“This Is Us” will have an even bigger full-time cast list for its upcoming second season, but one of the show’s most popular child actors won’t be named a regular star on the series. On the heels of the news that Jon Huertas (Miguel) and Alexandra Breckenridge (Sophie) have been promoted to series regulars for Season 2 of the breakout NBC drama, seven young actors on the show will also get that title.
It sounds like “This Is Us” will feature plenty of the Big Three in flashbacks to the kids’ teens (and tens!) during the show’s sophomore season. According to Deadline, Hannah Zeile (teenage Kate), Logan Shroyer (teenage Kevin), Niles Fitch (teenage Randall), Mackenzie Hancsicsak (young Kate) and Parker Bates (young Kevin) have all been upped to series regulars, as have Faithe Herman and Eris Baker, who play adult Randall’s adorable daughters Annie and Tess.
Who didn’t get promoted?
But there’s a glaring omission on the revised “This Is Us” cast list. Lonnie Chavis, the young actor who consistently nails his role as 10-year-old Randall on the hit series, has not been promoted. But don’t worry, Young Randall fans. Chavis will still appear in Season 2 of the show as a guest star, he just can’t be named a Series Regular since he already holds that title on Jay Pharoah’s upcoming Showtime comedy "White Famous."
"This Is Us" may have missed the boat on signing Chavis as a regular, but fans can only hope that he’ll stay loyal to the Pearson clan and be available when needed—and when child labor laws allow.
Chavis stands out on ‘This Is Us’
Lonnie Chavis has been the breakout child star on “This Is Us.” Not only was Lonnie was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Television Performance by a Youth, but his scene from the episode “The Trip,” which had his character doing push-ups on the back of his adoptive father (Milo Ventimiglia) as proof that his dad would stick with him through all of life’s obstacles, won an MTV Movie and TV Award.
Chavis stole the show with his speech.
The “This Is Us” scene required Ventimiglia to do push-ups with Chavis on his back for hours, and the young actor told Entertainment Tonight that he felt bad that he overworked his TV dad. Ventimiglia reportedly did a whopping 223 total push-ups with Lonnie on his back as they rehearsed and shot the scene, logging more than five hours to get it right.
In an interview earlier this year with Twist magazine, Lonnie Chavis revealed that he knew he wanted to be an actor when he was just five years old. At the time, the in-demand kid talked about his upcoming roles, including his new gig as Jay Pharoah’s son in “White Famous.”
You can see Lonnie Chavis in an emotional scene from “This Is Us” below:
“This Is Us” returns for Season 2 on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
