Man of mystery - Milo comes from an English, Italian, Irish, Scottish, French, Indian, and Cherokee heritage. Wow!

Milo as Peter Petrelli

Fortunately, good luck came Milo’s way when he was cast as Peter Petrelli on a little show called “Heroes”. Unknownst to the cast at the time, the show would explode once it aired and become an international hit, and Milo became an even bigger star. In 2006, Milo also starred in the film Rocky Balboa, alongside Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone. Milo played Rocky’s son Robert Jnr.

Milo in Rocky Balboa with Sylvester Stallone

With Heroes now in its second season, Milo is constantly recognized as his alter ego Peter Petrelli and is eager to break away from that typecast. While the recent Writers Strike may have stopped production of “Heroes” for awhile, it was also a blessing in disguise for Milo, allowing him to branch out into other projects. “I think for me when I'm not playing Peter Petrelli, I just like to find characters that are interesting whether they're different or similar for me I go with what's interesting to me. So it's not so conscious of a choice to look for or seek out characters that are different. If I see a character that is different and that is presented or brought to me or that I have to audition for or whatever it is, sometimes it turns me on a little bit more than usual because I'm not repeating myself or playing the same kind of character,” Milo told ComingSoon.net in an interview.

LEFT: Milo as Jess on Gilmore Girls. Milo and co-star Alexis Bledel dated for three and a half years before splitting up in 2006 CENTER: Milo as Chris Peirce in American Dreams with costar Brittany Snow RIGHT: Milo with Heroes co-star and girlfriend Hayden Panettiere

Milo in this month's release Pathology

The release of the thriller “Pathology” this month is an example of Milo’s branching out. Co-starring alongside Alyssa Milano, Milo plays medical student Ted Gray, who after graduating at the top of his class, is accepted into one of the most prestigious pathology programs in America. Ted quickly makes new friends in the program, only to discover that they are playing a game of cat and mouse in the morgue of who can commit the perfect undetectable murder. As the game becomes real, Ted must figure out how to survive. To research the film, Milo spent some time in an LA morgue – an experience that enlightened his life. “I watched 19 autopsies and saw a few hundred dead bodies. To see a shell that used to have a life in it just changes your perspective on things,” says Milo.

Milo's come along away in his career. Did you know he auditioned for the role of Clark Kent on Smallville?

Also set for release in the next year or so, are the three films that Milo worked on during the Writers Strike. The first is the film The Chaos Theory. Next is Game, which is a futuristic action thriller where society has been taken over by mind-control technology and the video game “Slayers” allows humans to control other humans. In this action packed film exists two worlds – real society and the online created battlefield. The third film is Armored, which Milo has been working on in the last few months. Armored also stars Matt Dillion, Laurence Fishburne and Skeet Ulrich. And now that the Writer’s Strike has come to an end, it is expected that Milo will resume filming “Heroes” in late April or May.

LEFT: It isnt uncommon to find the Heroes cast hanging around off set RIGHT: Milo with the Bedford Diaries cast including Penn Badgley

Claymation Milo for Divide Pictures

If filming three movies weren’t enough, Milo also spent time on various projects with his production company “Divide Pictures” during his Heroes hiatus. Milo and his best friends started up the company. One of their projects include the American Eagle Outfitters first original series “It’s a Mall World”, a comedy which Milo not only produced but also directed. “Divide Pictures” again teamed up with American Eagle to produce a claymation series “Home for the Holidays”, which aired during Christmas time last year. Some of Milo’s celebrity friends lent their voices to the series including Heroes co-star Kristen Bell. Not bad for someone who’s older sisters used to dress him up like Madonna and put big bows in his hair!

Before his rise to fame, you may have seen Milo in the commerical for the Apple iBook

Fun Facts (from IMDb):