From Jess Mariano to Jack Pearson: See How Milo Ventimiglia Has Transformed Over the Years

The man with the crooked smile! Milo Ventimiglia has played some of television’s most devoted characters that we all know and love, even today. From playing bad boy Jess Mariano in Gilmore Girls to the best daddy … sorry, dad out there in This Is Us, he’s won a spot in everyone’s heart. Plus, he’s a true sight for sore eyes.

The actor played minor television roles before making his way to the CW, but it wasn’t until then that he received major attention. Milo joined the cast of Gilmore Girls during the second season, which aired in 2001 where he was one of Rory Gilmore’s (played by Alexis Bledel) love interests throughout the show’s entirety. 

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Fast-forward fifteen years and the California native really got our attention when he landed the lead role as Jack Pearson in NBC’s family drama This Is Us. Yeah, we already admitted we swooned over him back in the day, but he fully turned into a manly-man this time around. You know, the muscles, slicked back hair and facial hair … basically the whole package. 

On and off the screen, Milo’s complete transformation into adulthood did him well — and we mean very well. Although he’s one of the more private celebrities around, the Second Act star still managed to break the internet in 2021 after leaving the gym in short-shorts (and he clearly worked legs that day). 

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However, being the humble man that he is, the actor had no idea that people would go crazy over his post-gym look. “So, when I work out, I’m with my trainer Jason Walsh, and we’re just you know, kind of meatheads, throwing around a lot of weight,” he told Jimmy Fallon in January 2022 while discussing the infamous picture. 

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“And when I work out, I kind of pull my shorts up. So, when I left the gym and the photograph got taken and then it went bananas … it went crazy. Literally crazy. Like broke the Internet crazy,” he continued.

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“There’s all these articles about Milo and his short shorts. And I’m just like, guys they were actually really normal length. I just have, kind of meaty thighs, and I pulled them up and I walked out, and they stuck,” he added. 

OK, Milo, we get it, you’re just a naturally born meaty hunk! Enough drooling, keep scrolling to see his transformation over the years.