Milo Ventimiglia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Milo Ventimiglia | |
 Milo Ventimiglia in 2006 |
|
| Birth name | Milo Anthony Ventimiglia |
| Born | July 8, 1977 (age 29) Anaheim, California, United States |
| Notable roles | Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls |
Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the primetime television series Gilmore Girls as Rory's boyfriend and rebel Jess Mariano, and in the new hit NBC series Heroes as reluctant-hero Peter Petrelli.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Ventimiglia was born in Anaheim, California to Carol and Peter Ventimiglia.[2] He is of Sicilian descent on his father's side and a combination of Irish, English, Scottish, French, Cherokee, Italian, and Indian descent on his mother's.[3] Ventimiglia attended El Modena High School in Orange, CA, where he wrestled and held the office of president in student government(ASB).
[edit] Career
At 18 years of age, Ventimiglia started auditioning, booking jobs, and working his way up. He received a scholarship to attend the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California for their summer program.[citation needed] From there, Ventimiglia studied for a while at the University of Southern California and UCLA before landing a role on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.[4] Ventimiglia has also guest starred on series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series), Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Boston Public.
From 2001 to 2003, Ventimiglia played broody 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 (Adrian Pasdar, who plays Ventimiglia's brother on Heroes, was up for the role of the father), but the proposed series never made it to the air because of high filming costs. He also directed the 2003 and 2004 WB Image Campaigns for the WB.[citation needed] Ventimiglia has returned to Gilmore Girls for a few episodes in seasons four and six since his 2003 departure, most likely to close off his character.
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).
He starred in the mid-season replacement series The Bedford Diaries in 2005 but 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.
Currently, he is starring as Peter Petrelli in Heroes, a show about "ordinary" people discovering they have superpowers, which airs Monday nights at 9:00PM on NBC.
[edit] Personal Life
Ventimiglia is a lacto-vegetarian.[citation needed] His mouth is crooked because he was born with dead nerve endings in his lower lip.[5] [6] He has two older sisters. He dated his former Gilmore Girls co-star, and on-screen girlfriend, Alexis Bledel for 3 1/2 years until their breakup in spring 2006.
[edit] Trivia
- He has been a lacto-vegetarian since childhood.
- When he was seven his sisters dressed him up as Madonna.
- He graduated from El Modena High School in Orange, CA in 1995.
- He made his professional acting debut in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the episode "Bourgie Sings the Blues" in 1995.
- He did not have to audition for his part in The Bedford Diaries. The WB had Milo, and only Milo, in mind to play the part.
- He has his own production company with his best friend called Divide Pictures.
- He is a follower of the skateboard culture and is a spokes-person for Nixon Watches and supporter of Volcom clothing.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Milo Ventimiglia AOL Transcript :: aol.com (English) (2002-04-21). Retrieved on 2006-11-01. “I am 5' 9"”
- ^ Keck, William. "Yo! Ventimiglia gets into the tough-guy act", USA Today, 2006-12-18. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
- ^ Milo Ventimiglia AOL Transcript :: aol.com (English) (2002-04-21). Retrieved on 2006-06-29. “My father is 100% Sicilian and my mother English/Irish/Scottish/French/Cherokee Indian and Indian from India.”
- ^ Morrow, Terry (2006-12-20). Ventimiglia moves from super-rebel to superhero. Scripps Howard News Service. Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
- ^ TV.Com Trivia.
- ^ INTERVIEW: Milo Ventimiglia Gets In the Ring For Rocky Balboa.
[edit] External links
- Milo Ventimiglia at the Internet Movie Database
- Milo Ventimiglia at TV.com
- Fansite at Milo Mania.net
- Divide Pictures (Milo's Production Company)
Categories: Articles lacking sources from October 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1977 births | American film actors | American television actors | American vegetarians | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation cast | Gilmore Girls cast members | Heroes (TV series) cast members | Italian-American actors | Living people | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cast | People from Anaheim, California | Sicilian-Americans
