Fan Forum - View Single Post - *MILO-NEWS* ~All Milo Media News Thread! First Post Updated July 9*

Hallon · 05-24-2007, 10:03 AM

Sorry about the double post before. My computer didn't cooperate.

And it's no problem typing up the article. I just hope I got it all right. Some expressions I'm not sure about the exact American term for, but I'm sure you get it.

I think you can figure out how it's formated.

Beach Boy

Milo Ventimiglia can fly in the TV-success Heroes. But he took the role as every day hero because they let him keep his stubble.

Text Johanna Karlsson Foto Nicole Nodland

Milo Ventimiglia’s big break was actually supposed to have come with the role as charismatic lead character of The Bedford diaries, a TV show created by Tom Fontana, the man behind Oz.

The college show The Bedford diaries was planned to be the next big hit among the American serialized dramas for young people. Milo was cast as Richard Thorne III. Sober alcoholic, spoiled millionaire’s son, hard editor in chief of the school paper with his feelings locked away behind arrogance and clothes color coordinated in beige and light blue.

But after the first season The Bedford diaries was cancelled. In interviews a shocked Fontana admitted that he had never before had a show being cancelled.

Milo Ventimiglia instead moved on to NBC’s latest hit show Heroes (airs on Canal Plus, on TV4 after the summer). Where Tom Fontana used Milo’s scratchy voice to build an American brat, the same voice on Heroes makes a nurse with magical powers sound genuine.

Besides Heroes and The Bedford diaries, Milo Ventimiglia is most known for his role as Jess, the rebel with ambitions in literature, in the long runner Gilmore Girls. The downside of having been contracted for Warner Bros as ‘teenage bad-boy’ half his twenty something-life is a CV dominated by smooth cheeks, bangs and long lashes. That has had the result that Milo always lets his beard grow when he’s free.

“Ahead of Heroes I said that ok, I’ve got two demands. I want to let my hair grow and I don’t want to shave every morning. They didn’t agree. So we compromised. The hair was fairly short, but I got to have stubble.”

Milo and I are sitting in Venice Beach, listening to gossip from the film business from the café tables beside us. On our table is a paper bag with doughnuts from Milo’s favorite doughnut shop. He’s trying to force me to eat them, at the same time as he’s trying to make me understand how much he hates shaving.

“It takes at least five minutes. At least.”

“I want to talk a little about Richard Thorne III. There’s a v-necked coat that you had in episode 8 of The Bedford Diaries…”

“The beige one? Oh, that’s from Sisley. So good looking. I bought clothes for him in New York. I was a lot on Benetton in downtown, and Sisley’s store is right next door. The production team and I first talked about having him dressed completely in black. Or that was my idea. It would’ve been so cool. Completely right. He was so arrogant and spoiled and superior. But they thought it was an old trick and wanted to do it the exact opposite.”

Milo points a little embarrassed at how he’s sitting dressed in black according to the formula ‘surf board in the day, rock band at night’, an old-fashioned Los Angeles tradition.

“First I was like, what? Pastels? But I could see the preppy wave coming later myself. So I said ok and bought a couple light blue pullovers for Richard in New York, went to Ralph Lauren and things like that. I like shopping for my characters. I make up play lists for them in my iPod too.

“What did Richard Thorne III listen to then?”

“He listened to rap. In secret. Old hip-hop, 80’s, De La Soul. I made up a tag for him that I used to write on benches. I went around, dressed in his clothes, with a felt pen in hand.”

“In Gilmore Girls it was so nice when Jess finally grew up and put on a jacket. Have you had more offers for well dressed men’s roles since Jess emerged from his teens?”

“I’m so used to being cast as the bad boy in teenage shows, but I hope that’s over now. In Heroes my style is a bit more nerdy and uninteresting. In Staying alive, an indie film I did a couple years ago, I got to have a big beard and play video games. The beard was kinda the reason I took the part.”

“Do you think the teenage bad boys of TV shows will continue to have wardrobes full of band t-shirts or will the future generations be able to look as proper as the other characters?”

“It’s possible the youth fashion isn’t as tough anymore. But this is California. You go and see your friends’ rock bands.”

“Maybe you can continue to see your friends’ rock bands in your new clothes too.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think about The OC?”

“I don’t watch TV.”

“But you could still have an opinion.”

“I only watch Simpsons.”

I unlock Milo’s iPod when he goes to the bathroom and pick up a ear plugs to listen to his ongoing play list. It’s Johnny Thunder’s She’s so untouchable. When he comes back he says he and Jess from Gilmore Girls has roughly the same music taste since they both like Deftones. Then we talk about Sylvester Stallone instead.

“What do you wear in Rocky Balboa? I’ve seen the trailer, but there it’s mostly robes.”

“It’s not only robes all through the film. I’m clean shaven, have my hair combed back and wear Armani, since Rocky Jr is Rocky’s business-son. Sylvester was so thorough. After each take we went through how we had moved in front of the camera on a little screen and had group discussions about it.

But I will always prefer TV, work-wise speaking. TV production is more of a nine to five job. To make film means living in a work camp for two, three months. However, the ‘TV has become good in the last years’-talk is so exaggerated. Matt Groening existed ten years ago. Steven Spielberg started in the TV world. TV has always been qualitative. There’re just a lot of people who haven’t gotten it until now.”