Entertainment Awards Shows and Events Premieres Justin Hartley and Wife Sofia Pernas Say Shooting Their Joint 'Quantum Leap' Cameo Was 'Not Work at All' The married couple tells PEOPLE exclusively about the "outrageous" set of characters they play on NBC's Quantum Leap reboot By Dory Jackson Dory Jackson Dory Jackson is a Staff Editor for PEOPLE's TV News team. Upon joining the brand in March 2021, she has had the opportunity to interview a long list of celebrities, from Kate Hudson to Pierce Brosnan to Billy Porter. She has also helped recap popular TV shows like 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,' 'Sister Wives' and 'Vanderpump Rules.' The New York-based Maryland native graduated from Randolph-Macon College in May 2016 with a focus on Communication Studies and Journalism. She came to PEOPLE in March 2021 after working at a number of major news companies, including Newsweek and Us Weekly. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 10, 2022 02:00PM EDT Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic It's not every day you get to work closely alongside your significant other, but for Justin Hartley and Sofia Pernas, guest starring together on NBC's Quantum Leap reboot didn't feel like work at all. The couple — who wed in May 2021 — appear in Monday night's episode of the series, which is set 30 years after Scott Bakula's Dr. Sam Beckett disappeared upon entering the Quantum Leap accelerator. This new version follows a new team, led by Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee), as they re-open the secret project in hopes of better understanding how it works. This week's episode, "A Decent Proposal," follows Ben as he leaps into the body of 1980s Los Angeles bounty hunter Eva Sandoval as she tries to nab a hard-to-catch target. Hartley, 45, plays Eva's boyfriend and professional partner Jake, and Pernas, 33, plays as the bounty hunter's target Tammy Jean. Chris Haston/NBC It's no secret that Hartley and Pernas have worked together before, as they met while working on the soap opera The Young and The Restless. But as they exclusively tell PEOPLE, joining the world of Quantum Leap felt more joyous than laborious. "It's play. It's not work," Pernas explains as Hartley agrees, "No, it's not work at all." The This Is Us alum continues, "We both love acting. We're both in love with acting, and to be able to do it together and play these — I don't want to say outrageous characters, because they're really, I don't know, they're kind of outrageous. I can say that without offending anyone, right? The characters are outrageous!" Pernas chimes in, "I get this question a lot where it's like, 'Do you guys work well together?' 'Would you want to work together?' Because there are people out there that are like, 'We can't. We need a break from each other.' I'm like, 'Yeah, I want to do everything [with him]. We work very well together. So yeah, it's funny that that's actually the case." Ron Batzdorff/NBC Justin Hartley Says He's 'Madly in Love' with Wife Sofia Pernas: 'We're Terrifically Happy' Hartley adds, "I think in life, every time you can experience anything ... you experience things that you love together, vacations or whatever those things might be. Watching movies, having dinners, conversations, getting to know each other. [It] brings you closer together. And then also, the way life is, tragedy also brings you closer together." He continues, "Heartache, pain, all of that stuff that's kind of burdensome or annoying. That brings you closer together as well. I think anytime we have an experience together, it brings us closer together, I guess. We're pretty close though." Vivien Killilea/Getty The opportunity to appear on Quantum Leap was extra exciting for Hartley, who's a longtime fan of the original series. "It was awesome. I had watched it when I was a kid. I was a fan of it. I looked forward to watching it every week," he says. "When they rebooted it, they reboot a show like Quantum Leap, and I'm going, 'Wow. This is kind of great that I have an opportunity to be on Quantum Leap. I never thought that would happen,'" he adds. "So the fan in you kind of takes over. And the stars really aligned. It ended up being just a really great experience in every way." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Quantum Leap airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, and the premiere episode is currently available to stream on Peacock.