Milo Ventimiglia Sheds the ‘Stache in New Spy Drama ‘The Company You Keep’

The Company You Keep: © 2022 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Credit: Eric McCandless

Based on the successful Korean series My Fellow Citizens, the new ABC spy drama The Company You Keep (Sundays beginning Feb. 19 at 10pm ET/PT on ABC) follows a charismatic con man (Milo Ventimiglia) and an undercover CIA agent (Catherine Haena Kim) on a collision course of professional and romantic natures. Emma (Kim) has been working to catch the vengeful criminal who is keeping Charlie (Ventimiglia) from leaving a life of crime behind him, and the closer she gets, the higher the stakes become for everyone.

“This guy feels different, this love feels different,” Kim says of their compelling pairing. “We meet without knowing anything about each other. So, it’s that moment when you see someone and it feels like they just get it, they get you, and you look over and you think, ‘Oh, it’s you. It’s going to be you.’ And then it’s on.”

© 2022 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Credit: Eric McCandless

Ventimiglia, who played the beloved Jack Pearson on This Is Us for six seasons, transitioned almost immediately into his new role.

“I got a haircut, had a shave, and I was on set as Charlie doing the pilot,” he shares. “I took a few months off after that to write some scripts; I went and did a movie. And then two weeks after that movie, I was back on set again doing the series.”

As a Robin Hood-type criminal whose biggest concern is keeping his family safe, the role of Charlie is definitely more action-oriented — and he’s got the on-set injuries to prove it. (Before our discussion, Ventimiglia had just gotten an MRI for an on-set collision.)

“There’s action, there’s a lot of excitement, a lot of near misses and a lot of heart. There’s something for everyone,” he says. “Charlie’s a good bad guy. The family has a moral code. They’re not going after people who don’t deserve it. Playing a character who’s also playing multiple characters [blending into various worlds] is just candy for an actor. Charlie’s definitely given me the opportunity to stretch and flex as an actor.”

The quick transition into being Charlie was not a difficult one, Ventimiglia says. “I played Jack for so long that everything I played of him was on instinct. He just existed. I put the mustache on, and the clothes of the decade, and he was just alive. There was not much I had to do. So, it was easy to shed Jack and finally put the man to rest.”

Ventimiglia has a very clear idea of who Charlie is and has no problem leaning into this complex new role. “He’s a very simple guy. Jeans and T-shirt kind of guy. He owns a bar, drives a simple car, nothing flashy, nothing that jumps out at you,” he adds. “So, when he enters the con world, the con space, he can completely blend into that world. Being a gunrunner, being a photo assistant, being in the art world, he’s able to reflect the targets and the marks that he’s going after. When he steps into the con world, that’s where the real work takes over, where I’ve got to understand the difference between who he’s playing as the con man and who he is as an individual. He’s got to be several steps ahead of everybody; he has a strong situational awareness.”

Emma is similarly observant, says Kim; it’s one of the things the two characters have in common. “At first glance, we’re seemingly very different. You’ll come to see how similar we actually are. For one, we both lie for a living.” Both characters seem to have trust issues as well, which are visible from the moment they meet. “Before she even knows he’s a con artist, she is wondering, ‘Can I trust you with my heart?’ Which, I think, we can all relate to,” she adds. “Falling in love is exciting, and also terrifying.”

Do the two of them have what it takes to overcome so many obstacles? Only time will tell! ­