Milo Ventimiglia was inspired to "be nice to people" by Will Smith.
The 41-year-old actor is now best known for his role on ‘This Is Us’, but has admitted that one of his first ever TV roles was a guest spot on classic 90s sitcom ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, where he says he learned how to treat "everybody with kindness and respect" from watching main star Will.
Speaking on the red carpet of the 2018 Emmy Awards during E!’s ‘Live from the Red Carpet’ pre-show, Milo said: "I was a kid with one line on his show, but what I did was watch [Will] and what I saw him doing was treating everybody with kindness and respect.
"At 18, I watched one of the biggest TV and movie stars be nice to people. I thought, ‘I want to be like him. I want to be like Will Smith.’"
Now, Milo plays the patriarch Jack Pearson in ‘This Is Us’, and is nominated for outstanding lead actor in a drama series at the Emmy awards, which is being held on Monday (17.09.18) at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles.
And the actor couldn’t be more proud of his role on the show.
He added: "It’s good to be part of a show that inspires men to be good and other families to come together.
"[I try] to be an agent of love and kindness and goodness. [My motto is] live with love."
Milo has long been a supporter of equality, and whilst speaking at the Golden Globe awards in January this year, he called himself a "feminist" as he took part in wearing all black to the ceremony in solidarity with the actresses who were doing so to lend their support to the Time’s Up initiative.
He said at the time: "I’m first and foremost a feminist. I have been my entire life. I have two amazing older sisters, an amazing mother and a father that supports all of us and all of them.
"Being a man of this industry and doing my best and even our best to even be good men – to support women in this industry and across the board in all industries."
Milo Ventimiglia: Will Smith inspired me to be nice
