Ron Cephas Jones starred in the first season of NBC drama ‘This Is Us.’ He played William Hill, the long lost biological father of Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown).
1. ‘This Is Us’ makes Jones cry, too.
He told Deadline that he cried when his TV daughter-in-law received his postcard in the finale. “That made me cry,” Jones said. “Especially when Beth gets the card. And actually, it’s my writing—I had to write that card, as well as the other stuff that he read to the kids. So all that was just really special. I was glad what they did was, they let the audience down very softly and comfortably, as comfortably and gently as you can when it comes to death.”
For example, he played a prison guard in the 1998 Spike Lee drama ‘He Got Game,’ starring Denzel Washington.
3. Jones is also a formidable theater and TV vet.
He’s starred in plays like Broadway’s ‘Of Mice and Men,’ as well as played in hugely popular TV shows like ‘Luke Cage,’ ‘The Get down,’ and ‘Mr. Robot.’
4. Jones shares a real life connection with his TV son, Sterling K. Brown.
He told Entertainment Tonight in an interview about the heartbreaking finale, “By the time we got to that episode, Sterling and I were so connected, it was like a symbiosis”.
5. Jones was recognized at this year’s Emmys.
He was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards.
6. Jones has a daughter who takes after him in the acting department.
Jasmine Cephas Jones played Peggy Schuyler in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway musical, ‘Hamilton.’
7. Jasmine is really proud of her dad’s hard work and success.
She posted this photo of her parents one week ago, along with the caption “Rat Pack. #EmmyAwards #Jonesin.”
8. Jones is an East Coast fella.
He was born in Paterson, New Jersey on January 8, 1957.
9. The script is what got Jones excited about ‘This Is Us.’
“I think how they wrote an African American character was even more special, in the layers. He wasn’t one-dimensional. I was very attracted to that and very honored to be able to give some light to this character,” he told Deadline.
10. We’ll see William Hill again.
According to ET Online, the endearing dad will appear in season 2 in flashbacks and dream sequences. “When you see William, you’ll see him in season two in the context of season one,” Jones explained.
11. Music is one of Jones’ major loves in real life, too
He told Deadline of his daughter’s musical talent, “The musical element is all her mother. I love jazz, she grew up with jazz—I’m an aficionado. I studied in college, I played, but then I switched my major to theater. I’ve never applied myself to music since then, but I’ve been a big fan and a big historian of jazz.”
