Why One Heroes Star Nearly Quit Acting After NBC Show Ended

Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia explains why he seriously considered walking away from acting after the NBC superhero series ended in 2010.

Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia explains why he nearly quit acting once the NBC show ended. Ventimiglia portrayed Peter Petrelli in the superpowered series, which focused on seemingly ordinary people who discover that they possess extraordinary abilities. It was the actor’s second-biggest role television role at the time, following his Gilmore Girls stint as Jess Mariano. But, despite two leading portrayals in very popular dramas, Ventimiglia admits that he struggled to find work once Heroes ended.

In an interview with Variety, Ventimiglia talked about how he considered walking away from Hollywood because he couldn’t get a job. The comments came in the context of promoting his upcoming show, The Company You Keep, and Ventimiglia talks about how he began to doubt whether he was making the right decision by remaining an actor. Here is his full response below:

“After ‘Heroes,’ I had a hard time working, I couldn’t get a job. It was one of the one or two times in my career where I thought about, what if I did something else? What if I got out of Hollywood? What if I left, and I moved out of the country? What if I did something like completely different than the path that I had been on? Because I couldn’t get work… As an actor, you’re out there, you’re pounding the pavement, you’re taking meetings, you’re auditioning, you’re putting what you can into those auditions, and you’re not getting the work. So therefore it’s kind of like, ‘Well, if they’re not buying what I’m selling, what am I doing here still selling?’”

Related: How Milo Ventimiglia Wanted To Kill Jess On Gilmore Girls

What Ventimiglia Has Done Since Heroes

It’s noted that Ventimiglia landed a role in an independent film that helped to change his fortunes, and since Heroes ended in 2010, he’s had several smaller and more notable turns. On the big screen, he’s had roles in Grown Ups 2, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and the Adam Sandler movie Sandy Wexler. Most notably, Ventimiglia appeared as Rocky Balboa Jr., the son of Stallone’s iconic boxer, in 2006’s Rocky Balboa.

One of Ventimiglia’s defining roles came when he portrayed Jack Pearson on This Is Us. As the lead of NBC’s sentimental family drama, Ventimiglia demonstrated great chemistry with co-star Mandy Moore and quickly entered the pantheon of great TV dads. He also played the villainous Jason Lennon, The Ogre, in Gotham and reprised his role as Jess for Netflix’s Gilmore Girls revival. More recently, he reunited with Gilmore Girls co-creator Amy Sherman-Palladino for a guest appearance in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4.

Ventimiglia has also shed light on why he didn’t return for the Heroes revival. The Emmy-nominated performer explained that he declined the opportunity to come back as Peter and criticized the reboot for treating the original characters as unimportant. He would end up debuting as This Is Us patriarch Jack Pearson soon after — a performance that should keep the door open for a lot of others.

More: Milo Ventimiglia Is Right (& Wrong) About Rory & Jess’ Gilmore Girls Ending

Source: Variety