This Is Us Writer Jas Waters Dies at 39

Screenwriter Jas Waters has passed away at the age of 39. No official cause of death was given but the news was announced by the This Is Us Twitter account, a series that Waters had previously written on. They wrote: “The entire #ThisIsUs family was devastated to learn of Jas Waters passing. In our time together, Jas left her mark on us and ALL over the show. She was a brilliant storyteller and a force of nature. We send our deepest sympathies to her loved ones. She was one of us. RIP @JasFly.” Waters is credited with working on 18 episodes of the series throughout its second season.

This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman responded to the news as well, tweeting: “This news took my breath away. Jas was absolutely brilliant and had so many stories still to tell. She made an indelible mark on our show and my heart breaks for her loved ones. RIP @JasFly.”

Waters other credits include the VH1 series The Breaks, Comedy Central’s Hood Adjacent with James Davis, the Showtime series Kidding starring Jim Carrey, and the Taraji P. Henson/Tracy Morgan comedy What Men Want. Before writing for film and television, Waters worked as a journalist and novelist.

Speaking in an interview with Shadow and Act back in 2018, Waters opened up about how she pulled from her life and experiences while working on the Emmy Award winning series, saying:

“I tended to pitch more from my real life. I’ve lived a lot of life. I’ve lost 111 pounds, so I understood weight and weight loss, which is Kate’s story. I have, for better or for worse, been on the inside of fame. Having had a television show, (having) been on TV and having several famous friends, I understood — in a very textile way — Kevin’s story. At the time, we knew Randall’s story was going to be about adopting a child as a way to process his own adoption, so they lined up a really great list of adoption counselors to answer our questions. (When) the second counselor described traits of adopted children and what happens as they grow older, it hit so close to home. That’s when I learned that I was adopted. So as we were working on (the show), I was working through things. Thankfully, Dan (Fogelman), Isaac (Aptaker) and Elizabeth (Berger) are so great at really wanting authentic stories. The audience can tell what’s real and what’s not. You can’t fool the audience, nor should you want to. So I pulled a lot from my real life.”

May she rest in peace.