‘This Is Us’ Star Justin Hartley Says ‘There’s a Plan’ for Kevin’s Future Wife

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 5, Episode 16 of This Is Us, “The Adirondacks.”]

This Is Us ended its fifth season with some big twists, particularly for Justin Hartley‘s Kevin Pearson who didn’t end up marrying baby mama Madison (Caitlin Thompson).

Instead, the pair went their separate ways, deciding they both deserved a deeper love than what they had with each other. Despite the disappointment Kevin experiences with this, he is looking to the future after mom Rebecca (Mandy Moore) tasks him with building the house Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) once dreamed of constructing for their family.

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A flash-forward also provides some insight to Kevin’s future, which includes wedding speeches at the nuptials of Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Phillip (Chris Geere) and possible romance? Justin Hartley answers our burning questions following the finale, including what’s next for Season 6 and whether or not Kevin will find his love.

How long did you know that Kevin and Madison’s wedding wouldn’t happen, and was that always the plan?

Justin Hartley: I was told a couple of different things. I was told that she leaves me at the altar at one point. I think there were different versions of this end result that was eventually going to happen anyway, inevitably. I think when people sort of started to think about it, the way that it actually went down was beautiful. It was so amazing how, you have this couple who’s struggling to figure out how to love for so long because they’re in a situation where they have these babies together, and Kevin wants what he wants and she wants. They spend all of this time trying to force this square peg into this round hole, and they like each other. But they’re not meant to be together. Then the one moment that they actually are totally and completely honest with each other is the moment of the breakup. It’s an incredible love story.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Were you surprised to see that it was Madison making that decision to call the wedding off?

I think Kevin was just locked in, and I don’t think she would’ve listened to anyone. I don’t think he would have listened to Miguel. I don’t think he would’ve listened to his mom. I don’t think he would’ve listened to Randall (Sterling K. Brown) or Kate. It had to come from Madison. He wants to be a great father, he wants to be a wonderful husband, he wants to be the family man, he wants to be the hero.

That looks really good. He’s a sweet man, [but] sometimes I think he leaves his brain behind. In this instance, I don’t think he would have stopped to think about what it is that he’s getting into and that this is a bad idea… I thought it was beautiful, it’s a really well-written scene. I mean, I haven’t seen it. I don’t know how the acting is, but on paper [it was great].

It’s phenomenal. You didn’t feel sad. In a way, it was like, okay well this is what’s supposed to happen for them.

A little bit of relief, right?

(Credit: NBC)

Definitely. And apart from the non-wedding, Rebecca tasks Kevin with a big project of constructing the house Jack planned for their family. Will he use that project to reevaluate his situation moving forward?

I think he does reevaluate. There are certain times when in life when you just have to turn the page and you go onto the next thing. Sometimes you’ll see actors will sort of retire from acting and find something else to do [like] become the owners of something or whatever that might be. This is more Kevin, just the fact that his mom would ask him to do that in the condition that she’s in. He doesn’t know how much time he has with her, and it gives him something to do.

I think this is going to be something really great for him. I just think that this whole traditional thing that Kevin wanted was so focused on [everything being perfect], that he kind of didn’t see it doesn’t have to be that way. And it’s not. It’s never that way, to be honest with you. Yeah, ever. I think this is great. I think it’ll be a huge part of the storyline next year. I can’t confirm that because I haven’t been told that for sure.

(Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

This episode featured one mind-blowing flash-forward from Kate’s wedding to Phillip. What can you say about that time period and whether or not we’ll revisit that point in the Pearson family timeline again?

Yeah, I think we’ll be revisiting it for sure. I think it’s one of those things that we do tease certain things on our show, but it’s not a shtick. It’s for storytelling purposes. We absolutely will go back. There was one point where Kevin said, I’m a 45-year-old man. I can handle myself. You figure, okay, so that’s five years in the future.

A lot can change in that time. In the sequence, we also see women’s clothing in Kevin’s hotel room. And based on what we’ve seen even further into the future during Season 4, Kevin does end up with a wedding ring on his finger. Do you know who his wife is?

Yeah. There’s a plan. There’s definitely a plan.

This Is Us, Season 6, TBA, NBC