This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia has found his next leading role in a pilot for a cop show titled American Blue.
Multiple outlets including Deadline and Variety reported on Friday, January 30, that Ventimiglia, 48, is teaming up with director David Ayer on a show for HBO Max. The one-hour drama is written by Jeremy Carver, who is an executive producer alongside Brian Udovich and Neil Reynolds. Ventimiglia, meanwhile, serves as co-executive producer.
“American Blue will take audiences inside a gritty and authentic police drama, reflecting the myriad challenges in policing today,” HBO Max’s Head of Original Programming Sarah Aubrey said in a statement. “As with The Pitt, our goal of longer seasons will allow viewers to sink deeply into this world across multiple episodes and to return to it on an annual basis. We can’t wait for Jeremy Carver’s vision for American Blue to come to life with Milo Ventimiglia in the lead role and David Ayer directing our pilot.”
According to the official synopsis, Ventimiglia plays “native son Brian ‘Milk’ Milkovich [who] returns to his hometown of Joliet, Illinois, to rescue a beleaguered police force while seeking redemption of his own.”
Who Should Join Justin Hartley’s ‘Tracker’ After Multiple Cast Exits?
Ventimiglia’s Milk is described as “a quietly determined, natural-born leader hoping to find a second chance in the place he left behind.”
“We are thrilled to have Milo and David join American Blue,” President of Creative Affairs at Warner Bros. Television Clancy Collins White shared in a separate statement. “Milo’s dynamic presence on-screen and David’s keen eye are a perfect match for the complex, character-driven drama that Jeremy created. We look forward to seeing this trio bring Milk’s journey to life.”
American Blue marks Ventimiglia’s newest starring role after the success of This Is Us. The actor originally became a household name playing Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls from 2000 to 2007. From there he found success on shows including Heroes and This Is Us — with the latter scoring him three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Ventimiglia later booked the lead role in ABC’s short-lived series The Company You Keep. On the big screen, Ventimiglia appeared in Land of Bad and I Can Only Imagine 2. He also had a fun cameo on Jensen Ackles’ Prime Video show Countdown last year.
Most fans — Us included — are also holding out hope of seeing Ventimiglia on former costar Justin Harley’s hit CBS series This Is Us. Ventimiglia, for his part, has teased that he would like to make an appearance on the show in the future.
“I watched Justin’s show last night too, and [I’m] super proud of him and Ken and Roxy Olin,” Ventimiglia exclusively told Us Weekly in February 2024. “I saw a lot of familiar This Is Us faces or names on the screen in the production end.”
Ventimiglia noted that he “thought the show was great” and Hartley, 49, had “a fun role,” adding, “Reuniting with him or anyone else from the cast — or anyone from any number of films I’ve done in the last 28, 29 years — I’m sure that’d be a blast.”
‘Law and Order: SVU,’ ‘Chicago P.D.’ and More of the All-Time Best Cop Shows
Tracker executive producer Elwood Reid recently spoke to Us about the delay in bringing certain This Is Us stars over to Hartley’s new show.
“[We discuss it] all the time. If I’m going to go with those kind of big names, I got to make sure I have a story,” he noted in December 2025. “The show works because we’re with Colter so much and he’s just such an interesting actor that he’s able to carry that big narrative load.”
Reid confirmed ongoing discussions.
“We’ve definitely talked about Sterling K. Brown, we’ve talked about Mandy Moore and we have talked about Milo Ventimiglia,” he shared. “But until it’s really, really right — and matching the windows up in these people’s calendars is impossible.”
Reid concluded: “If I have the right story line, I will do it. But I’m always opposed to just do a cameo. We have to get a good emotional story out of it or a fun story line.”
Tracker returns to CBS Sunday, March 1, at 9 p.m. ET.
