Even when she’s not appearing on “This Is Us,” Caitlin Thompson has a front-row seat to the show. If she chooses to use it.

This Is Us Caitlin Thompson is married to the NBC show’s creator

A recurring player on the Emmy-winning Tuesday NBC drama – as Madison, Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) therapy-group “frenemy” – the actress and writer also is the wife of the series’ creator and executive producer, Dan Fogelman. That makes her privy to what’s coming up on the show, though she maintains she doesn’t always want to know.

“He’s always like, ‘Come look at this scene!,’ if he’s editing or reviewing something … but I try not to,” Thompson says. “I like watching it as a fan if I’m not in the episode. Sometimes, he’ll show me things out of order and I’ll be like, ‘Wait. I thought this already happened.’ And he’ll say, ‘No. It’s coming up.’ As much as I like to be supportive, I don’t want to know until I watch.

“Even with a script I’m in,” adds Thompson, “I’ll sometimes skip through the scenes and just find the information I need to know. There are always so many twists and turns.”

Thompson reveals she’s already filmed three “This Is Us” episodes for the current season, including the premiere: “I think the friendship between Kate and Madison is something that the writers use a lot to advance Kate’s story line, so I think they have a couple more (Season 3 episodes) planned for me.”

Madison occupies a special place in the universe of “This Is Us,” Thompson believes. “A lot of characters on the show don’t really have an outside friend to go to,” she reasons. “It’s a lot more focused on the family, and this adds a dimension of reality to it.”

Seen previously on the shows “90210” (on which she also played a Madison) and “Greek” – and in the Fogelman-written 2011 film “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” — Thompson will step out front as the star of Lifetime’s new Nov. 25 movie “Christmas Perfection,” playing a woman whose vision of a “perfect” yuletide turns out not to be so ideal.

“I was really impressed with the script,” she says. “It was very sharp and quick-witted and charming, so I was really pleased to have that approach to a Christmas movie. I was excited by it.”