How 'This Is Us'' Logan Shroyer Almost Missed His Big Audition for Teen Kevin Pearson

Logan Shroyer told PEOPLE, "I had a dentist appointment that I ended up canceling" in order to make his This Is Us audition

As the second season of This Is Us delves closer to Jack Pearson’s death, the teenage Big Three have gotten more screen time. But actor Logan Shroyer, who audiences have gotten to know as teenage Kevin Pearson, nearly missed his audition to play a role on the hit NBC series.

“This is actually a funny story. I auditioned when I had a bunch of stuff going on,” Shroyer, 18, told PEOPLE about the process of landing his role in 2015.

“It was Halloween night, if not the day after, that I got the call about the audition and I almost didn’t go. It was super last minute,” said the Redondo Beach, California, native. “I had a dentist appointment that I ended up canceling because I was like, ‘I have to do this.’ ”

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In fact, Shroyer landed the part with only a single tryout.

“Then the next afternoon I got a call in the afternoon. I was like, ‘You booked it. You need to go to Beverly Hills right now. You need to make sure your hair looks ‘90s and you need to make sure you can get contacts fitted to match Justin Hartley’s eyes,’ ” he recalled, further explaining that he wears colored contacts when filming scenes to make his brown eyes blue.

“I got the script that morning I met Dan [Fogelman] and I met Mandy [Moore]. It was one audition. Boom! Let’s do it. I couldn’t be more thankful for that,” Shroyer said.

“This Is Us has been the biggest blessing ever to be able to learn from people above me like that — that are so good at what they do. What a blessing to work with such good writing as well,” he shared.

Outside of the hit NBC series, Shroyer is the firstborn in his family just like his on-screen character. “I’ve got two little brothers. I’m the oldest, so [playing Kevin] came pretty naturally,” he said.

WATCH: This Is Us: Is This How Milo Ventimiglia’s Jack Pearson Died?

In addition to his own family, the This Is Us cast is just as close off-camera as they are on-camera.

“We’re obviously not a real family but it’s close. I got to be honest, it’s close. Milo [Ventimiglia] is like actually almost our father. It’s kind of crazy. He’s such a good guy and we talk all the time,” Shroyer said.

Adding, “Me, Niles [Fitch] and Hannah [Zeile] are essentially siblings. We hang out all the time. We all talk way too much and hang out. It’s great, it’s a great atmosphere. It’s hard not to get close to these people because you bond with these scenes. You’re in such vulnerable places sometimes and those are the people who’ve seen you in that place.”

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And much like most families, Shroyer is learning from his This Is Us role models and mentors.

“Acting was one of those things I didn’t think I wanted to do, I just sort of fell into it. I think that’s really cool because it’s telling that I just really love it,” he said of his career. “I never really had that image of I really want to be famous. I was just in an acting class and really started to love it and then started taking it really seriously. I love it. Those dreams on that stuff really started like five years ago.”

As for what storyline he is most excited for fans and viewers to watch, the young actor teased the one scene everyone has been anticipating.

“Jack’s death. It’s a real thing that people are going to see and it’ll be great, it’ll be crazy, it’ll be heartbreaking,” Shroyer divulged. “Reading these scripts, oh my gosh, has been overwhelming. I think people are going to be really, really impressed and happy. Or really unhappy because Jack’s dying. It’s not exactly something to celebrate.”

This Is Us airs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on NBC.