Interview: Milo Ventimiglia Talks Chosen

Interview: Milo Ventimiglia Talks 'Chosen,' Written by: Karen Benardello

Creating a heart-pounding thriller with explosive stunts and emotional portrayals by the actors in terrifying, stimulating situations has often been reserved for high budget studio films. But the latest intriguing action story surprisingly can be seen in the new mini-web series 'Chosen,' which was written and directed by Ben Ketai. The series, which features six 30 minute episodes that are all currently playing on Crackle, follows a working father intent on fixing his family. His life is unexpectedly put in danger when he's forced to kill a man he doesn't know.

'Chosen' follows Ian Mitchell (played by Milo Ventimiglia), a husband, father and lawyer, who discover a mysterious box on his doorstep containing a loaded gun. The box also includes a photo of a stranger he must kill within the next three days. Ian quickly learns that if he doesn't kill the man-dentist Daniel Easton (portrayed by Diedrich Bader)-he may be killed himself along with his daughter, who is being held hostage. Confused and desperate, Ian turns into an unwilling assassin, who must risk everything to protect his family.

Ventimiglia generously took the time recently to discuss 'Chosen' during a press conference call. Among other things, the actor and executive producer discussed how Ian starting off as a normal member of society and subsequently getting thrown into a life or death situation drew him to the series; how he supports the reach and potential 'Chosen' has to reach the entire world online; and his close working relationships with his co-stars, including Nicky Wheland, who plays Ian's wife Laura, and Caitlin Carmichael, who portrays their daughter, Ellie.

Question (Q): The preview says that Ian won't be the same after the box arrives. Can you talk about the type of guy he becomes, as compared to who he was?

Milo Ventimiglia (MV): You know, Ian's kind of a mild mannered a guy who works in a law office. He wears a tie and kind of has these little struggles-a struggle of words with him ex-wife, as his marriage is falling apart.

He's a guy who's just kind of dealing with like some everyday problems. Then this box arrives and he is now hunted and has to hunt and is kind of put into this game that is, as the trailer says, not fun.

He has to adapt as a human being for the sense of survival. So, it gives you some sort of understanding of what he does or how he has to change and manage to survive, not only for himself, but for his daughter, for his family. That's kind of where he goes.

Q: What do you love about the viability in potential shows on the internet like 'Chosen?'

MV: I'm just so excited about digital because of the reach. Sometimes some countries don't get movies. Sometimes, you know, they're in and out of theaters, and when they arrive on TV, maybe you don't have the channel, maybe you don't have pay cable. Maybe you live in a remote part of the world that just doesn't have what the network is showing or studio is putting out.

Digital I feel like anybody can access it, anybody can get to it. Being a part of projects like 'Chosen' and working with Crackle, is great for a guy who's been in the digital space for a long time now.

Crackle just seemed like a place that they're looking for projects like 'Chosen.' I developed with them before, a Web series that I would like and watch. That was what attracted me to them.

I've known the guys over there for some time now. They're saying, "Hey. We've got money to do projects like this and we want to continue doing more and branch out from hopefully the successes that 'Chosen' has had."

I hope to be a part of it. As a viewer, I'm stoked to see somebody doing it. There's a ton of those digital houses out there that have the reach. But I love the idea that Crackle's backed by Sony ,and it's just another avenue to get creative out there.

I know it's something that I'm going to continue to do the profile builds. People should understand that you're going to get the same quality on digital as you can in a movie theater. So I love digital, I'm into digital.

To continue reading this interview, please visit Yahoo! Voices.