Milo Ventimiglia has a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame! Image Source: ET Canada
‘This Is Us’, actor Milo Ventimiglia has a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame!
After a successful and long television career, Milo Ventimiglia has been recognized for his work and was recently honored with a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday i.e., January 10, 2022. Milo’s star is the 2,710th star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Television.
The actor’s star is placed in front of The Hollywood Partnership, 6562 Hollywood Boulevard Whitley Avenue, and Schrader Boulevard. Ana Martinez, Walk of Fame Producer said for the actor, “Milo Ventimiglia is one of television entertainment’s most popular actors. Fans of the “This Is Us” and the “Gilmore Girls” will now be able to visit their favorite celebrity’s star on the Walk of Fame,” and a bonus is that fans of the show will also see that Milo’s TV wife (Mandy Moore) on “This Is Us” is next to his star!”
During the ceremony, the actor was joined by ‘This Is Us', cast member Jon Huertas, Justin Hartley, writer of the show Don Fogelman, and ‘Gilmore Girls’ creator Amy Sherman-Paladino. Milo Ventimiglia during the unveiling of the star ceremony said, "This star represents a large group of people. It may say Milo Ventimiglia, but it is made up of 26 years of names both in front of and behind the camera professionally and personally.''
Milo Ventimiglia was jointed by Jon Huertas, Justin Hartley, and Dan Fogelman. Image Source: Just Jared
Milo stepped into the industry as their favorite TV boyfriend Jesse Mariano in ‘Gilmore Girls’ and with a long journey of working passionately and staying honest with his craft, he went on to become a favorite TV husband, Jack Pearson in ‘This Is Us’. While speaking to Variety, Milo said, “We can do my hair a particular way or put makeup on or put costumes on and pick up accents and inflections and attitudes — any of that stuff can just transform who I am into a believable human being on camera. I think that’s something that a lot of artists these days don’t have the luxury of because of how much interest there is in the person behind the character, how much information people are always seeking out. If I can present myself as a blank slate — me, Milo — then maybe that makes Jack (Pearson from This Is Us) more believable because people watch Jack, they’re not watching Milo.”
On sharing his feelings about getting a star, the actor said that it can feel like a lifetime achievement award but he likes to think like himself like a ‘blank slate’ so that he can move on to his next piece of work. Milo said, “It more feels like, ‘OK kid, you’ve done well for last 26 years, what do you got for the next 26? I know some people when they’re walking away and moving on from those iconic roles that they play, they try hard to get away from them. I think I’m just looking forward to what’s coming my way and take each man that I’ll be playing as an individual and grow them and build them and create them just like I did with Jack or Jess [Mariano on “Gilmore Girls”] or Peter [Petrelli on “Heroes”] or any of the other roles that I’ve played for 26 years on TV.” The actor adds that he has no plans of stopping anytime soon and is looking forward to working more like in the fourth season of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ on Amazon Prime.
Milo Ventimiglia recalled during the interview his working experience with actor Adam Sandler on ‘That’s My Boy’, and ‘Grown-Ups 2’, and shared, “When I would do comedies with Sandler, I would always just try and keep up with the comedians. And I would always say to Adam, ‘I’m one of you guys.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh no, you’re not. You’re a serious actor. You’re a real actor. We’re just a bunch of idiots.’” Milo’s company ‘Divide’ has allowed him to grow as an actor, and producer on several indie projects and commercials but Milo received his critical appreciation when he stepped into the role of Jack Pearson in ‘This Is Us’, which led him to win three Emmy nominations, a Critics Choice Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Award.
Unveiling of Milo Ventimiglia's star at The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Image Source: Just Jared
Milo also shared that playing Abbie Hoffman on ‘American Dreams’ was an important personal turning point for his career and added, “I was slowly evolving and growing up, even though I was still playing a teenager. I was also able to really help build him with Jonathan [Prince, creator] and the writers. Jonathan said something impactful to me: ‘You’re going to have ideas about the character, and bring them to me because you’re going to know more in the first five minutes of playing this guy than I’d know in a lifetime of writing him.’ That gave me a lot of ownership to character and a lot of pride in what we were putting together. Had I not had that perspective, maybe it wouldn’t have been as collaborative with [creator Dan] Fogelman on ‘This Is Us.’”
The actor also mentioned that he rarely improvises with the lines or dialogues when playing Jack Pearson but he has been given the freedom to find the right kind of jazz and pattern of speaking for the character or the way Jack would speak to the Big Three and all other little but important attributes of the character. Milo Ventimiglia and the cast of ‘This Is Us’, is all set to say goodbye to their characters as the show comes to an end, Milo has received an opportunity to voice as a director as he directed three episodes throughout the show which includes one episode in the final season. The actor said, “I never raised my hand and asked to direct. I’d done it, but I was like, ‘I don’t need to insert myself. I don’t need to take a job away from another director who is rolling between TV shows.’ I didn’t feel that was right. I was satisfied as an actor.”
Show’s executive producer Ken Olin approached the actor to know if he’s interested in directing an episode to which the actor said, ‘If you want me to, I will’, and so he did. He described that working around positive and creative people is why he loves to step into the set and also because he thinks that there is a legacy that ‘This Is Us’ is going to leave for the audience and for him too. Lastly, he added, “I study the call sheet like I study my lines because that experience is for us. The result is for the audience. The character that lives from action to cut that belongs — Jack belongs — to the audience. But all the moments in between — and there are more moments in between than there are moments where the cameras are rolling — those are the ones that I’m going to take with me, always. I’ve had a very fortunate career. I’ve had a very good life where I met a lot of great artists and collaborated with a lot of just incredibly talented people. And I want people to know — a younger generation of artists to know — that you can have that, too. You can work in the arts, you can have a life in the arts, you can inspire the next generation of artists. Hopefully, my name just contributes to that.”
The sixth and the final season of ‘This Is Us’ is currently airing on NBC.
