From his portrayal of the super-charged Peter Petrelli on Heroes to his role as the unrequited love interest Jess Mariano on The Gilmore Girls, actor Milo Ventimiglia has had the opportunity to bring a variety of memorable characters to life on the big and small screens. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Boston Public, The Bedford Diaries and Reaper are among his other TV credits, while he has also appeared in such feature films as Armored, The Divide and That’s My Boy.
Currently, the actor is starring in (and executive producing) the digital Internet series Chosen. He plays Ian Mitchell, a husband, father and lawyer whose ordinary life is turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Ian wakes up one morning to find a mysterious box on his doorstep containing a loaded gun and photo of a man, Daniel Easton (Diedrich Bader), who he must murder in the next three days. If he fails, Ian risks being killed along with his daughter, who is being held hostage.
All six, 30-minute episodes of this fast-paced thriller can be seen at Crackle.com and all Crackle platforms. Prior to the show’s premiere back on January 17th, the affable Ventimiglia spoke with myself as well as other journalists via a conference call about his work on Chosen. The following is an edited version of that Q &A. Enjoy, and make sure to check out the show over on Crackle.
Chosen's Ian Mitchell (Milo Ventimiglia). Photo copyright of Crackle.
Milo, can you talk about the type of guy Ian becomes after he receives the box as compared to who he was before that happened?
Milo Ventimiglia: Ian is kind of a mild-mannered guy who wears a tie and works in a law office. He also has these little life struggles and is dealing with some everyday problems. This box then arrives and he now becomes the hunter as well as the hunted and is forced to play this “game” that is, as the trailer says, not the fun kind.
So Ian has to adapt as a human being for the purpose of survival. It’s that process of adapting that gives the audience some sort of understanding of what Ian does or how he has to change in order to survive, not only for his sake but for his family, especially his daughter, as well.
What do you love about the viability in potential shows on the internet like Chosen and how that differs from other broadcast platforms?
MV: Man, I love the reach. I'm just so excited about digital because of the reach. Sometimes there are countries that don't get certain movies, other times they're in and out of theaters. With TV, maybe you don't have that certain channel or even pay cable, or perhaps you live in a remote part of the world that just doesn't have what the network is showing or the studio is putting out.
I kind of feel like anybody can access digital, and being a guy who has been in the digital space for a long time now, it’s exciting for me being a part of projects like Chosen, and to be working with Crackle. So I love digital and I know it’s a part of the industry that I’m going to continue to be involved with.
How did you originally become involved in Chosen?
MV: I received a script from Ben Ketai (Chosen co-creator/writer/director] and it was awesome. I’m a huge fan of his. Ben is an amazing guy, a real straight-shooter and someone who understands story, heart and character. I had also worked with Crackle before with developing projects, so I knew those guys were great. Again, I’m into the digital space and what it affords creative types. So it was a cool story, a terrific character and I would get to work with fantastic people, so I said, “Yes, I’m in.” We shot six, 30-minute episodes and I think they stand up to anything on network or cable television at the moment.
The Mitchell family (L-R): Laura (Nicky Whelan), Ian (Milo Ventimiglia) and Ellie (Caitlin Carmichael). Photo copyright of Crackle.
Do you relate to your character at all? Do you feel any sort of connection with Ian?
MV: I think I have to relate to every character that I play in some way or another, even the kind of sick horrible ones. We all have things we have to deal with in life, and when a curve ball is thrown at us it's like, whoa, what do you do? How do you react? How do you respond?
Would I do the same things as Ian? You know, for me I always say that you have to protect the ones you love. You have to look out for the people you care about. So for example, in Chosen, Ian's daughter is kidnapped, and if something like happened in real life, what would or could it drive you to do, especially when it's out of your control.
So I think there are similarities with me and Ian but, of course, there are also differences. He's just a fictional character that I have to bring to life.
What unique hang-ups or issues do you run across while filming a digital series as opposed to a regular TV show or movie?
MV: Actually, all the typical ones, like sometimes the camera jams or you have to do more than a couple takes with a scene. I don't think there is any difference, though, between digital production and television or feature film. Usually features take longer, but that's just part of filmmaking.
I think what we were hoping to do with Chosen was prove it wasn't just a digital project. In fact, it's a cinematic release on a digital platform. So you run into the same types of problems that you would on any set.
How did you end up becoming an executive producer of the show?
MV: Well, I’d produced before and worked with Crackle before, so when I got the phone call from those guys and we then ended up sitting around talking about ideas and whatnot, it just was a natural fit to bring me on to help produce.
I never want to be in the way of anything or be like excess baggage. So when they asked me if I would like to produce this as well, I said, "Yes, of course. Let's do it all together". And we had an amazing production team as well. I think like whatever else I've done in the producing world, it was just a matter of kind of expanding the bubble of information and experience that we all had going into this.
Not your ordinary day for poor Ian (Milo Ventimiglia). Photo copyright of Crackle.
I really enjoy the other cast members of the show. How did they become involved?
MV: That was just a matter of finding the right people for the job. Of course, as with anything, a lot of names got thrown around, and it’s a question of who's available? Who can do what? Who fits the role? With the Daniel Easton character, I think Ryan Lewis (Chosen co-creator/executive producer) and I sat down with the people from Crackle and were like, "Hey, how about Diedrich Bader?" I've been a fan of his work for years and when we heard he was interested, I was like, great, let's lock it down.
It was the same thing with Nicky Whelan. She was someone I had worked with before, and when we were talking about the role of Laura Mitchell, Ian's wife, I said, “Look, here's an amazing actress as well as beautiful gal and, by the way, one of the coolest people you'll ever have on a set.”
So it was just this natural building of a cast. You look at everybody across the board, and you have some very recognizable, very talented people who work in feature film and television along with the digital projects that we're putting out.
What sticks out in your mind about shooting your first Chosen episode?
MV: You know it's so funny, man. We didn't shoot episode by episode in chronological order. We actually kind of (story) boarded the whole thing, almost like you would a movie. It took about five weeks, five days a week and me working all the time. We were mixing and matching, and there were scenes that watched the final edits of and that appear at the beginning of the show and I was like, "Oh, wow. We shot that at the very end."
There are so many different scenes that stand out for me, like the diner scene with Diedrich, and the desperation scene with Ian and Laura where he has to tell her that their daughter Ellie (Caitlin Carmichael) is missing. There are also a number of great scenes with me and Caitlin. She's such a pro; I'm so excited to see where she goes in the future.
So for me it's a lot of moments with actors or with the crew or with Ben, our director, that are the most memorable.
What were some of the initial acting challenges for you when stepping into the Ian role?
MV: Well, the first was being a father. I'm not a dad myself yet. I have a nephew as well as a lot of good friends with kids, which is all cool and exciting, but I think there’s a “weight” in real life of having a child. This is someone who you care about so very much, and in our story, there’s that fear of if they are gone, if they are taken, if they are missing.
So first and foremost in my mind was Ian's connection to his daughter and how strong that is and how much that propels him through the “game” of what he has to go through.
Then there was the matter of here’s this guy who works in an office, and all of a sudden he’s told he has to kill someone for sport or game. How do you do that? It's a question that kind of comes up throughout the show. Diedrich's character asks it, and so does my character. As an actor, you have to really connect to that idea and make it a reality, because human beings really don't have the instinct or desire to do something like that. So I had to try to tap into the reality of the situation and believe it and live it as much as I could.
As noted above, all photos copyright of Crackle, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
