US actor Milo Ventimiglia said “it’s not lost on me, life imitating art” as he drew parallels between watching his Malibu home burn in the Californian wildfire and the fate of his character in TV drama This Is Us.
A series of major wind-driven fires in California have killed 10 people, ravaged communities, and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their properties, including areas dotted with celebrity homes.
Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges was among the most recent stars to confirm the family home that his parents bought in Malibu years ago and he owned was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire, a spokesperson told the PA news agency.
Meanwhile, Gilmore Girls star Ventimiglia, whose wife Jarah Mariano is due to give birth imminently, became emotional as he returned to see his home had burnt to the ground.
In an interview on US outlet CBS News, he said: “You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house and what not and then you see your neighbours’ houses and everything kind of around and your heart just breaks,” he said.
Ventimiglia acknowledged that his character Jack Pearson in This Is Us suffers from smoke inhalation after his home burns down in the hit series.
“It’s not lost on me, life imitating art,” the 47-year-old said.
Ventimiglia and his wife evacuated their home on Tuesday and watched on security cameras as the flames took over.
“I think there’s a kind of shock moment where you go ‘Oh this is real, this is happening’.
“And then a certain point we just turn it off. What good is it to continue watching, we kind of accepted the loss,” he added.
It comes after his co-star Mandy Moore, who plays his on-screen wife in This Is Us, lost part of her home in the flames.
“Miraculously, the main part of our house is still standing. For now. It’s not livable but mostly intact,” the 40-year-old actress wrote on Instagram.
“We lost our garage and back house. Everyone we know lost everything. Every house on our street is gone. My in laws.
“My brother and sister in law, six weeks from welcoming their first baby. Our best friends. Feeling weird survivors guilt.”
TV personality Paris Hilton, US actor Billy Crystal, The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes, talk show host Ricki Lake, The Hills stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag and Oscar-winning songwriter Diane Warren also lost their homes in the fires.
Meanwhile, a new blaze threatened homes in the star-studded Hidden Hills next to Calabasas.
US singer and actress Jessica Simpson was among those evacuating the Kenneth fire, writing on Instagram: “We stayed as long as we could.”
It comes after Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her family pledged one million dollars (£812,000) to start a “fund of support” for those affected by the wildfires.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are also understood to have donated supplies to people affected by the weather event.
The Sussexes also invited into their home friends and loved ones who had been forced to evacuate, it is understood.
The fires have thrown Hollywood’s awards season into disarray, with the Critics Choice Awards and the Oscar nominations among events rescheduled as firefighters attempted to battle the blaze.
TV personality Khloe Kardashian, and comedian and actor Adam Sandler were among those thanking firefighters, law enforcement, and volunteers for their work protecting residents and homes.
