Besides tear-streaked cheeks and the sudden compulsion to hug your nearest family member, there's one more thing you've probably picked up on while watching NBC's megahit This Is Us: the actors get pretty emotional, too. And sometimes, as Mandy Moore will tell you, that's not easy to work around.
"There's a lot of crying on set," the Garnier brand ambassador, who plays Rebecca Pearson on the show, told POPSUGAR. "It's a good thing that we have a makeup team around to jump in and help clean up my streaky mascara, because there aren't really any setting products that help [against tears]."
The series' glam squad isn't just integral for covering up Moore's cry-face (which she describes as "definitely not cute," and TBH, same) but also for applying her prosthetics whenever she transforms from 25 to 68 — which, ironically, also can't handle the waterworks.
Keep reading to find out how she keeps it together through the tough times, and why time-travelling in front of millions of viewers changed her opinion on ageing, ahead. Bring the tissues.
How She Combats Her "Not Cute" Cry Face
Image Source: Courtesy of NBC
"No one's going to have a cute crying face — and it's OK," Moore said. "Whenever I cry, my face gets really red around my eyes and nose. I get raccoon eyes; it's especially blocky around my eye sockets. It's definitely not cute. I'll get so sniffly that I can't breathe. My nose is all congested. I really go there when I cry. The whole thing is cathartic. I feel like all is forgivable."
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On Seeing Scenes For the First Time
Image Source: Courtesy of NBC
Moore explained that part of why she gets so emotional is because she's not on set for every shot, so she's watching what happened with the rest of the world. "I'm only in one small fraction of the show, and I'm able to watch the whole thing put together and see my friends do all of this incredible work," she said. "It's emotional. I get to watch it and be a regular audience member during those scenes."
Tears are all fine and dandy, until part of your 68-year-old face starts smearing down your cheek. "It's funny, we've discovered that when I'm crying in the prosthetics — the older age makeup — tears act like a weird lubricant that removes it," Moore said. "We almost have to wait until the end of the day to shoot anything where I potentially would be emotional and might cry, because the prosthetics will start to disintegrate in a way. I'm not sure if it's the salt in the tears that kind of break it up, but yeah, it breaks up the glue."
Moore continued, "It's the last thing you want to happen in that moment — you're in an emotional place, which is not a fun place to be, and then someone's running up to you trying to glue your face back together. Like I don't even want anybody to touch me; I just want to be in this moment."
Despite playing an older character at times on TV and working in an industry that puts unneccessary pressure on women, Moore said the whole experience has made her more grateful to age. "I've loved getting older. I wouldn't go back to my 20s if you paid me," she said. "I love being at this stage of my life and the wisdom and clarity that comes with it. It's fun to look at pictures of myself and see the little lines around my eyes and see my smile lines — I feel like I've lived a full and happy life and that's just another indication of it."
As for her character, she added: "It's really cool seeing myself aged up, mainly because I don't recognise myself," she said. "I don't see my mom or my grandma in the character. It feels very much like, 'Oh, that's just the character at 68.'"
