Justin Hartley may have found huge success with CBS’s hit series Tracker, but behind the scenes, insiders claim the actor is privately wrestling with something unexpected: the shadow of his past role as Kevin Pearson in This Is Us.
Ever since Tracker premiered, critics and fans alike have drawn parallels between Hartley’s new rugged, lone-wolf character and the emotionally layered Kevin Pearson who made him a household name. While comparisons might seem flattering on the surface, sources say Hartley is “genuinely frustrated” by the constant association. “Justin feels like he’s worked incredibly hard to move beyond This Is Us,” one insider shared. “Kevin was a great character, but that was years ago. He wants audiences to see Colter Shaw (Tracker’s protagonist) as entirely his own creation, not a recycled version of Kevin with a darker wardrobe.”
Hartley himself has occasionally hinted at this tension in interviews. While always gracious toward This Is Us and its legacy, his body language reportedly shifts whenever questions circle back to Kevin Pearson. “He’s proud of that chapter of his career, of course,” a colleague explained. “But Justin is in a completely different headspace now. Tracker is physical, action-driven, and emotionally tougher. It’s not about crying in the family living room—it’s about survival, danger, and grit.”
Some fans, however, seem reluctant to let go. Social media is filled with memes joking about “Kevin Pearson going off-grid” or “Kevin with a gun and a truck.” While playful, these comments reportedly hit a nerve. “He doesn’t want Tracker to feel like a spin-off of This Is Us in the public’s eyes,” the source added. “And the more people lean into those comparisons, the more it undermines his work to establish himself as a true leading man in a completely different genre.”
CBS executives, for their part, are said to be thrilled with Hartley’s performance and view his This Is Us fame as a major asset that helped launch Tracker to ratings success. But behind closed doors, Hartley is reportedly pushing to ensure Colter Shaw is taken seriously as a standalone character. “He wants this role to define his next decade in Hollywood,” the insider stressed. “Not as a nostalgic callback to a past role, but as proof that Justin Hartley can carry an action-drama on his own terms.”
As Tracker moves deeper into future seasons, the question lingers: will Hartley ever escape the shadow of Kevin Pearson, or will audiences—and the media—keep tying him to the character that first won their hearts?
