Sylvester Stallone will have a guest role in This Is Us season 2. There’s a sentence that no one was expecting to write or read today. If you’re unfamiliar; This Is Us is a heart-warming family drama from NBC. It won hearts, minds, and sizeable ratings after its fall debut last year, earning an impressive two-season renewal order in the process.
The show boasts emotional, multifaceted scripts from a team of writers lead by Dan Fogelman (who previously worked on Tangled, Galavant and Crazy, Stupid, Love). Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Chrissy Metz, Sterling K. Brown, and Justin Hartley head up an impressive cast, alongside a gaggle of excellent child actors. The conceit is that they all play members of the same family, with their lives intersecting in constantly surprising ways.
The fact that action icon Sylvester Stallone will show up during season 2 was announced at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, with Screen Rant TV editor Kevin Yeoman being there to witness it. Sly's involvement is described as a guest spot, so it could well be a 'one and done' sort of thing.
This isn’t the first unexpected choice by Sly Stallone in recent years. He took a seemingly minor role in this year’s superhero space opera Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (presumably on a promise of more work to follow) and was seen not long before that in a British bread advert. Talk about diversifying!
Only a few details have been revealed about where Stallone will slot into This Is Us. Apparently, he will be co-starring in a movie alongside Justin Hartley’s character, sitcom-actor-turned-thespian Kevin Pearson. It’s easy to picture Kevin squirming when faced with a genuine megastar.
However, perhaps there is more to Stallone’s role than simply providing some star power for Kevin to bounce of off. Yes, Stallone is a best known for his massive movies, but he’s also got an impressive emotional range. In Creed, he took one of his most iconic characters and played him in a frail state for some touching hospital bed scenes. Perhaps Stallone’s guest spot will build to something more like that. After all, there’s certainly space for a new sick character in the show, following the tragic departure of Ron Cephas Jones’ William towards the end of season 1.
In other This Is Us news, Milana Vayntrub - pictured above, next to Hartley - has nabbed the role of Squirrel Girl in Marvel's New Warriors TV series. The MCU connections just keep coming, oddly enough.
MORE: 15 Times This is Us Ruined Your Life
This Is Us returns to NBC on September 26.