'This Is Us' Creator Dan Fogelman Shares the Show's Ultimate Message 

This Is Us aired its series finale on NBC Tuesday night after six seasons

This Is UsSterling K. Brown, Susan Kelechi Watson, Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore "This Is Us"
This Is Us cast. Photo: Maarten de Boer/NBCUniversal

The creator of This Is Us revealed the ultimate message behind the hit NBC show, which aired its series finale on Tuesday.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, creator Dan Fogelman opened up about what he hopes fans took away from watching the Pearson family over the last six seasons.

"You never lose anyone, because you're living in six different versions of your own life in a given moment, and you're carrying the pieces of people forward," Fogelman, 46, said of the show's meaning. "That OG Pearson couple is being carried forward into the future generations of their family.'"

Dan Fogelman
Dan Fogelman. Chelsea Guglielmino/WireImage

During the series finale screening and panel on Sunday, the cast of This Is Us including Milo Ventimiglia, Chrissy Metz, Susan Kelechi Watson and Chris Sullivan shared their favorite lines from the show's run.

Metz, 41, revealed her favorite moment came in the emotional penultimate episode during a conversation between the late William Hill (Ron Cephas Jones) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) on the train, right before she enters the caboose car.

"Of course, when Rebecca said, 'Isn't this quite sad?' and William says, 'No, if it is, it's because it meant something,'" Metz explained. "If that don't sum up this whole damn series, I don't know what else does."

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Sullivan, 41, picked a memorable line from young Kate (Mackenzie Hancsicsak) in the series finale.

"As long as I know where all of you are, I know where I'm going," he said. "I was sitting in my office weeping. I didn't realize that that is how I feel about my life until Dan said it [in the script], and that's something I'm gonna take with me forever."

In selecting his favorite line, Ventimiglia, 44, also opened up about his own takeaway from the show's final episode.

"When the world puts something this obvious in front of you, you don't just walk away from it," he said, before clarifying on its meaning. "Pay attention. Pay attention when life is happening in front of you. That was a big moment for me to be like, pay attention to life happening in front of you as it's happening, don't let it pass."

THIS IS US -- "Honestly" Episode 504 -- Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Milo Ventimiglia as Jack, Mandy Moore as Rebecca -- (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Watson, 40, added that her favorite line comes from a song performed by Rebecca at Kate and Phillip's wedding.

"It's a song... went to the top of the charts because Mandy Moore sang it," Watson noted. "It says, 'I'm starting to learn that some silences shouldn't be broken, just listened to,' and that's in 'Forever Now.'"

"That was just so deep to me," she continued. "I'm a big fan of how to communicate without words and something about listening to a silence for information, and there being information in it, something to gather there without an over-explanation, felt beautiful and very human and very poignant. That whole song wrecked all of us every single time she sang it. There's so many gems in it, but that one stuck out to me the most."

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This Is Us premiered on NBC in September 2016. In addition to Ventimiglia, Moore, Metz, Sullivan and Watson, the series also starred Sterling K. Brown, Justin Hartley and Jon Huertas. Over its six-season run, the show earned hundreds of accolades — including more than 30 Emmy Award nominations — before its conclusion on Tuesday.

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