Ali Larter

Staci Layne Wilson: In keeping with the Season One finale, will the Heroes group stay together, or will they go their separate ways?

Ali Larter: They´re bringing in a lot of new characters, so you´ll see a lot of different people in the storylines. But what I love about this season is that I now am getting to work with a lot of people I didn´t last year. So I think that what they did was they looked at what worked. I mean, that show became a hit like ‘this!´ I mean, they were just going, and luckily the creative juices worked, and it kept… you know, somehow they kept pulling off these great episodes. But I think now they have a little bit better groove on what they can really accomplish in an episode, you know, what works in it when it comes to the writing, what are the talents of the different actors that they have on the show, and hopefully they´re really going to do it this season. We´re shooting the eighth episode right now.

SLW: Do the writers give you input on your character?

AL: No, not at all. I wish I could say… that´s the hardest part for me, of being on television. I don´t know where I´m going on episode nine. And that, to me, is like… coming from the film world, where I can build an arc for my character… but when you´re in television, you have to do what they give you, and luckily I have extraordinary writers on the show. But it´s the controller in me and the creative artist in me that likes to be able to map that out, but they, of course, have a master plan.

SLW: Are you really curious to know?

AL: Yes! Everyone wants to know. We knew a lot more last year. But this year, I feel like they´re really worried about the storylines getting out. I think that they don´t like the storylines getting out on the Internet and ruining it for the audience. And they want that element of surprise.

SLW: Do you have screen time with Kristen Bell´s character?

AL: No, I don´t. I hear that might be coming, but you hear rumors strolling through. But you never know. I think the stories change and move around up there, depending on the day. There are a lot of creative juices in that room.

SLW: If they took Niki in a way you didn´t like, would you say something?

AL: Oh yeah! I am an incredibly vocal person and I love the characters that I play. I´ve never gotten to play a character for a year. This is my first experience, and I love her. I have many ideas as to where I think she should go, but you´re part of this master…so I´ve got my point of view, but then there are 14 others, so they have to see where it all works in. I really feel like the first season was, for me, the greatest stuff I´ve ever gotten a chance to play–some of the greatest scenes, some of the greatest relationships, and I had to put my trust in them and go for the ride. It´s what you have to do. It´s exciting. I just did a scene with four of the main actors, and we´re kind of all looking and each other in the room and going, “This is great!” We really like each other, and we miss each other when we don´t see each other. The original cast is really close and we all really like each other. There´s that little bit of magic in the air that you feel when certain people are all together.

SLW: Do you spend a lot of time together when you´re off-screen?

AL: Yes. Honestly, it´s great people. And you don´t always get that. I mean, we could be bankers. We could be lawyers. We could be journalists. You guys, maybe there´s a couple of bad apples or maybe you guys are all great, great people who want to hang out all the time. I think, however, it came together–the cast, I mean. The men are chivalrous. They´re great husbands, they´re great fathers. There´s a great kindness and a generosity, and a desire for all of us to be true to who we are and to respect our differences. There´s a lot of respect in our cast.

SLW: Do you think, with the success of Heroes, that we´ll see more genre shows on TV?

AL: Absolutely. I think the success has been incredible, and it´s reached a global level. For anyone talking about it, if you want to call it a sci-fi genre, it´s really human drama. It´s totally a human drama about real people and their problems in everyday lives.

SLW: What was the international press tour like?

AL: I´ve never experienced anything like that in my life. They´re huge on Milla [in Asia]. They love the Resident Evil games there. I didn´t know that before I got over there, and found out that´s a huge market for them. The girls–Milla is a hero to them. I think that´s just fabulous. I mean, how cool. I was surprised and excited about it.

SLW: Everyone was rooting for Zachary Quinto to be cast as Spock…

AL: I´m just so excited for him on every level. I think he´s a really good actor and I think he´s earned it. He´s starting into a stage in his life where there´s no turning back, and I think it´s really exciting and I think he´s going to be great in the role.

SLW: Will you be a beautiful girl who´s a Star Trek geek now?

AL: No. [Laughs] I love football, I love field and the gym, I love a lot things… [I wasn´t a Trekkie growing up], I was out on the field.

SLW: Would you ever sing with Greg Grunberg´s band?

AL: No. I know my limitations, darling. [Laughs]