The 'Gilmore Girls' creator spoke at Ventimiglia's Walk of Fame ceremony.
Milo Ventimiglia may have Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to thank for his big break as Jess Mariano. Now, more than 20 years later, Ventimiglia received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with Sherman-Palladino traveling across the country and speaking at the ceremony on Monday.
"This boy, right here, came to me very young. He walked in scared. He walked in and we didn't have a part for him, but he walked out the door and I'm like, 'Don't let him leave. Take his pass away. Take his keys to his car. We are getting him on the show,'" the Gilmore Girls showrunner shared in her speech. "And we created Jess for him."
Ventimiglia played the love interest of Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) on the series, coming back for the revival -- A Year in the Life -- and will soon be appearing in the upcoming season of Sherman-Palladino's Amazon Prime show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
In her speech, the writer and creator described Ventimiglia as the son she never had.
"I joke with Milo that if I could've had some sort of great achievement, I would have a kid that would turn out like Milo," she shared. "Instead, I adopted him. I call him my imaginary child. And it's great because I didn't have to send him to college or feed him or buy him anything. I just have to say every now and then, 'Are you wearing a sweater?' He is wearing a sweater. I really appreciate it."
ET spoke with Sherman-Palladino after the honor was presented to the This Is Us star, where she continued to gush about the TV actor.
"I'm very much a fan of his, not just because I adore him, and I call him my imaginary son. But I just think he, he just makes the world better," she told ET. "[He] makes this business better."
She added that Ventimiglia has always been and will always be there for her, joking, "I know that I can count on him for anything, you know. It's one of those kinds of things like, 'Hey, I'm in jail in Tijuana. Funny story, come get me.' I think he would come get me out of jail in Tijuana."
She also shared a sweet story from their days on set of Ventimiglia looking out for her.
"I literally was addicted to Red Bull for a while when I was directing because I just hadn't never directed, I was very like, 'How do you do this?'" she recalled. "And I'm just one day sitting there, and he comes over and just takes the Red Bull gently out of my hand and puts it down he's like 'no more'... I'm like, 'Wait a minute, I'm the adult here.' But that's who he is. He just takes everything into account, like, 'You'll die if you keep drinking Red Bull. Please don't do it.'"
It seems the feeling is mutual between Ventimiglia and Sherman-Palladino. Earlier this month, Ventimiglia spoke about his imaginary mom and her husband, Dan Palladino, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
"They are the kinds of people for me that I'm 1) going to know them for the rest of my life and 2) every time they call, I've got to be there," he said.
For more with Ventimiglia, check out the video below.
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