'Heroes' Gets Speedy New Character
By DERRIK J. LANG, AP
Posted: 2008-05-09 10:41:16
LOS ANGELES (May 9) - She's not just fast. She's very fast.
Meet Daphne, the speedy new character on NBC's "Heroes," who
plans to give the show's superhumans - especially time traveler
Hiro and his sidekick, Ando - a run for their money when she debuts
on the popular NBC series' upcoming third season, which went back
into production last week.
Shenae Grimes
Cast In: 'Beverly Hills, 90210' Spinoff (The CW)
About the Role: Despite rumors that the lead role in the '90210' spinoff would go to Hilary Duff, Grimes, the Canadian born star of 'Degrassi: The Next Generation,' has nabbed the part of teenager Annie Mills.
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Lori Loughlin
Cast In: 'Beverly Hills, 90210' Spinoff (The CW)
About the Role: The erstwhile 'Full House' star will play Celia Mills, a former Olympic medalist in cycling, who moves to Beverly Hills with her husband and teenaged daughter Annie (Shenae Grimes).
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Angela Bassett
Cast In: 'ER' (NBC)
About the Role: The Oscar-nominated star of 'What's Love Got to Do With It' will scrub in for the final season of 'ER,' playing a troubled physician who returns to Chicago after a few years in Indonesia doing tsunami relief. The role marks her first full-time TV gig.
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Alyssa Milano
Cast In: Unititled ABC Comedy Pilot
About the Role: The former 'Charmed' beauty and current 'My Name Is Earl' guest star is in negotiations to topline a comedy pilot from 'How I Met Your Mother' producer Kristin Newman. Milano would play a woman in her 30s who tries to break free of her dysfunctional family, friends and boss.
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Naomi Campbell
Cast In: 'Ugly Betty' (ABC)
About the Role: Although it was announced the volatile supermodel would guest on 'Betty' last season, she has yet to make an appearance. That will all change in the second season finale, when she turns up as herself. Betty better bring her brass knuckles to work.
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Lucy Liu
Cast In: 'Dirty Sexy Money' (ABC)
About the Role: It looks like the Darlings will have another good-looking lawyer to contend with: Liu will join the cast as an attorney if -- and the odds of this are fairly certain -- ABC's 'Cashmere Mafia' does not get picked up for a second season.
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Sarah Chalke
Cast In: 'How I Met Your Mother' (CBS)
About the Role: The sexy 'Scrubs' doc will reprise her role as Ted's scene-stealing -- and heart-stealing -- dermatologist Stella in at least one more episode this season, further fueling rumors that she's the eponymous 'Mother.'
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Alicia Silverstone
Cast In: 'Bad Mother's Handbook' (ABC)
About the Role: Though she turned down a chance to play the eponymous mom on 'How I Met Your Mother,' the 'Miss Match' star seems to have the maternal instinct: She'll play a 32-year-old single mom who must take care of both her daughter and her mother in this buzzed-about ABC pilot.
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Jason Bateman
Cast In: 'Sit Down, Shut Up' (Fox)
About the Role: Bateman will reteam with fellow 'Arrested Development' alums Henry Winkler and Will Arnett for 'Arrested' creator Mitch Hurwitz's animated Fox comedy about a group of self-absorbed teachers who put their students' needs second to their own.
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Ray Romano
Cast In: 'Men of a Certain Age' (TNT)
About the Role: The former 'Everybody Loves Raymond' star will give drama a try in this TNT pilot about trio of college buddies, now in their 40s, grappling with middle age. Romano, who co-wrote the script, will play a divorced father who dreamt of becoming a pro golfer but now owns a party store.
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"I'm stealing a secret that's been kept in Hiro's family for a
long time that he's just now found," Brea Grant told The
Associated Press during a break in filming on location in a
high-rise building in downtown Los Angeles. "He stops time right
as I grab it, but in that second it took him to grab it, I almost
make it out of the office."
Grant doesn't know much about her mysterious new character.
Daphne's superpower allows her to operate at three speeds and leave
a supersonic wake in her path when Hiro stops time. Grant's not
sure where Daphne is from, but she does know the Speedster - that's
what she calls herself - has been on her own for a long time.
"Her character is supposed to be Hiro's Joker," said Masi Oka,
who plays Hiro. "Batman has The Joker. Hiro has Daphne. This is
the season where Hiro finally finds his arch nemesis, and it
happens to be this Speedster. I kind of equate it more to Wile E.
Coyote and the Road Runner, except Daphne says more than
'meep-meep."'
Grant said she's been a "Heroes" fan since the show debuted in
2006 and cried tears of joy when she was called to audition.
However, she said the strangest part about being on a show about
ordinary people with superhuman abilities has been the images
required for the series' intricate computer-generated effects.
"I had to go to this place and stand on a platform in my
underwear," said Grant. "They turned it around and took photos of
me. It felt like some sort of weird experiment. I imagine those
pictures will end up on the Internet at some point."
Grant graduated from the University of Texas before moving to
Los Angeles to pursue acting. Last season, she played sassy high
school student Jean on NBC's "Friday Night Lights." The
26-year-old actress' short bleach-blond dreadlocked hairdo has
become her signature. "Heroes" producers only trimmed her bangs
for the role of Daphne.
"It's mine. It was like this," said Grant. "Basically, I dyed
my hair for 10 years and at some point it turned into a big pouf,
so I started dreading half of it and just letting it go. Every once
in a while, I'll dye it to get rid of my roots. People hate it or
love it. I'm actually not that attached to it, honestly."
Grant has mighty aspirations for Daphne's future on "Heroes."
"I hope to be in some battle with the other Heroes, whether
it's with them, against them, whatever," she said.
The third season is titled "Villains," and will pick up
immediately following the events of the second season, which was
cut short because of the writers strike. Viewers will learn about
the fates of several characters when the show returns in September,
including who shot Nathan Petrelli.
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2008-05-09 10:41:16
