This Is Us season 4 episode 15: Why so little of Pamela Adlon?

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There are almost always some major mysteries when it comes to the world of NBC’s This Is UsYet, what we have in this piece is an interesting example of one that extends to the making of the show.

Earlier this year, it was first confirmed that Better Things actress Pamela Adlon was going to be playing the part of Randall’s therapist on the series. Yet, we barely had a chance to see her! This was a pretty big-name guest star for her to only be in a small percentage of the show. We wondered if it was about Adlon’s availability, but as it turns out, it was more of a creative choice. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, here is what executive producer Elizabeth Burger had to say on the subject:

A lot of that had to do with what Sterling [K. Brown] can do as a performer … As we were talking about this, we started realizing that it would just be absolutely incredible to stay in these long takes with Sterling where you’re getting into his psychology and you’re watching him turn her words over and over again in his mind. And because Sterling is the type of actor that can do that and to live in those minutes-long takes, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do it that way.

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Berger noted that Adlon was totally a good sport about the decision, and there will be more opportunities to see her on-screen in the future. Clearly, Randall is therapy is not something that the writers are going to be tossing by the wayside in the near future — which is good, since it does feel like there is a heck of a lot of material that can be mined from it. We do think it’s fairly apparent at this point that Randall needs a substantial amount of help since he feels it almost necessary to take on every burden in the world.

Related News Be sure to get more news on the next This Is Us episode

Were you surprised there was so little Pamela Adlon on this week’s new This Is Us?

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