact with him.

“It’s very respectful as well as kind because I don’t want to sit there and deflect too much,” he told EW, “because I’m sure at some point someone’s going to say something that’s going to ring true, and then my talent as an actor is really going to come to the forefront. It’s the hardest position to be in, because I want people to know, but I also want them to wait for it.”

Now that audiences are so close to getting answers to their questions, Ventimiglia warns the moment will be as heartbreaking as viewers can imagine.

“It’s just an absolute soul-crushing event,” Ventimiglia said. “Once you figure out the moment where it’s going to happen, you may get some hope — and then it’s all going to go away.” He has another way of putting it: “I think the best thing I can say — or the worst thing I can say — is: It’s going to be f—ing painful.”

“When they learn what happened to Jack, I think people are going to find themselves surprised with their own emotion,” he continued. “I really think people are going to have a hard time accepting it, but what they should know is that even when we do find out Jack’s death, it doesn’t mean that Jack goes away. That’s a good thing to remind people of — I’m not going away from the show, Jack is still around. There is still so much story to mine in this world of This Is Us.”

“I think at that point then you gotta start wondering if anyone else is going to die. I’m going, ‘Whoo! All right! I’m off the hook!’” He joked.

Let’s hope the next This Is Us death doesn’t give viewers as much anxiety as this one.

This Is Us will air its next episode Sunday, February 4 after the Super Bowl on NBC. The show regularly airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.