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Heroes Seaon 3 preview: Milo Ventimiglia speaks
Ventimiglia on Peter Petrelli and the Villains of season 3.
by
Sep 02, 2008
Sep 02, 2008
Heroes Season Three begins with Volume Three, Villains. It suggests both that bad guys will take the forefront, and that traditionally good guys might become less honorable. We've seen hints of Peter Petrelli getting more cynical in possible futures, so that's always out there in the ethos. Milo Ventimiglia was all smiles this summer, previewing the new season, but that could just be acting.
Milo Ventimiglia: I think that a lot of people are going to be shocked, not only between the opening moments of the season, but in every single scene with every single character that comes through. I think that people are really going to be excited, surprised, fascinated. I flip through the scripts just as fast I can and I'm blown away by what I see. I'm really excited to see the holy sh*t moments, excuse the language.
Crave Online: How does the volume of Villains relate to Peter's character?
Milo Ventimiglia: You've got to think about humanity in that we all have a dark side and we all have a light side. It's just understanding those things that trigger us to fall into the shadow or kind of walk in the light. Understandably I think, as earnest natured and as good hearted as Peter is and as well intentioned, exploring that darker side of him is inevitable. I think you're going to get some people who have walked a very shadowed past possibly walking on the good side.
Crave Online: Did the break with the writer's strike give you guys time to sit back and think about what direction you wanted to take the show in?
Milo Ventimiglia: It did. I think it helped our creative team, our team of writer's immensely, giving them a chance regroup, recollect ourselves, I don't want to say re-imagine, but maybe reinvigorate the stories and the characters that everyone in the first season fell in love with. The actors, we just kind of took it easy. We were on standby. We were waiting. I know that everyone bounced around and took vacations and took part in some charities and did some movies and what now and when we came back there, when we reconvened there wasn't one person who didn't have a smile on their face readying to come back. That was nice, very, very nice.
Crave Online: Who do you share most of the episodes with so far?
Milo Ventimiglia: Peter and Nathan are always a staple. They're connected. I think keeping those two characters, keeping the brother Petrelli apart for very long is a detriment to something that's great between those two characters. I've spent a lot of time with Adrian happily.
Crave Online: This is the second time that Nathan has almost died and come back.
Milo Ventimiglia: Almost? Sorry. There are a lot of shocked faces and silence.
Crave Online: Do you guys ever worry that if that happens too much there's no real danger?
Milo Ventimiglia: The credibility of dying and whatnot? I know that at the beginning of this year Tim [Kring] said to me, and I don't know what he said to everyone else, but he said, "If you die this year you're dead." So those of us that do have that ability, myself and Claire, the two of them are the two that really can't, or there could be more.
Crave Online: How many stunts have you gotten to do?
Milo Ventimiglia: A lot, man. I've done a lot of stunt work so far. I've been beat up. I've been bruised, but I'm walking and standing and maybe moving a little slower today, but I'm doing a lot of stunt work.
Crave Online: Is the visual effectslevel higher this year?
Milo Ventimiglia: I think it's not an exorbitant amount, but it's within reach. It's not going to overtake the stories. It's not going to become one of those FX shows where all you're really waiting for is to see someone fly or shoot electricity out of their hands or heal, or anything like that. It's not going to take away from or take over from what the stories are. But from what I have seen, even in the smallest detail it's really, really cool and not all of it has to be do with abilities. Some of the FX will just be in the character's relations.
Crave Online: There've been a lot of opinions on your hair from season to season.
Crave Online: How did you come to this look for this season?
Milo Ventimiglia: I'm a big fan of change and growth. I think that with emotional and spiritual change in characters physical change also becomes a part of that. So I think it's inevitable. Also, the situation that Peter finds himself in doesn't really leave him any time for a haircut.
Crave Online: You mentioned his good nature. Has he lost all his innocence by now or is there still some left?
Milo Ventimiglia: I think there's always going to be a part of Peter that feels boyish in nature. I don't want to call that naïve, but I think there's always going to be something in him that's inherently good. That could be considered innocent, but I think he's grown up. I think he's trying to do the right thing and is trying to make decisions based on the experiences that he's had. Ultimately, he always finds himself in that place of saving the world. People are always throwing that at his door and putting that in his mailbox, like, "Hey, you want to save the world?" "Okay. I guess."
Crave Online: Has he become more reluctant about it because he was sort of gung-ho the first time?
Milo Ventimiglia: He was gung-ho. There was reluctance too. I don't think that Peter is ever going to stop. I think he's a machine that will keep moving forward. If it comes to even his death I think that Peter won't stop until he's dead.
Crave Online: What television character did you fall in love with as a child, the first one?
Milo Ventimiglia: Rudy Huxtible. No. The first love I really had were comic books. I was a big comic book kid growing up. So I mean, I read all the Batmans and Punisher and Captain America and Hulk and Submariner. Those are the first things that I remember as a kid kind of drawing me in with a creative aspect. I know I watched a lot of TV, but I can't tell you exactly what I watched.
Crave Online: Have you had any offers to be to write or be in a comic book film?
Milo Ventimiglia: Actually, I've got a comic that I'm releasing with Devil's Due called Rest. It's about a guy who's a little down in his life and takes an experimental drug that suppresses the need to sleep. So he has twenty four hours in his with which to do anything he wants, get ahead in his life and succeed. There's also a downside which is a government conspiracy about this drug being put out, but also if you can't sleep you can't dream and if you can't dream what are you really living your life for. It's funny how the comic world is now legitimized by Hollywood industry. For me I was a fanboy growing up and I went to comic book stores no matter what and I still do. So I think the possibility of speaking to those companies, and some of them I have spoken to and some of them I'm working with strictly on the creative side, bringing them stories and they're putting out books, but getting an opportunity to jump into bed with an iconic character I'd love nothing more. It'd be a lot of fun.
Crave Online: What's the worst career advice you ever received?
Milo Ventimiglia: I didn't get bad career advice. I happened to be standing around someone talking to a writer who wasn't necessarily too engrained or embedded in the Hollywood industry and this director said to him, "Are you ready for Hollywood?" It was like telling him to get ready because he was going to be a huge star and I think that just doesn't quite happen. Overnight is a myth. I think a lot of people consider anybody on any of these shows that are amazing successes to be overnight, but ultimately these are people who have been in the business a long time. I've gotten good advice. I've gotten bad advice. The best advice I've gotten wasn't even told to me. I've just been fortunate to have been in the presence of really amazing people who have been in the business forever and I just sit quietly and watch them.
Crave Online: Have you seen the season two Blu-Ray yet?
Milo Ventimiglia: I haven't seen the season two Blu Ray, but overseas I did see the Season Two bootleg. I bet it won't just be a video camera on a TV.
Crave Online: What's your favorite DVD and why?
Milo Ventimiglia: I guess one that I can kind of watch over and over again, American Psycho. I was an Ellis fan. I think Christian Bale, this is way before Batman, I think he's an amazing actor and talent. To see someone who's just a couple years older than me and having such range and diversity in the parts that he plays, I really thought he built an amazing character. It was intriguing to watch and it was one of those things that was just fun to watch. I haven't really rented anything lately. I can't even remember the last thing I bought. I think it was something on Amazon. I think it was a movie called Kontrol. Not the one about Joy Division. I know, you're like oh cool, punk fan. Yes I am but no, it was a movie about the subway systems in Budapest. It was by a director named Nimrod Antal, really really great film. I worked with him and I saw the film. I'm so bad at following a commentary. I think with everything that I have going on in my life in work and what not, I have a hard time watching a movie and then going back and catching up on the commentary then catching up on the bonus features. I have to be pretty invested in something to do that, but I think it's rad that a lot of these companies are doing that. It makes the experience so much more fulfilling when you get a chance to really dive into a world and see more than just two hours of film or the multiple hours of a TV show.
Crave Online: But you do them for the Heroes DVDs.
Milo Ventimiglia: Some I have. Heroes, yes. A few times. I know it won't be the only time.
Crave Online: How do you greet the new cast members who join each year?
Milo Ventimiglia: Smile and a handshake and an introduction, "Hey, I'm Milo." I think I just try and be as gracious as possible. I had a chance to work on some great sets with some amazing people and I saw how well they responded to new people coming to their sets when I was a new person. So I kind of took the advice again, advice standing watching how they'd do something, how they handled guest cast and costars and new regulars. They were gracious and kind and thankful for them being there.
Crave Online: I understand there's a very dramatic moment at the beginning of the season involving you and Claire. What can you say about that?
Milo Ventimiglia: I think that a lot of people are going to be shocked, not only between the opening moments of the season, but in every single scene with every single character that comes through. I think that people are really going to be excited, surprised, fascinated. I flip through the scripts just as fast I can and I'm blown away by what I see. I'm really excited to see the holy sh*t moments, excuse the language.
Crave Online: How does the volume of Villains relate to Peter's character?
Milo Ventimiglia: You've got to think about humanity in that we all have a dark side and we all have a light side. It's just understanding those things that trigger us to fall into the shadow or kind of walk in the light. Understandably I think, as earnest natured and as good hearted as Peter is and as well intentioned, exploring that darker side of him is inevitable. I think you're going to get some people who have walked a very shadowed past possibly walking on the good side.
Crave Online: Did the break with the writer's strike give you guys time to sit back and think about what direction you wanted to take the show in?
Milo Ventimiglia: It did. I think it helped our creative team, our team of writer's immensely, giving them a chance regroup, recollect ourselves, I don't want to say re-imagine, but maybe reinvigorate the stories and the characters that everyone in the first season fell in love with. The actors, we just kind of took it easy. We were on standby. We were waiting. I know that everyone bounced around and took vacations and took part in some charities and did some movies and what now and when we came back there, when we reconvened there wasn't one person who didn't have a smile on their face readying to come back. That was nice, very, very nice.
Crave Online: Who do you share most of the episodes with so far?
Milo Ventimiglia: Peter and Nathan are always a staple. They're connected. I think keeping those two characters, keeping the brother Petrelli apart for very long is a detriment to something that's great between those two characters. I've spent a lot of time with Adrian happily.
Crave Online: This is the second time that Nathan has almost died and come back.
Milo Ventimiglia: Almost? Sorry. There are a lot of shocked faces and silence.
Crave Online: Do you guys ever worry that if that happens too much there's no real danger?
Milo Ventimiglia: The credibility of dying and whatnot? I know that at the beginning of this year Tim [Kring] said to me, and I don't know what he said to everyone else, but he said, "If you die this year you're dead." So those of us that do have that ability, myself and Claire, the two of them are the two that really can't, or there could be more.
Crave Online: How many stunts have you gotten to do?
Milo Ventimiglia: A lot, man. I've done a lot of stunt work so far. I've been beat up. I've been bruised, but I'm walking and standing and maybe moving a little slower today, but I'm doing a lot of stunt work.
Crave Online: Is the visual effectslevel higher this year?
Milo Ventimiglia: I think it's not an exorbitant amount, but it's within reach. It's not going to overtake the stories. It's not going to become one of those FX shows where all you're really waiting for is to see someone fly or shoot electricity out of their hands or heal, or anything like that. It's not going to take away from or take over from what the stories are. But from what I have seen, even in the smallest detail it's really, really cool and not all of it has to be do with abilities. Some of the FX will just be in the character's relations.
Crave Online: There've been a lot of opinions on your hair from season to season.
Milo Ventimiglia: And just for the record, it's starting to fall forward a little bit.
Crave Online: How did you come to this look for this season?
Milo Ventimiglia: I'm a big fan of change and growth. I think that with emotional and spiritual change in characters physical change also becomes a part of that. So I think it's inevitable. Also, the situation that Peter finds himself in doesn't really leave him any time for a haircut.
Crave Online: You mentioned his good nature. Has he lost all his innocence by now or is there still some left?
Milo Ventimiglia: I think there's always going to be a part of Peter that feels boyish in nature. I don't want to call that naïve, but I think there's always going to be something in him that's inherently good. That could be considered innocent, but I think he's grown up. I think he's trying to do the right thing and is trying to make decisions based on the experiences that he's had. Ultimately, he always finds himself in that place of saving the world. People are always throwing that at his door and putting that in his mailbox, like, "Hey, you want to save the world?" "Okay. I guess."
Crave Online: Has he become more reluctant about it because he was sort of gung-ho the first time?
Milo Ventimiglia: He was gung-ho. There was reluctance too. I don't think that Peter is ever going to stop. I think he's a machine that will keep moving forward. If it comes to even his death I think that Peter won't stop until he's dead.
Crave Online: What television character did you fall in love with as a child, the first one?
Milo Ventimiglia: Rudy Huxtible. No. The first love I really had were comic books. I was a big comic book kid growing up. So I mean, I read all the Batmans and Punisher and Captain America and Hulk and Submariner. Those are the first things that I remember as a kid kind of drawing me in with a creative aspect. I know I watched a lot of TV, but I can't tell you exactly what I watched.
Crave Online: Have you had any offers to be to write or be in a comic book film?
Milo Ventimiglia: Actually, I've got a comic that I'm releasing with Devil's Due called Rest. It's about a guy who's a little down in his life and takes an experimental drug that suppresses the need to sleep. So he has twenty four hours in his with which to do anything he wants, get ahead in his life and succeed. There's also a downside which is a government conspiracy about this drug being put out, but also if you can't sleep you can't dream and if you can't dream what are you really living your life for. It's funny how the comic world is now legitimized by Hollywood industry. For me I was a fanboy growing up and I went to comic book stores no matter what and I still do. So I think the possibility of speaking to those companies, and some of them I have spoken to and some of them I'm working with strictly on the creative side, bringing them stories and they're putting out books, but getting an opportunity to jump into bed with an iconic character I'd love nothing more. It'd be a lot of fun.
Crave Online: What's the worst career advice you ever received?
Milo Ventimiglia: I didn't get bad career advice. I happened to be standing around someone talking to a writer who wasn't necessarily too engrained or embedded in the Hollywood industry and this director said to him, "Are you ready for Hollywood?" It was like telling him to get ready because he was going to be a huge star and I think that just doesn't quite happen. Overnight is a myth. I think a lot of people consider anybody on any of these shows that are amazing successes to be overnight, but ultimately these are people who have been in the business a long time. I've gotten good advice. I've gotten bad advice. The best advice I've gotten wasn't even told to me. I've just been fortunate to have been in the presence of really amazing people who have been in the business forever and I just sit quietly and watch them.
Crave Online: Have you seen the season two Blu-Ray yet?
Milo Ventimiglia: I haven't seen the season two Blu Ray, but overseas I did see the Season Two bootleg. I bet it won't just be a video camera on a TV.
Crave Online: What's your favorite DVD and why?
Milo Ventimiglia: I guess one that I can kind of watch over and over again, American Psycho. I was an Ellis fan. I think Christian Bale, this is way before Batman, I think he's an amazing actor and talent. To see someone who's just a couple years older than me and having such range and diversity in the parts that he plays, I really thought he built an amazing character. It was intriguing to watch and it was one of those things that was just fun to watch. I haven't really rented anything lately. I can't even remember the last thing I bought. I think it was something on Amazon. I think it was a movie called Kontrol. Not the one about Joy Division. I know, you're like oh cool, punk fan. Yes I am but no, it was a movie about the subway systems in Budapest. It was by a director named Nimrod Antal, really really great film. I worked with him and I saw the film. I'm so bad at following a commentary. I think with everything that I have going on in my life in work and what not, I have a hard time watching a movie and then going back and catching up on the commentary then catching up on the bonus features. I have to be pretty invested in something to do that, but I think it's rad that a lot of these companies are doing that. It makes the experience so much more fulfilling when you get a chance to really dive into a world and see more than just two hours of film or the multiple hours of a TV show.
Crave Online: But you do them for the Heroes DVDs.
Milo Ventimiglia: Some I have. Heroes, yes. A few times. I know it won't be the only time.
Crave Online: How do you greet the new cast members who join each year?
Milo Ventimiglia: Smile and a handshake and an introduction, "Hey, I'm Milo." I think I just try and be as gracious as possible. I had a chance to work on some great sets with some amazing people and I saw how well they responded to new people coming to their sets when I was a new person. So I kind of took the advice again, advice standing watching how they'd do something, how they handled guest cast and costars and new regulars. They were gracious and kind and thankful for them being there.
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