This Is Us Star Milo Ventimiglia Won't Audition For Batman Again - Here's Why
Although Milo Ventimiglia once played the superpowered Peter Petrelli in the hit NBC sci-fi series "Heroes," his aspirations to dive back into the superhero realm, unfortunately, fell short when he reportedly auditioned to play the titular role that eventually went to Robert Pattinson in "The Batman."
However, since the DC Extended Universe has been rebooted and Pattinson's Batman won't appear in James Gunn's new DCU, it's conceivable Ventimiglia could audition to play the Caped Crusader once more. As such, Comic Book asked the "This is Us" star if he would be interested in giving Batman another shot. "No, because at this point, I'm probably too young. That's how it goes, man," he told the publication. "When they say they want young Batman, they want [someone] young. When they say they want old Batman, they want someone older."
Ventimiglia added that part of being an actor is envisioning roles you could see doing. "There's those characters you want to think, 'Man, I could do that,' and you don't get them," he said. "You see another actor take it and do good work with it or do s****y. You kind of forget it."
Ventimiglia still hopes to appear in a franchise film
Milo Ventimiglia had the good fortune of appearing in one legendary film franchise during his career — he played Rocky Balboa's son, Robert Balboa, opposite Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky Balboa" and "Creed II." But he's not quite giving up on appearing in others no matter how insurmountable the odds.
"For me, I like to look at what's in front of me and not too far ahead," Ventimiglia told Comic Book. "You have 'Return of the Jedi' behind you before there's real information about Anakin Skywalker. I think I had a goal when I was a teenager where I wanted to play Anakin Skywalker in a 'Star Wars' film just like I wanted to play Batman, and I think those are good dreams to have because they push you forward. But you also can't let it deter you when that's not your role."
Effectively, Ventimiglia said he's going to keep focusing on the promise the future holds while living in the now. "Maybe I'm too young for Batman, or maybe they're just not right for me and that's okay," he explained. "I think there could be a cool universe and with AI, maybe there's going to be a Milo playing Batman, who knows."
Apart from "Heroes," Ventimiglia has explored the superhero genre in different avenues over the years. In live-action, the actor played serial killer Jason Skolimski, aka The Ogre, in three episodes of Fox's Batman-themed series "Gotham" in 2015. In animation, Ventimiglia voiced the English version of Logan aka Wolverine in Marvel's series "Iron Man" in 2010, and again in "Marvel Anime," "Wolverine," and "Blade," all in 2011.