A MILLION LITTLE THINGS: Ron Livingston on Finding the Right Balance in Jon’s Flashbacks

As the first season of A MILLION LITTLE THINGS has continued on, the series has been strategic about how much they show of Jon (Ron Livingston).

Jon’s suicide kicked off the opening moments of the drama’s series premiere, but he has remained a vital on-screen presence, whether it’s in old recordings of important moments or flashbacks.

“Scheduling-wise, it’s great, as far as learning lines goes,” Livingston jokes. (The actor, for his part, has kept busy: he also stars in LOUDERMILK.)

But given the importance of Jon to virtually everyone remaining on the show, it also provides a bit of a challenge for Livingston, who has to deliver everything viewers need to know about his deceased character in very short spurts.

“I think what it is you have to really know where we are in the story,” he says. “What’s the essence of what this little interlude is about? What does it have to say about whatever scene came before it and whatever scene came after it. You kind of have to cut it down to the one essential thing about this [moment], because that’s all you have time to do.”

A MILLION LITTLE THINGS, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC

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