Jess Mariano

Milo Anthony Ventimiglia ( ; born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1995, he portrayed the lead role on the short-lived series Opposite Sex in 2000 before landing his breakthrough role the following year as Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls (2001–2007). Thereafter, he appeared as Chris Pierce on American Dreams (2004–2005) and Richard Thorne on The Bedford Diaries (2006) before starring as Peter Petrelli on Heroes (2006–2010), for which he received nominations for Teen Choice, Saturn and People's Choice Awards. After appearing in main roles on the series Mob City (2013), Chosen (2013), and The Whispers (2015), Ventimiglia starred as Jack Pearson on This Is Us (2016–2022), for which he has received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He also starred in the drama series The Company You Keep (2023). In film, Ventimiglia made his breakthrough as Rocky Balboa's son in the sixth installment of the Rocky film series, Rocky Balboa (2006), going on to reprise the role in the eighth installment Creed II (2018). He has also appeared in Pathology (2008), That's My Boy (2012), Kiss of the Damned (2013), Grace of Monaco (2014), Devil's Gate (2017), and The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019). Early life Ventimiglia was born on July 8, 1977, in Anaheim, California, the youngest child of Carol and Peter Ventimiglia, a Vietnam War veteran. He has two sisters. His father is of Italian-Sicilian descent and his mother is of English and Scottish ancestry. Ventimiglia has a self-described "crooked mouth," having been born with damaged facial nerves causing the left side of his mouth to remain immobile – much like actor Sylvester Stallone, with whom he worked in Rocky Balboa.