'AMERICAN DREAMS' Father's time in war leaves actor contemplating role

Milo Ventimiglia's father served two tours of duty in Vietnam.
By TERRY MORROW
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Playing an antiwar activist on "American Dreams" hits close to home for actor Milo Ventimiglia.
"My dad did two tours in Vietnam," Ventimiglia says over a diner breakfast in Hollywood. "He was 20 and 21 [years old] when he went over there. He saw a lot of [stuff]."
The former co-star on the WB's "The Gilmore Girls" says he didn't have the need to get his father's blessing before taking the role of Chris Pierce, who will get caught up in the radical protests of "Dream's" Vietnam era this season.
When Ventimiglia did tell his father about the part, he thought the idea of his son playing such a role was "cool," Ventimiglia, 27, recalls.
"That will be the biggest thought on my mind in dealing with this character," he says. "Here's this kid who doesn't like his country is at war. He doesn't have friends in the war. He's not in the war.
"He's just working out of a general feeling. So for me, my dad was in this war. He told me what it was like to be in a war. He talks about it freely. He doesn't clam up. I know what is was like through him."
Creates conflict
Introducing Ventimiglia's character, Chris, into the "Dreams" fray will also help the show's heroine, 17-year-old Meg Pryor (Brittany Snow), come of age. Her involvement with Chris will be a source of conflict within her own family.
On the show, Meg's brother is serving a tour of duty in Vietnam.
"His character is much different than anything Meg is used to," says Snow. "He's kind of in that hippie stage of life. Slowly, Meg is protesting the [Vietnam] war and getting into all that.
"She's a lot more rebellious now because of him. He will show her a new perspective of what it is like to be rebellious."