He’s the heartthrob star of NBC’s This Is Us.
And on Wednesday, Milo Ventimiglia revealed he’s happy about having a ‘crooked smile’ because it’s helped him stand out from the crowd in Hollywood.
The actor, 43, shared that he’d become ‘very self-conscious of it’ after seeing himself on a TV news report about his high school wrestling team, but added, ‘the good news is it has actually helped me out in work.’
Something in common: Drew Barrymore and Milo Ventimiglia bonded over their ‘crooked smiles’ during Wednesday’s episode of the actress’ daytime TV cat show Drew
Ventimiglia spoke about his looks during a remote appearance on Drew Barrymore’s daytime chat show.
He and the actress turned TV host bonded over their less than perfect smiles which, as it has turned out, didn’t preclude them from stardom.
Ventimiglia’s slight defect is the result of being born with damaged facial nerves on the left side of his mouth.
‘When I was a kid I had someone tell me that they could probably repair it with surgery and I kind of looked at them and was like, ‘No, it’s cool, it’s me, it’s fine,” he explained.
‘I bite my lip from time to time but otherwise, I’m okay with it,’ he added.
Physical ‘flaw’: Ventimiglia, 43, shared that he’d become ‘very self-conscious of’ his ‘crooked smile’ after seeing himself on a TV news report about his high school wrestling team
Upside: The actor added, however, that his lopsided mouth has become a sort of signature and ‘it has actually helped me out in work’
Ventimiglia’s slight defect is the result of being born with damaged facial nerves on the left side of his mouth. ‘I bite my lip from time to time but otherwise, I’m okay with it,’ he shared
The ‘crooked smile’ has become a sort of signature for the actor who got his first steady acting role as one of the stars of TV’s Gilmore Girls.
Then he auditioned to play Sylvester Stallone’s son in the 2006 movie Rocky Balboa.
Stallone ‘said something funny and we both just started laughing and then he kind of looks at me and he says to me, ‘Wow, his lip, it even hooks down like mine does,” Ventimiglia recalled.
He went on to reprise the role of Rocky Jr. in 2018’s Creed II.
Breakthrough: The actor got his first steady role on TV’s Gilmore Girls that premiered in 2000. Then he auditioned to play Sylvester Stallone’s son in the 2006 movie Rocky Balboa
StalloStar power: ne ‘said something funny and we both just started laughing and then he kind of looks at me and he says to me, ‘Wow, his lip, it even hooks down like mine does,” Ventimiglia recalled. (pictured with Stallone at the film’s premiere)
Shared experience: For her part, Barrymore, 45, said she had only learned she had a less than perfect smile while making the Farrelly brothers 2005 comedy Fever Pitch with Jimmy Fallon
Memorable: The actress explained: [Jimmy] said, ‘You know how when you talk out of the side of your mouth.’ And I was like, ‘Uh huh.’ That was the day that changed my life forever’
For her part, Barrymore, 45, said she had only learned she had a less than perfect smile while making the Farrelly brothers 2005 comedy Fever Pitch with Jimmy Fallon.
‘We were in Toronto working and the Farrellys are major pranksters and they were like, ‘Okay, Jimmy tell her something about her that’s going to surprise her in this scene.’ So he did,’ she recalled.
‘He said, ‘You know how when you talk out of the side of your mouth.’ And I was like, ‘Uh huh.’ That was the day that changed my life forever because once you see that room with the lights on when someone turns the lights off and says pretend you don’t know what it looks like, you can’t,’ Barrymore said.
In the fall of 2016, Ventimiglia was cast as Jack Pearson opposite Mandy Moore as his wife Rebecca in the family drama This Is Us.
The huge success of the series has made him a household name and earned him three lead actor Emmy nominations.
He is currently filming season five of the drama in Los Angeles.
Drama: In the fall of 2016, Ventimiglia was cast as Jack Pearson opposite Mandy Moore as his wife Rebecca in the family drama This Is Us. They are currently filming season five in LA