This Is Us: 10 Side Characters With Main Character Energy

With the last season of This Is Us now underway, there’s a lot left unresolved that fans are waiting to see wrapped up. While the audience wants to see what will become of The Big Three, there’s a host of great supporting roles that have taken the stage.

However, that hasn’t left the other characters with little airtime to become well-developed, interesting pieces of the puzzle. There are some supporting characters that have captured the screen and given off the energy normally derived from the Pearsons.

William Hill

William Hill (Ron Cephas Jones) is the biological father of Randall. Though he died due to stomach cancer a few months after he met his son, he has a significant impact on Randall and his immediate family throughout the series.

Despite that William died before the end of the first season, he’s far from a forgotten character. Keeping William from Randall was one of the worst decisions made by Rebecca and was a significant plotline and conflict within the series. He was well-liked with a depth of history, personality, and influence throughout his time spent with his newfound family. Had he lived on, he would have continued to be an interesting, complex role.

Tess Pearson

Though Tess Pearson (Eris Baker) is part of the Pearson clan, she’s a background character to add depth to the central character of Randall Pearson. When the show began Tess and Annie were the innocent, young daughters of the power couple of Beth and Randall.

It isn’t until the end of season 3 when Tess comes out to her parents as gay that she becomes a more rounded, influential character. The show doesn’t seem to put much focus on their young characters, but Tess’s struggles as a recently out gay teenager adds another layer of diversity into the mix of complicated subjects encountered throughout the story. Tess’s relationship with a gender-neutral person, Alex, is an interesting storyline that if explored more would be a great continuation in developing Tess’s character.

Deja Pearson

Deja Pearson (Lyric Ross), previously Deja Andrews, is another one of Randall’s daughters. However, her story begins as anything but flat. She’s welcomed into the Pearson home as a foster child and is eventually adopted into the family.

Deja’s storyline is complex, sad, as well as heartwarming. Coming from the home of a single mother, going through different foster homes, and eventually becomes a part of the family after some trials, what seems like the heartwarming story of Randall and Beth trying to win the heart of a struggling foster child is really the story of Deja and how she learns to care about herself and her needs.

Nicky Pearson

Nicky Pearson (Griffin Dunne) is first introduced as a character during a flashback of one of Jack’s childhood moments. When the audience learns about him and then learns he’s still alive, the main question is why Jack’s younger brother is estranged from him. However, Nicky’s character isn’t simply enticing because he’s the brother of the beloved Jack Pearson.

Nicky has a depth of character that appeals to a wide range of audiences. Not only is he a Vietnam War veteran, but he struggles with addiction and PTSD, and has spent a hermit life without love or family. When Kevin helps Nicky change and become part of the Pearson family, as well as someone who can make friends and interact with society, he becomes a character we can really root for.

Sophie Larson

Sophie Larson (Alexandra Breckenridge) is the long-time love interest of Kevin Pearson who appears on and off throughout the different stages of life. Now that Kevin is single and the series is coming to an end, the audience is wondering if Kevin and Sophie will end up together by the end.

However, Sophie’s character isn’t interesting because she could be the love of Kevin Pearson’s life. She has a successful career as a nurse, is currently engaged, and lost her mother in an episode of season 4. She’s strong-willed and determined to live a happy life (whether or not that includes a Pearson).

Cassidy Sharp

Though Cassidy Sharp (Jennifer Morrison) is memorably written into the story of Nicky’s recovery after he throws a chair through the window of her AA meeting, she is given her own depth of character before she’s entwined in the Pearson storyline.

Cassidy Sharp served in the U.S Marines and came home to struggle with PTSD and alcoholism. Her mental health eventually ends her marriage and inevitably causes her to accidentally hit her son. However, she is able to commit herself to staying sober and getting her life in order. While all of the storylines connect in some way with the Pearsons, Cassidy is a well-rounded, interesting person that appeals to those watching that have served in the military or live with mental health problems.

Carol Clarke

Carol Clarke (Phylicia Rashad) is the mother of Beth Pearson. Much of her backstory is shown through Beth’s backstory from her childhood. Carol is a school principal who has always instilled in her children that they need to work hard and make logical decisions that better their life.

Though Carol’s story is told to enlighten the audience on Beth’s backstory that charges her to make decisions for her happiness, Carol is one of the best characters introduced after season 1. Though she infuriatingly judges Beth for her decisions to dance when she’s a teenager and then quit her big corporate life as an adult, it’s easy to see she’s a heartfelt woman that just wants her children to succeed.

Hai Lang

Laurel Dubois is Randall’s biological mother who he learns lived after her overdose when he was an infant. However, the whole episode, ‘Birth Mother’, dedicated to Laurel, also entails the story of Hai Lang (Vien Hong), a Vietnamese refugee who fell in love with Laurel before she met William and had Randall.

Hai Lang has a whirlwind romance with Laurel but stays behind to care for his parents when she flees her oppressive father. Hai’s story is that of a young man who chooses to live a quiet, peaceful life taking care of his family. Though he reconnects with Laurel when she returns to New Orleans and spends their older years together, Hai’s story is a heartwarming tale of a man dedicated to living a happy life.

Dr. K

Dr. Nathan Katowsky appears in the pilot of This Is Us as the doctor who delivers Kevin, Kate, and the child they lost (Kyle). Dr. K (Gerald McRaney) appears in other episodes, however, in some flashbacks when Jack and Rebecca are raising the Big Three.

Though in present times it’s assumed he has passed (since he was an old man when the three were born in 1980), Dr. K is a character who should return for the final season even if it’s in flashback. He was an inspirational person who encouraged the Pearsons to appreciate what they had while remembering what they lost. Dr. K isn’t just the doctor that delivered the Big Three though; he’s a character that has shared the intimate loss of his firstborn and wife, portraying someone who has lived a long and endearing life.

Gregory

When Kate encounters Gregory (Timothy Omundson) for the first time, he just seems like the grouchy neighbor that wants them to stop blocking the sidewalk with their van. As time goes on, he becomes a character that is not only relatable but unassumingly interesting.

Gregory is a man that suffered a serious stroke, forcing him to relearn to do basic tasks like walking. Gregory is one of the only characters that doesn’t have a backstory shown but speaks volumes about his character by his actions. By him opening up to a stranger and pushing himself to walk around the block, despite how slow and difficult it is, he’s a character that shows the perseverance and complexity of living after a detrimental experience.

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