You won't BELIEVE the way Y&R's Justin Hartley landed his This Is Us role

A fortunate misunderstanding led The Young and the Restless' Justin Hartley (Adam Newman) to his "dream come true" role on This Is Us.

Justin Hartley (Adam Newman) has bid farewell to The Young and the Restless' Genoa City, but Adam's former portrayer says his new gig on the upcoming dramedy This Is Us has made him the happiest he's ever been.

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"When I read the pilot, I was like, 'Man, if I could be a part of something like this, this would be like a dream come true for an actor,' " Hartley shares. "It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime scripts you read. This role spoke to me in so many ways: I think [Kevin] leads with his heart, he's always got good intentions and he's very driven."

If some of you think the role sounds a lot like Hartley in real life, you're not alone. The actor became familiar with the show via a fellow performer who mistakenly thought the show's head writer and executive producer, Dan Fogelman, wrote the character of Kevin specifically for Hartley.

"He sends [the script] over to me and I read it, and immediately I was like, 'Oh, OK, that's fantastic, that's right in my wheelhouse right there,' " Hartley explains. "I called my agent and my agent was already on it."

As for what fans can expect from This Is Us, which debuts on Tuesday, September 20, Hartley says it's high intensity drama that he's never experienced before -- even when he was in the crazy world of soap operas.

"The way that Dan sort of mixes the tone of the show, the way he will literally have you crying and then all of a sudden something will happen and you'll sort of start laughing through the misery that you're experiencing in these characters," Hartley explains of the dramatic tension, "I don't know if I've ever had a job like that before."

Will you be tuning in to catch Hartley in This Is Us? How much will you miss him on Y&R? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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