Milo Ventimiglia Says He Has No Clue About Fate Of Characters On 'Heroes'

[Brian Damage]

NEW YORK (AP) - Milo Ventimiglia once again saved the world on NBC's ''Heroes.'' Now what? ''It's funny how that always falls on my shoulders,'' Ventimiglia says.

In the second season finale, Ventimiglia's character, Peter Petrelli, destroyed a virus capable of annihilating most of mankind while Nathan Petrelli, Peter's high-flying brother, appeared to be assassinated at a press conference. Ventimiglia isn't sure if Nathan (played by Adrian Pasdar) is dead.

''I really hope he's not going anywhere,'' Ventimiglia told The Associated Press during a telephone interview Wednesday. ''That would be really disappointing to me to lose a brother and an amazing scene partner. I'm sure it's all going to work out the way it's supposed to.'' Ventimiglia says he didn't watch the finale.

He wasn't alone. Ratings for Monday's episode were down from the previous week, and the conclusion of Volume Two was the lowest-rated finale episode for the show yet, according to Nielsen Media Research. The second season of ''Heroes'' was cut short after the Writers Guild of America went on strike.

Ventimiglia says he's seen no scripts and has no clues about what will happen when the show returns. ''We ran out of stuff to shoot,'' he said. ''That's basically what it boils down to.''

Meanwhile, the 30-year-old actor is producing and starring in the first episode of a series of holiday-themed stop-animation short films for American Eagle Outfitters. The digital shorts also feature Lil Jon, Kristen Bell, Pete Wentz and Adrianne Palicki. Ventimiglia, whose hair was famously chopped on ''Heroes,'' opted for his puppet counterpart to have his longer 'do. ''I thought we should go with the bangs because they're more recognizable,'' he says.

Divide Pictures, Ventimiglia and partner Russ Cundiff's production company, has also optioned the movie rights to ''Blades of Glory,'' John Rosengren's book about the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars, a championship Minnesota high school hockey team.

Ventimiglia says he'll appear in the upcoming films ''Game'' and ''The Chaos Theory.'' ''I try and take a break and take a vacation,'' he says, ''but I keep getting wrapped up in jobs.''