Ventimiglia doesn't blame Hollywood and its pressures for his split with the "Gilmore Girls" star. In his view, "I don't think it's any more difficult than in any other way of life, or in any other industry. Relationships are relationships, and they're tough. You just have to want to work on them."

Ventimiglia also confirms that his "Gilmore Girls" character, Jess, "is kind of gone. The main reasons I actually went back to work on that show were (writer-producers) Dan and Amy Palladino. They kept telling me they had some really great stories with Jess, and I thought he had matured and grown up, so that was something I always appreciated. Now that Dan and Amy are gone, I don't see myself going back," he says.

In the meantime, Ventimiglia has plenty to look forward to with his upcoming NBC series "Heroes." He and his castmates will be at San Diego's ComicCon International conventionon FridayJuly 21 to take part in a Q&A session and to unveil the pilot episode of the drama, which chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities.

"I've never been (to ComicCon), but I've heard so many cool things about it. I grew up on comic books," he lets us know. "I'm like, Man, I want to stick around and look for "Spiderman" Issue 29 when he goes against Doc Ock!' "