Biography of New Fall TV Actor: Milo Ventimiglia in Heroes

This fall NBC is debuting a new dramatic series entitled Heroes about a group of people who develop super powers. While this sounds like another show already on television, The 4400, the show promises to be different. Made up of a cast of television veterans (Greg Grunberg of Felicity, Adrian Pasdar of Judging Amy) the show will also feature some new faces. If you haven’t watched The WB then to you, Milo Ventimiglia will be one of those new faces.

Milo Ventimiglia is no stranger to television. As a cast member of The Gilmore Girls, Ventimiglia played Jess Mariano, a bad boy who romanced the town’s sweetheart. For a couple of seasons Jess dated Rory Gilmore (Alexi Bledel) much to the chagrin of Rory’s mom (Lauren Graham). At one point the character of Jess Mariano was supposed to leave Stars Hollow, CT for California. This storyline was going to create a spin-off that Ventimiglia was going to star in. The show, tentatively titled Windward Circle never made it on air however.

Gilmore Girls was not the only show on The WB that Milo Ventimiglia appeared. In 2006 The WB launched The Bedford Diaries midseason with Ventimiglia in a starring role in the dramatic series set at a fictional New York City University. The show fared poorly and was pulled after a few episodes.

Milo Ventimiglia was born July 8, 1977 in Anaheim, California. The 5’10 actor grew up in a house with two older sisters. Even as a child Ventimiglia knew he wanted to act. He starred in high school plays while at El Modeno High School, and studied at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and at UCLA. While at UCLA Ventimiglia got his first tv role in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

With the one episode stint on The Fresh Prince behind him, Ventimiglia forged ahead. Appearances on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Brooklyn South, CSI, and Law & Order: SVU followed. He also had a three episode arc on Boston Public where he played an undercover policeman sent back to high school to catch drug dealers.

in 2004, Ventimiglia joined the cast of the NBC series American Dreams. He played Chris Pierce for 12 episodes of the drama that was set in 1960s Philadelphia. Many of his scenes were opposite star Brittany Snow and Dapne Zuniga who played his mom.

While Milo Ventimiglia has appeared in a few films (Winter Break, Cursed, Dirty Deeds) he hasn’t been in anything that has had great success. That may change soon, however, as he will appear in the next installment of the Rocky series as Rocky Balboa’s (Sylverster Stallone) son Rocky Jr.

With a big film set to release soon, and a new television series on a major network, Milo Ventimiglia is poised to break-out. Catch him this fall on Heroes, airing Monday nights at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.