Milo Ventimiglia's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Heroes Peter Petre… Gilmore Girls Jess Mariano This Is Us Jack Pearson Mob City Ned Stax Heroes Unmasked (UK) Peter Petre… Wolverine Logan Wolverine The Bedford Diaries Richard Tho… Opposite Sex Jed Perry Kelly Kelly Steve Spencer

Main Movie Roles

BIOGRAPHY:

Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (Italian: [ventiˈmiʎʎa]; born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. Ventimiglia was born in Anaheim, California, the son of Carol (née Wilson) and Peter Ventimiglia. His father is of Sicilian descent and his mother has English, Irish, Scottish, French, and Cherokee Native American ancestry. His last name, Ventimiglia, meaning "twenty miles", is the name of the town of Ventimiglia in Liguria, Italy, which later gave its name to another city, Ventimiglia di Sicilia. The youngest of three children, he has two older sisters, Leslie and Laurel. He explained in an interview with USA Today that his "crooked mouth" is a result of dead nerves on the left side, which cause that side to remain immobile, much like, incidentally, actor 'Sylvester Stallone', with whom he worked in Rocky Balboa.

Ventimiglia attended El Modena High School in Orange, California, where he wrestled, acted in drama productions and held the office of president in student government. He graduated in 1995. At eighteen years of age, Ventimiglia studied at the American Conservatory Theater for their summer program. He attended UCLA as a theatre major before getting a scholarship to a music school in San Francisco.

Ventimiglia's first career break was in the Fox series Opposite Sex, playing Jed Perry, the main protagonist of the show. Ventimiglia was first noticed by fans during his three-year stint on the WB series Gilmore Girls, playing Rory Gilmore's love interest Jess Mariano from 2001 until his final guest appearance in 2006.

After his own WB series The Bedford Diaries, a recurring role as Meg Pryor's love interest on NBC's American Dreams, and playing Rocky Balboa's son in the sixth and final installment of the Rocky series, Rocky Balboa, Ventimiglia's big break came in 2006 when he received the part of nurse-turned-superhero Peter Petrelli for four seasons on NBC's Heroes. He stars as Ian Mitchell in the Crackle original series Chosen. Ventimiglia was also a recurring character on David. E. Kelley's drama Boston Public (2000). Before joining Gilmore Girls audiences became familiar with Ventimiglia when he starred in the Fox series Opposite Sex (2000) which secured him a holding deal with Warner Brothers.

His other television credits include guest starring roles on prime time series such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2000), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996) and Promised Land (1996). Segueing effortlessly between the big and small screen, Ventimiglia's passion for the art of acting keeps him drawn to both studio and independent features. Ventimiglia recently starred in the Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson thriller Cursed (2005) and next up is the indie film Dirty Deeds (2005).

His other film credits include Winter Break (2003) and Massholes (2000). Additionally he starred in the short films Nice Guys Finish Last (2001) and Must Be the Music (1996), which debuted at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. Ventimiglia is a lifelong lacto-vegetarian and was named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' Sexiest Vegetarian in 2009.

He also does not smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. He is a fan of seminal British punk band The Clash, and is an avid skateboard fan. He has three known tattoos: "S.L.R.S." on his left shoulder, a star on the inside of his right upper arm, and a dragon on his left calf. Before being cast on Heroes, Ventimiglia had been living with close friends Steve Berra and Patrick Fugit.

He dated his Gilmore Girls co-star 'Alexis Bledel' from December 2002 to July 2006. He also dated his Heroes co-star 'Hayden Panettiere' from December 2007 to February 2009. Ventimiglia took a United Service Organization tour from July 6 to 12, 2008 in support of American troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also active on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) assisting in April 2009 to launch a national public service advertisement campaign, www.SupportYourVet.org, which gives friends and family of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans tools to support their transition home from war.
Ventimiglia currently resides in Los Angeles and enjoys skateboarding, snowboarding and wake boarding. He also has a passion for restoring vintage muscle cars.


TRIVIA:

• His Favorite Bands are 'The Strokes' (qv), 'Deftones' (qv), 'A Tribe Called Quest' (qv), 'The Hives' (qv).
• Made his debut in _"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990) {Bourgie Sings the Blues (#6.4)}_ (qv).
• His favorite book is The Long Walk (Richard Bachman).
• Didn't have to audition for "The Bedford Diaries". The WB had Milo, and only Milo, in mind for the role.
• Started a production company named DiVide Pictures.
• Milo and _"Heroes" (2006/II)_ (qv) co-star 'Adrian Pasdar' (qv) auditioned for roles in the proposed _Gilmore Girls_ spin-off where Milo was to be the son of Pasdar's character. As there are only 12 years difference between them, the casting director said they would be better off playing brothers. Eight years later, they were playing brothers Peter (Milo) and Nathan (Pasdar) Petrelli in _"Heroes" (2006/II)_ (qv).
• His family name, pronounced VEN (as in VENice)- TEE - ME - LIA (as in "LIAison"), is the name of a small city in Liguria (Northern Italy) just 9 km away from the border with France).
• When he was seven, his two sisters used to dress him up like Madonna!