Why Oliver Hudson Skipped ‘This Is Us’ Callback To Play Jack

Oliver Hudson had the opportunity to play Jack Pearson on “This Is Us,” but he really wanted to go fishing instead. The “Splitting Up Together” actor revealed that he was close to scoring a role on one of TV’s biggest hits.

The actor told PodcastOne’s Ladygang that he had auditioned for the role that eventually went to Milo Ventimiglia, and he’d done very well. NBC even asked him to come back to audition with Rebecca actress Mandy Moore.

“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. But this will tell you how much I love to fish,” he revealed.

The star had a vacation planned, and he just wasn’t willing to give up his spot.

“I had a ten-day fishing trip planned. It’s my life!” he told podcast host Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin and Jac Vanek. “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, yeah…so? I mean this is a big thing.’ And I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do my fishing trip, so…’”

Hudson knew that the script was well-done, but he had no idea that all of America would fall in love with the show. “I made a test deal, but just with my audition tape from the room or whatever,” he explained. Obviously, the chemistry test sealed the deal for Ventimiglia to lead the “This Is Us” cast as Jack, a role for which he has received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

“Good for Milo, he made it,” Hudson added.

Moore and Ventimiglia have spoken about their chemistry read before. They noted that it required them to get close after having just met, but they managed to hide any awkwardness from the cameras. “We lucked out,” Moore told Extra in 2016. “Our chemistry read, I remember [Milo] had to like nuzzle my neck in the scene, and that can be a potentially awkward situation. … It was all sort of right there on the surface. I mean, he’s the best.”

Luckily, Hudson found his perfect onscreen chemistry with Jenna Fischer, who plays his wife in ABC’s “Splitting Up Together,” which airs Tuesdays on ABC.