Justin Hartley defends his 'This Is Us' character, calling him 'misunderstood'

Justin Hartley believes his This Is Us character was misunderstood by viewers.

During his conversation on Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? Hartley talked about his role of Kevin Pearson on the show.

He said, "When you take on characters, a lot of times they become your children and your friends, part of you. And so you sort of feel that."

Addressing that his character on the show was perceived as "bad guy," Hartley said, "It was just like, the guy can't get out of his own way, but he's not a bad guy, but everyone thinks he's kind of an a--hole, you know what I mean? But he's really not."

"He's misunderstood, but maybe kind of an a--hole, you know. So, so you just, you you sit there and you go, Man, I wish I could help this guy, but you just can't," Hartley added.

The actor seemed to be an arrogant and selfish teenager on the show, who bullies his adopted brother, which was played by Sterling K. Brown.

Hartley added that later as Kevin matures in the show he have "more in common with him in that sort of iteration of Kevin. but I do love him, and I do hold him with me every day."

Speaking from a parent perspective, Hartley, who is dad to daughter Isabella, said, "I'm a parent and when you see your kids either getting picked on or lonely or upset or needing something. specially when... you know what it is that they need, and you can't give it to them. There's no way that you can help them, really, except to just tell them that you understand what they're going through."

"And you can just put your hand on the shoulder. You can hug them. But you can't take the pain away," the actor added.