Milo Ventimiglia
 |
Milo Ventimiglia | |
|---|---|
 Milo Ventimiglia at the William S. Paley Festival for Heroes, March 10, 2007 | |
| Born | Milo Anthony Ventimiglia |
| Occupation | actor |
| Years active | c. 1995–present |
Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the NBC series Heroes as idealistic hero Peter Petrelli, in the television series Gilmore Girls as Rory's rebel boyfriend Jess Mariano, and as Rocky's son Robert Balboa in the final movie of the Rocky saga, Rocky Balboa.
Biography
Early life
Ventimiglia was born in Anaheim, California, the son of Carol (née Wilson) and Peter Ventimiglia.[1] His father is of Sicilian Italian descent and his mother has Irish, English, Scottish, French, Cherokee and Blackfoot[2] ancestry.[3] His last name, "Ventimiglia", is the name of a town in Liguria, Italy. The youngest of three children, he has two older sisters. He was born with dead nerve endings in his lower left lip.[1] Ventimiglia attended El Modena High School in Orange, California, where he wrestled and held the office of president in student government (ASB). He graduated in 1995.
At the age of 18, Ventimiglia received a scholarship to study at the American Conservatory Theater for their summer program.[4] He attended UCLA as a Theatre Arts major for four years.
Career
At eighteen years of age, Ventimiglia started auditioning, booking jobs, and working his way up. From there, Ventimiglia studied at UCLA before landing a role on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.[5] Ventimiglia has also guest starred on such television series as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Boston Public. He had the part of the main character, Jed Perry, in the short-lived FOX TV series, Opposite Sex.
From 2001 to 2004, Ventimiglia played brooding teen Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls. He signed on for a spin-off of Gilmore Girls, entitled Windward Circle, which was going to be focused on the relationship between Jess and his estranged father (played by Rob Estes), but the proposed series never made it to the air because of high filming costs. The season 3 episode Here Comes the Son, was the pilot for the California-set spin-off, which would have starred Ventimiglia, Rob Estes and Sherilyn Fenn. Ventimiglia returned to Gilmore Girls for a few episodes in seasons four and six since his 2003 departure.
In the third and final season of the NBC drama American Dreams, Ventimiglia played Chris Pierce, the rebellious boyfriend of Meg Pryor (Brittany Snow). Pierce and his single mother, Shelly (Daphne Zuniga), a Playboy bunny, move into the house next to the Pryors. Chris Pierce evades the draft, fearing he would be forced to fight in the Vietnam War, where Meg Pryor's older brother, J.J. (Will Estes) was wounded. Chris and Meg escape Philadelphia in the series finale to Berkeley, California, much to the sadness of Meg's best friend, Roxanne Bojarski (Vanessa Lengies).
In 2005, he starred in the mid-season replacement series The Bedford Diaries, for which he did not have to audition. The producers had only Ventimiglia in mind for the role. However, the show lasted only eight episodes and was one of several shows not picked up by the newly-formed network The CW. During his off-time from television and production work, he has had supporting roles in horror films such as Cursed and Stay Alive as well as starring roles in the short-film Intelligence and the full-length feature Dirty Deeds. Most recently, he played Robert "Rocky Jr." Balboa, the son of Rocky Balboa, in the latest Rocky installment Rocky Balboa which was released in December 2006.
He can currently be seen starring as Peter Petrelli in the NBC program Heroes, a show about "ordinary" people discovering they have superpowers. Along side his work in Heroes, Ventimiglia has also taken on other projects. In mid-2007 he starred as the love interest of pop singer Fergie in the music video for her single "Big Girls Don't Cry". He has also to star in the horror film Pathology, which should be in theatres soon. The movie co-starred Charmed actress Alyssa Milano and was directed by Marc Schoelermann for MGM.
Production work
In addition to being hired as a second unit director for the 2003 and 2004 "Image Campaigns" for the former The WB Network, Divide Pictures (the production company Ventimiglia co-owns and operates with best friends Russ Cundiff and Dino DeMilio), according to USA Today, is now producing and developing a mini web-series called It's a Mall World as part of a marketing campaign for American Eagle Outfitters. The "webisodes" are due to start airing on American Eagle's official website, during episodes of the new season of MTV's The Real World, and in American Eagle stores nationwide on August 2nd. According to American Eagle's website, Ventimiglia will be directing the series, while his friend Cundiff will be producing it.
In 2005, Divide Pictures became The DSC, or Divide Social Club, a clothing line co-founded by Ventimiglia with his best friends Cundiff and DeMilio. In addition to t-shirt production, Divide Social Club also produces "internet content" in the form of videos that have appeared on YouTube.
Personal life
Ventimiglia is a lacto-vegetarian.[6][7]
He and fellow former Gilmore Girls co-star Alexis Bledel dated for three and a half years, but the relationship ended sometime before July 2006.[8] In late December 2007 it was reported that Ventimiglia was dating his Heroes costar Hayden Panettiere.[9][10]
Ventimiglia is a fan of British band The Clash.[11] When he was younger, Ventimiglia's older sisters dressed him up as Madonna and took photos. He found the photos when he was 13 years old and tore them up.[11]
He does not smoke cigarettes nor drink alcohol.[12]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Must Be the Music | Jason |
| 1997 | Rewind | Young Rob |
| 1999 | She's All That | Soccer Player |
| 1999 | Speedway Junky | Travis |
| 2000 | Massholes (film) | |
| 2001 | Nice Guys Finish Last (film) | Josh |
| 2003 | Winter Break (film) | Matt Raymand |
| 2004 | Gramercy Park (film) | Billy Hammond Jr. |
| 2005 | Dirty Deeds | Zach Harper |
| 2006 | Intelligence (film) | Colin Mathers |
| 2006 | Stay Alive | Loomis Crowley |
| 2006 | Rocky Balboa (film) | Robert Jr. |
| 2007 | Winter Tales (TV Series) | Producer |
| 2007 | It's a Mall World | Director, Producer |
| 2008 | Pathology (film) | Ted Grey |
| 2008 | The Chaos Theory (film) Post Production | Rick |
| 2008 | Armored (film) Filming | |
| 2009 | Game (film) Post Production | Rick Rape |
T.V.
| Year | Television Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Party Guest #1 |
| 1996 | Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Letterman |
| 1997 | EZ Streets | Young Quinn |
| 1998 | Brooklyn South | Actor |
| 1998 | Kelly Kelly (TV Series) | Steve Spencer |
| 1998 | One World (TV series) | Eric |
| 1999 | Promised Land | Tony Brackett |
| 2000 | Opposite Sex | Jed Perry |
| 2000 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Bobby Taylor |
| 2001-2003 | Gilmore Girls | Jess Mariano |
| 2003 | Boston Public | Jake Provesserio |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Lee Healy |
| 2004-2005 | American Dreams | Chris Pierce |
| 2006 | The Bedford Diaries | Richard Thorne III |
| 2006-2008 | Heroes (TV series) | Peter Petrelli |
| 2007 | Heroes Unmasked | Himself |
References
- ^ a b Keck, William (2006-12-18). "Yo! Ventimiglia gets into the tough-guy act". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Milo Ventimiglia - Biography
- ^ Ventimiglia, Milo (2002-05-14). "Milo Ventimiglia AOL Chat". AOL. Retrieved 2007-11-04.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Milo Ventimiglia Fan" (in English). 2002-04-21. Retrieved 2007-05-1.
he received a scholarship from San Francisco's prestigious American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) for their summer program. .
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ Morrow, Terry (2006-12-20). "Ventimiglia moves from super-rebel to superhero". Scripps Howard News Service. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ London Free Press - Today - My vegetarian hero
- ^ "Men's Fitness Interviews: Milo Ventimiglia".
- ^ Gilmore Girls' Alexis Bledel, Boyfriend Split - Breakups, Alexis Bledel, Milo Ventimiglia : People.com
- ^ "Milo Ventimiglia & Hayden Panettiere Are an Item". People. 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Report: Hayden Panettiere, 'Heroes' Co-Star Milo Ventimiglia Dating". Fox News. 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- ^ a b Milo Ventimiglia (2007-08-31). "Jo Whiley" (Interview). Interviewed by Jo Whiley.
{{cite interview}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|program=ignored (help) - ^ "Men's Fitness Interviews: Milo Ventimiglia".
External links
- Articles needing cleanup from February 2008
- Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from February 2008
- Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from February 2008
- 1977 births
- Italian-Americans
- Sicilian-Americans
- American film actors
- American television actors
- American vegetarians
- Americans of French descent
- Americans of Scottish descent
- Blackfoot people
- California actors
- Living people
- People from Anaheim, California
- People of Cherokee descent