This Is Us is expanding in family size, but luckily there’s no such thing as too many Pearsons. According to TVLine, Jon Huertas and Alexandra Breckenridge have been promoted from their recurring roles to series regulars for the highly anticipated second season of the NBC drama.
Huertas plays Miguel, who is introduced early on in Season 1 as Jack’s (Milo Ventimiglia) best friend. Following his introduction in a past time period, it is later revealed that he is married to Jack’s widow, Rebecca (Mandy Moore), in present day. Miguel received criticism from fans when his marital status was revealed, but later stole the hearts of millions when he had a heart-to-heart with Jack and Rebecca’s son Kevin (Justin Hartley) about how much Jack meant to him.
Breckenridge, who plays Sophie, joined the series halfway through the first season. Sophie is the former best friend of Kate (Chrissy Metz) and ex-wife of Kevin. The ex-spouses reconnect after 12 years of not seeing each other, which leads to a rekindling of their romance by Season 1’s finale. A major cliffhanger of the season is Kevin leaving Sophie to travel to Los Angeles in order to work with Ron Howard on a film, but with the addition of Breckenridge as a series regular it looks like Kevin won’t be making the movie after all.
Huertas is best known for his roles as Sergeant Antonio ‘Poke’ Espera in HBO’s Generation Kill and as homicide detective Javier Esposito in ABC’s Castle. He has made guest appearances on ABC’s Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Fox’s Beverly Hills, 90210, CBS’s NCIS and most recently on CBS’s Elementary.
Breckenridge previously starred as Willa McPherson in FX’s Dirt and as Carly Brugano on NBC’s short-lived sitcom Save Me. She has guest starred on Fox’s Opposite Sex, The CW’s Life Unexpected, FX’s American Horror Story, AMC’s The Walking Dead, HBO’s True Blood and Fox’s Family Guy.
This Is Us also stars Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson, Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth Pearson, Chris Sullivan as Toby Damon, and Ron Cephas Jones as William H. Hill. Due to William’s death at the end of Season 1, it is likely that he will return in flashbacks throughout upcoming seasons. Series creator Dan Fogelman previously revealed that many characters, including Beth and Kate, will have much more expanded story lines in the upcoming season.
The hit series will return for its sophomore season on Tuesday, September 26 at 9/8c.