TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews

Related Links 'Heroes' Listings More About Ali Larter More About Hayden Panettiere More About Sendhil Ramamurthy

Oct. 2 -- 'Heroes' stars Ali Larter, Hayden Panettiere and Sendhil Ramamurthy aren't yet recognizable names, but chances are they soon will be.

The new NBC sci-fi drama won its time slot when it debuted last week, attracting a whopping 14 million viewers. On the show about ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities, Larter plays a single-mom making ends meet by working as a stripper, Panettiere stars as a high school cheerleader and Ramamurthy portrays a young professor on a quest to uncover the truth about his father's death.

The three chatted with AOL Television editor Geoff Bennett about their hot new show, the battle of good vs. evil and what they would do as real-life superheroes.

So, for the unacquainted, let's talk about your characters and how they fit into the show.
Ali Larter: Well, I play Niki Sanders and 'Heroes' is, I believe, about 10 people from all over the world who discover they have extraordinary abilities. And one of the things that really drew me to the show is that while these people are experiencing these changes, they have to deal with their day-to-day lives, such as getting the kids to school, paying their bills, trying to stay in a healthy marriage -- all these things that normal people have to deal with every day.
Hayden Panettiere: My character is Claire Bennet, and she is a normal teenage girl -- a cheerleader, who likes the quarterback of the football team. But she's also adopted, which is sort of a twist. But she's just a teenager going through normal teenage things, but there's this one huge thing that's very different about her.
Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh): I'm basically the narrator of the story. My character doesn't have super powers, per se, he's trying to put all of the information together and hopefully ultimately bring everyone together.

The mere idea of a show about people with superhuman powers -- well, the "cheese" factor seems pretty unavoidable. When 'Heroes' was pitched to you, what did you think?
Ali Larter: Reading the pilot script, I didn't even know what powers I was going to have or how that really fit in. For me, this wasn't really even a sci-fi show. It was about normal people who are in really complicated situations, and for me it was just an incredible challenge to delve into this world. Sendhil Ramamurthy: For me, I think when this project was presented, it was presented as a character-driven show. It's about what these people are going through in their lives. It's not about every five minutes, somebody's going to be flying or walking through a wall or whatever. That's what kind of drew me to the project as a whole. If this had been a show about powers and that kind of thing, I don't know how it would be done on a TV budget.
Ali Larter: It's a human drama.
Sendhil Ramamurthy: Exactly. And as far as my character goes, [series creator] Tim [Kring] has given me some amazing words. That's the best part about my character is what I get to say. He writes me poetry.

Sendhil, your character is a genetics professor. I'd imagine with that kind of background, there's only so much you can fake. What did you do to prepare?
Sendhil Ramamurthy: I did preliminary research on genetics and basic biology stuff, but as far as character work, I just tried to approach it from this guy's journey. His father has been murdered and he wants to find out who killed him. And he wants to find out if his father's research is true, and he's slowly finding out that it is.

Hayden, of all the characters, your power -- being indestructible -- is by far the most extreme. Hayden Panettiere: Yeah. (Laughs) I'm constantly dying. It's always a lot of fun. I don't want to say too much because I think it's exciting to watch it. I've worked with a lot of body pieces, a lot of stunt work -- but it's all been a blast. But there's lots of blood. Lots of blood. But in a lot of ways, I think it's almost dry humor in a way. I remember watching people's reactions during the scene when Claire threw herself off the rock quarry in the pilot, and people laughed! I didn't know what to expect, but people were cracking up. It's comedy in a way.

And Ali, your powers of split consciousness seem like they could go either way. Is it a battle of good and evil?
Ali: I think that what's great about the show is that it's not living in such strict stereotypes. And I don't think anyone's just good or just evil. What's interesting to me is that I think that both sides live in all of us. And sometimes, one side gets more control. And I think that's something we're going to explore with my character. She's put in certain situations that are so contradictory.
Sendhil Ramamurthy: I think that's the coolest thing about Ali's character -- that she gets to do that. Nobody's all good or all bad. It's the situation that informs it.

It seems as each of the character's paths cross, this could end up like 'X-Men' or 'Justice League' -- like one big fighting team of superheroes. Is that the case?
Sendhil Ramamurthy: It won't really be that. We are slowly starting to cross each other's paths. I don't think it will be the type of thing that takes two seasons to get everybody together. I think a common goal will be figured out relatively soon.

What can fans expect for the rest of the season?
Ali Larter: Well, I am going to have to start dealing with this other side of my personality. And it's going to put me in situations where I may have to break the law. I'm going to deal with that and possibly the separating of my personalities and figuring out how to bring the two together.

And what is the significance of the solar eclipse that was so prominent in the first episode?
Sendhil Ramamurthy: Hayden?
Hayden Panettiere: You can do it Sendhil. It's all you, baby!
Sendhil Ramamurthy: The truth is -- we have no idea.
Hayden Panettiere: Yeah, we have no idea. (Laughs)
Sendhil Ramamurthy: It's going to be explained. But we're in the middle of episode four right now, and we have some hints, but we don't have the answer yet.
Hayden Panettiere: At the moment, it appears as something that unites all of us because no matter where you are in the world, we are all looking at it.
Sendhil Ramamurthy: It's some sort of catalyst, but we have no idea what. (Laughs)

So Hayden, what would you do in real life if you had your character's powers?
Hayden Panettiere: (Sighs) What would I do? I don't know that I'd have the guts to kill myself like Claire does. I'd think about perhaps facing my fear of sharks. But I'm not sure I'd do that even if I knew I'd survive! (Laughs)