Milo Ventimiglia was one of the several celebrity victims of the Los Angeles wildfires, and the irony of that considering one of his most iconic TV roles is not lost on him. On Jan. 9, Ventimiglia confirmed to CBS News the he and his wife Jarah Mariano evacuated their Malibu home earlier in the week, and then watched on security cameras as it was engulfed in flames. The loss was particularly emotional for Ventimiglia and Mariano, considering they were setting up a nursery in the house, as Mariano is currently pregnant with the couple’s first child.
“There is a shock moment where you go, ‘This is real and this is happening,’ and then at a certain point you turn [the camera feed] off,” Ventimiglia said. “What good is it to keep watching? We kind of accepted the loss.”
While he and his wife made it to safety, it was heartbreaking to watch the home they had made vanish before their eyes. “You start thinking about all the memories and the different parts of the house and whatnot,” Ventimiglia said. “And then you see your neighbors’ houses and everything around and your heart just breaks.”
Ventimiglia is trying to stay positive as he looks toward the future, though. “We got good friends, and we got good people we’re working with, and we’ll make due. We’ll make due. Wife and baby and dog most important,” he said.
Still, it’s hard to ignore the devastating similarities to Ventimiglia’s role as Jack Pearson in This Is Us, who famously died as the result of a sudden house fire. In a hugely-watched 2018 episode of the tearjerking drama, Jack sacrificed himself to save as many family mementos as he could from the blazing home, only to succumb to excessive smoke inhalation immediately afterwards.
“It’s not lost on me, life imitating art,” Ventimiglia remarked when the comparison was mentioned.
Sadly, another Pearson also had to relive that trauma IRL. Mandy Moore, who played Jack’s wife Rebecca on This Is Us, shared that her Altadena home had been destroyed by the wildfires.
“This is Altadena. Leveled. My sweet home,” Moore wrote in a Jan. 8 Instagram. “I am devastated and gutted for those of us who’ve lost so much. I’m absolutely numb.”
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