Former Heroes Star Milo Ventimiglia Cast in Frank Darabont's L.A. Noir

Since the cancellation of Heroes in 2010, Milo Ventimiglia has been keeping a rather low profile. The actor, who fronted the four-season NBC series as superpowered empath Peter Petrelli, has voiced the animated incarnation of Marvel's superhero Wolverine since Heroes ended, but that's about it. Now, finally, Ventimiglia has a new gig: TNT's L.A. Noir. 

There's a lot of buzz surrounding L.A. Noir, and with good reason. It's being headed up by Frank Darabont, the former showrunner of this little show called The Walking Dead. After Darabont was kicked off the show by AMC due to unknown behind the scenes drama, he took just a few months before planning his next television exploit: the period drama L.A. Noir for TNT. 

L.A. Noir will center upon organized crime in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s. Ventimiglia will play Ned Stax, a WWII veteran who becomes a lawyer for the mob. That is to say, the character is at best morally gray. And, to quote Heroes, "I'm fine with morally gray." 

Walking Dead star Jon Bernthal has also been cast in L.A. Noir as Joe Teague, one of Stax's old military buddies, according to Deadline. Both are starring roles, leading some to speculate that Bernthal will follow Darabont's lead and leave The Walking Dead at the end of the show's second season to star on L.A. Noir full time (though it's possible that scheduling allows him to continue starring in both). 

The show is based on John Buntin’s book L.A. Noir: The Struggle For The Soul Of America’s Most Seductive City. Frank Darabont will direct the pilot and executive produce along with Michael De Luca and Elliot Webb. No premiere date for the series has been announced.