Justin Hartley Reveals Helpful ‘Survival Tactic’ That He Learned From Playing Colter on ‘Tracker’

Justin Hartley has learned a thing or two about survival while playing everyone’s favorite rewardist, Colter Shaw, on Tracker.

The This Is Us alum, 48, revealed that the CBS show certainly taught him some valuable life skills due to the fact that his character has been put into dozens of high-pressure situations over the course of two seasons.

“The survivalist tactic I’ve learned from Tracker is to be patient and stay calm in times of great stress,” he told Us Weekly in an interview published on March 1. “When you panic, you make bad decisions. That’s one of the things he lives by, so I try to live by that as well. It’s reinforced every time I play the character, so I guess that helps me in my personal life.”

Tracker fans have certainly seen Colter stop at nothing to solve cases on the show, whether it be chasing assailants through the woods or jumping out of a plane to find a missing person in the middle of a forest. Very rarely is the culprit hidden in plain sight, driving him to do anything to find who he is looking for.

Ahead of the season 2 premiere last fall, Justin spoke about how the role was physically demanding more so than the first season. Colter has been brought to new locations, challenged by new villains and forced to make impossible choices.

“Well, the episode order is a lot bigger so that’ll be a challenge,” he told TV Insider in September 2024 of season 2, which is currently airing.

“In three months, we’ll see how I feel,” he added. “But there’s more physicality in certain episodes. The fights certainly are more physical but I don’t mind a bruise here so I [am] just trying to keep my body healthy.”

Justin, who is married to Tracker costar Sofia Pernas, also explained how important keeping up with his physical fitness was for this role in particular.

“My character is always running or jumping or climbing, fighting — a lot of fighting, turning [and] twisting,” Justin told Men’s Health in February about being active on the show.

“As you get more and more into working out and fitness, you start to understand it starts impact different phases of your life,” Justin told the outlet. “It can impact your emotional state, it can impact your stress level — it’s way more important than just physique and looking good.”

Fans can expect to see a whole lot more of Colter on their TV screens after it was announced in February that Tracker was renewed for season 3, which will air on CBS at some point between 2025 and 2026.

“This season, our new and returning series continue to showcase CBS as the leader in launching and programming the biggest hits with mass appeal for broadcast and streaming viewers,” Amy Reisenbach, President of CBS Entertainment, said after announcing several show renewals for the network. “These returning shows represent a mix of long-standing hits and a new generation of fan favorites. In collaboration with our extraordinarily talented partners in front of and behind the camera, we look forward to delivering another successful season.”

Catch new episodes of Tracker on Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.