Justin Hartley on 'This Is Us' ending after season 6 and the state of Hollywood
Actor Justin Hartley joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss his thoughts on 'This Is Us' ending after season 6 and his new venture with Revel Spirits.
Video transcript
ADAM SHAPIRO: OK, welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. You know him as a famous actor. Justin Hartley has something else that he's up to. It's a new spirits brand. So we invite him into the stream, along with Ali Canal, to talk about where he's going with this, but also about the last season of "This is Us." But I know we want to talk about the agave. So Justin, welcome. And tell us about--
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Thank you.
ADAM SHAPIRO: --this new spirit that you're a part of.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Yeah, I'm really excited about it. It's called-- the brand is called Revel. The spirit that we've created is called Avila. It's 100% blue weber agave, distilled, grown in a region of Mexico, a state of Mexico called Morelos. It's just south of-- in a town just south of Mexico City right by Cuernavaca. And our land is beautiful. And it sort of sits at the base of an active volcano, so we get the benefit of sort of, like, having a piece of property that is replenished with all the minerals that farming depletes from the soil. So we have that. We do sort of a unique triple distillery processing.
And I would say it's-- I've been told-- and I kind of agree-- it's sort of like a beautiful marriage between the [INAUDIBLE] because we roast some of our [INAUDIBLE], some of the agave, and then we steam some of it as well. So you get that sort of really great rich blend of a really wonderful [INAUDIBLE] and what a tequila would be in sort of, like, if they had a baby. So yeah, I'm really proud of it. And we're coming to the market soon. And it's wonderful. It's winning all kinds of awards. And people seem to--
ALEXANDRA CANAL: And Justin--
JUSTIN HARTLEY: --really enjoy it, yeah.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: And Justin, I have a bottle. I have a bottle right here.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Ah!
ALEXANDRA CANAL: And it's beautiful.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: It looks like you might have--
ALEXANDRA CANAL: It is gorgeous.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Have you dipped into that bottle?
ALEXANDRA CANAL: So I poured myself a nice little shot, and I'm going to taste test it 'cause I'm very curious.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Good. Do it, yeah. It's a sipper-- there you go. Some people just like to shoot it. I guess, I would never tell you how to drink the stuff.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: I'm not a shooter.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: What do you think?
ALEXANDRA CANAL: I used to be in college, not anymore. Honestly, I really like it. I really like it. I have a question, though, on the agave process because that takes about seven or 10 years to mature. Your price point can be a little high, the premium brand going for around $170. So how do you make sure that you're continuing to meet demand, while also lowering the price as much as you can for consumers?
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Yeah, so I mean, just like anything else, I guess, the more we can mass produce this stuff-- and it's a very sort of intricate, detailed process. So it's always going to be at that certain price point because just the amount of work that it takes to make a bottle, I don't-- there's no interest in-- that I have, certainly, or any of my partners have in sort of cheapening the product just to lower the price point and make it more readily available. We're doing our best as far as that's concerned. But we do have three different expressions we have. I have the bottles right here. We have the Blanco, right, which is really beautiful, I think. This is the one that you pulled out. I think the Reposado, right? And then--
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Mm-hmm, yep.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: And then our Anejo, this is the big daddy, the Anejo right here. So we've got-- yeah, you have the Reposado. My screen is so small, it's hard to-- but anyway, so we do have three different price points, three different expressions, three totally different flavor profiles of this beautiful, wonderful agave spirit that I think everyone's going to love. You just wait. Everyone's going to be talking about Avila here soon.
SEANA SMITH: Justin, we have a lot to talk to you about. I want to switch the conversation because so many of us know you and love you from "This is Us." And I think a lot of people were very sad when they heard the reports this week that "This is Us" will be ending after its sixth season. I'm curious just to get your thoughts on the show and why you think it's been such a hit for so many people.
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Yeah, you know, I mean, I think, just like everything else sort of in Hollywood and storytelling and if you look at any kind of written art or any kind of performed art, it's all about the story and storytelling and the writing. We have the most brilliant, amazing, dedicated writers in the land. And they have-- they really knuckled down. You know, this was in a tough year for everybody. And these writers, you know, they sit in a room, and they kind of bounce things off of each other. And when you don't have that connection and you're doing everything over a screen, it's got to be more difficult. Yet they've managed to pull it off. So it all starts with the writing.
I think the dedication of the actors, the cast that I work with, they've become my best friends. They're my family now. We love each other so much. And just the dedication and the passion and we always talk about, from the very beginning of the show, we've always talked about the baby and protecting the baby. And the baby is the show. And I just think every single character is so relatable. There will be some episodes that I'll watch where I'm relating so much to Beth in my life and not so much to Kevin in my own personal life, and vice versa, or maybe I'm relating to Randall and not so much Kevin.
So I just think the characters speak to people. And I think when you can write something that's that authentic and that real and pure, I think people see themselves in it. And they relate to the characters. And that's just pretty much what it is, I guess, right?
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Yeah, I totally agree. I'm a big "This is Us" fan. But just to wrap this up quickly, Justin--
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Thank you.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: --I wanted to quickly get your thoughts on the HFPA and Golden Globe controversy. NBC canceling next year's Golden Globes amid the boycotts and the backlash. What do you make of what's happening?
JUSTIN HARTLEY: Well, look, I mean, I think any time you bring awareness to any-- I'm a big fan of, as I think most people are, I'm a big fan of inclusivity and diversity and everybody getting a seat at the table. And any time you can bring awareness to a situation where that might not be happening, I think it's a good thing. I think the world's ever evolving. And hopefully, we are, too. And yeah, I mean, I think any time any kind of injustice or anything is really sort of seen and someone can shine a light on it, I think that's a good thing. So, you know, I'm not that well schooled in it. I haven't read all-- I wish I could sit here and tell you I was an expert on all this stuff. But it sounds like people are, you know, shining a light on something that maybe needs to be talked about.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Justin Hartley, break a leg with the new venture and with your future acting ventures as well. All the best to Allie Canal. Good to see-
