For those of us who fell in love with the This Is Us cast all those years ago, we’re no stranger to Justin Hartley and the fact that he’s in fantastic shape. Now, he’ll be going shirtless in his series on the 2024 TV schedule, CBS’ Tracker, and it will happen literally five minutes into the first episode. So, considering the drama is premiering right after the Super Bowl, Hartley shared his take on showing his body to the world, and it’s fantastic.
Justin Hartley has been a heartthrob since his This Is Us days when his character Kevin would have to be shirtless on the set of his fictional TV show The Manny. On Tracker, the actor’s character Colter Shaw isn’t an actor, he’s a lone-wolf survivalist who helps track criminals and people of interest. So his reason for being ripped is a bit different. However, in both cases, he’s had a sense of humor about it all, and he has taken everything in stride. For example, while speaking about his upcoming shirtless moment in Tracker with ET, he said:
Well, being executive producer, I get to delay that. They wanted it at 4.3 seconds. And so, I was able to eke out another four and a half minutes. I guess that's how powerful I am.
Hartley is not just the star of Tracker, he’s also an executive producer. So, with his producer powers, he was able to decide where his shirtless scene ended up being in the episode. Exactly 4 minutes and 52 seconds into Tracker’s pilot was what they landed on, and the actor/EP explained why, saying:
No, that's not by design. I think it's just sort of [how] he lives, right? He showers here. He sleeps here. He changes his clothes here, and he eats here. So, we see a lot of his life happen in here.
For context, this interview was conducted on the set of Tracker, and Hartley was referring to Colter’s Airstream that he travels and lives in. So, considering how high-action his job is, and the limited living space he’s working with, it kind of makes sense that he’s in great shape and that we see how he lives from day to day early in the show. Apparently, that situation also means we’ll see him shirtless, and who can complain about that?
Tracker is a highly anticipated show, and the fact that it's airing after the Super Bowl means CBS has a lot of confidence in it. Considering there’s already a lot of love out there for Justin Hartley because of his This Is Us fame, and taking his fun takes on the show into account, I can see why the network has slated the drama in such a coveted spot.
Adding to the excitement, this will be Hartley’s first project post-This Is Us that will see him back in a series regular role. This Is Us ended in 2022, so I’m assuming many fans are like me, and they’ve been waiting to see the Kevin Pearson actor return to the small screen in a major way.
Luckily we won’t have to wait long to see Justin Hartley back on TV (and you really won’t have to wait long to see him shirtless), because Tracker premieres right after the Super Bowl ends on February 11 on CBS. And if you want to go back and double-check that Hartley’s shirtless scene does indeed come less than five minutes into the pilot, you can stream it the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.
