Friendly Encounters: Milo Ventimiglia and Matt Parker

Friendly Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends who have met celebrities. 

As Wizard World Chicago 2018 approaches, this is a special Wizard World Friendly Encounters.

JohngysBeat.com Contributor Extraordinaire Matt Parker earned his title hundreds of times. His place is firmly cemented in Johngy's Beat history. I couldn't have done a lot of what I have without his help, especially in the earlier years.

I was always happy when Matt would meet a celeb. Aside with payment in pizza and Cokes, it was good to give him something you couldn't get just anywhere.

Meeting Milo Ventimiglia was one of the times when Matt wanted to meet a celeb. Among his many other roles, Ventimiglia played Peter on tv's Heroes. Of course, he also starred as Rocky Jr. in Rocky Balboa. before finding even more success on tv's Gilmore Girls. Recently, he really struck gold on tv's This Is Us.

I have met Ventimiglia many times since and he is still a great guy. His lines are longer, but it s always worth the wait to see him. He's great with his fans.

Thank you to Big Money for all of the help he has given me. Thanks to Wizard World for granting us access.

Check out WizardWorld.com for all of the info on every show. Wizard World Chicago 2018 starts Thursday, August 23 and runs through Sunday, August 26. I hope to see you there.

Milo Ventimiglia and Matt Parker in Rosemont, IL-August 2013.

Milo Ventimiglia at Wizard World Chicago 2016

Milo Ventimiglia has been acting for over 20 years.  My favorite role of his was his portrayal of Robert Balboa in Rocky Balboa.  Many others might remember him fondly for his role on tv's Gilmore Girls or any of his other many roles.

I first met Milo at Wizard World in 2015.  Last year, as I approached him, he recalled our meeting in 2015.  It's not that rare for a celeb to remember meeting a fan, but I only met him once and he remembered where, too.  That was pretty impressive, but as I talked more with him, it made sense.

Milo really gets to know each fan.  It goes beyond simply interaction.  He takes time to actually have a short conversation with each fan.  Time constraints obviously limit his ability to have lengthy chats, but he makes the most of the limited time.

He asked me about coming to Wizard World.  We talked about his role as Balboa Jr.  We also talked about his workout regmin.  The guy is rock solid buff.

Then when it is time for the pictures, he handles the selfie duty.  It kind of surprised me, but actually it is probably easier for him to do this, as opposed to watching as fans fumble with their phone cams.  It gets better though.  He snaps a couple shots, then tells you to make a face.  A few crazy face pictures later, the encounter ends with a warm handshake or hug.

It's pleasurable experiences like this that keep me going to Wizard World.  It is also because of this, I will keep visiting Milo at his booth.

Milo Ventimiglia and me in Chicago, IL-August 2016.