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We'll have to wait until September to find out what happens next on Heroes but the cast has been back at work throughout the summer for our entertainment. Many of them came to NBC's annual summer press party to tease the upcoming episodes. Ali Larter looked more glamorous than any human being should with short shorts revealing most of her bronzed legs. Luckily you don't have to be distracted by that while you read this interview.

CraveOnline: Where are you at in the season? How many have you read?

Ali Larter: We are shooting the third right now and they're amazing. They're introducing new characters. The writers on our show are so creative and they just are unleashed I feel like in the writer's room, so it's great.

CraveOnline: How are things between Nikki and D.L. now?

Ali Larter: They are interesting. They're interesting. You're going to find a lot out this year about their past and what happened.

CraveOnline: Will the Nikki/Jessica dynamic continue at all?

Ali Larter: They're coming into one character. It's only Nikki and I think the writers are so smart on this show that they really looked at what worked and what didn't. To be able to focus on the one character is I think going to be the best move.

CraveOnline: How is the work different this year, only playing one character?

Ali Larter: I really am enjoying it. We went down a lot of different roads last year and it was really creative for me that I got to do those scenes where I was in jail and some of the stuff with my son. Playing Jessica, some of the stunt stuff, I feel like I actually jumped through genres at times within the season last year. So I think it was really fun. I think we took risks and chances. I think some worked. I think some didn't. I think this year, the writers are going to look at all that and focus it. I think it'll be great.

CraveOnline: How difficult was that to shift in mid scene?

Ali Larter: That was one of the fun challenges that I was talking about being scared of. It could have looked like a soap opera. Not that soap operas are bad but in my work, I try to go for a little bit more realism. So it was challenging but it was such a great year all around, honestly, I feel like most of the cast must be saying that. We were all pushed different ways creatively. The response that we had in the States and around the world is just incredible.

CraveOnline: What do you want to see happen for Nikki?

Ali Larter: You know what? What I love about the show is when they let the characters breathe. I love the action packed side of it but I like the dialogue. I'm an actor so I love the dialogue. I love just moments that you can have between actors so I just hope that there's always room for that within all the [action].

CraveOnline: Have they told you where the character will go?

Ali Larter: Yes. I've heard a little bit La Femme Nikita.

CraveOnline: Are you happy about that?

Ali Larter: Absolutely. I'm happy about most things they give me on the show. What's different about television for me because it's my first show, I'm used to a film where you have a beginning, middle and an end, and with this, once they get to know you, they kind of find your strengths, the things that maybe you're not so great at and focus on it. So I'm excited to see where they're going but I'm not past script three.

CraveOnline: What was your reaction to the final episode when Hiro went back in time?

Ali Larter: It was shocking an amazing but if we can do that stuff and push the envelope of what you can see right now on television, how great. Let's keep doing it. I hope that the show keeps taking risks, risks that don't always work but that's going to be something fresh.

CraveOnline: What do you think worked and didn't work last year?

Ali Larter: I don't look at it as much in the realm of the show as I look at things that challenged me and that I feel like I was able to do to the best of my ability.

CraveOnline: Are more you confident playing the character now after a successful first year?

Ali Larter: Absolutely not. I think the day that happens, I'll hand in my card. A part of for me, is not being sure and always trying to figure it out. That's what I hope I always feel for a lifetime in this industry.

CraveOnline: Is this the role you're the most proud of so far?

Ali Larter: I guess you could say that. They gave me some cool stuff to do and I didn't work for a couple years and I really had some life experience and I'm a woman now, so I think that there's more complicated things that I've been through in my life and I'm able to put that into my work. I think things just get more interesting as you get older.

CraveOnline: Do you do any training because of the show or for the show?

Ali Larter: I think we're going to be getting into a little of that. I haven't yet. That's the hard thing about television too, you don't have enough leeway. They don't really have things locked until days before sometimes. On film you really have the chance to learn a different language if you need to or you have that couple months to really get in shape.

CraveOnline: How do you do it without a trainer?

Ali Larter: You go for it. Absolutely. I will jam it into three days if I have to, absolutely because coming from the film world, there's a certain expectation I have of myself.

CraveOnline: What is different about being back this year?

Ali Larter: I just think everything's on a grander scale. I think that's most of all, we made it, we got it. Now let's just try to hold onto the integrity of what made it so special.

CraveOnline: What seems grander? Tim said the budget isn't bigger.

Ali Larter: Well, there are different actors coming on so they're introducing different storylines. For me, it just feels that way. Everything feels just a little bit bigger.

CraveOnline: Does Nikki still have Jessica's strength?

Ali Larter: That is something that is definitely being explored second season.

CraveOnline: What have you done over the summer?

Ali Larter: Well, we only had about four weeks off and I spent that time with my nephews outside of Indianapolis. That was amazing to see how fast the kids grow. I got a chance to go to Hawaii which was amazing and now we're back at work. So it goes like this, bop, bop, bop.

CraveOnline: You didn't want to do a movie? Just rest?

Ali Larter: You know what? We didn't have enough time off to really get anything going. With films, you need really about two to three months and even if you're doing small parts, they still want to hold you for a certain amount of time and it just didn't work out this year with the show, but small, small price to pay.

CraveOnline: How do you keep your fantastic movie star body?

Ali Larter: Aw, please. You're just being sweet. I'm at the gym. Nothing comes for free.

CraveOnline: You took a few years off before Heroes. Are you different now because of that?

Ali Larter: Absolutely. I feel really lucky that I did take a couple years to live in New York and just step away from the business to define myself without the pressures of this industry. It worked out for me. I'm so lucky in getting Heroes. I wasn’t sure I was going to get anything again so it was a time in my life that was filled with a lot of not insecurity and not indecision but instability maybe you could say within my career.

CraveOnline: Does Hollywood see you differently now that you're back and in Heroes?

Ali Larter: I don't know. You'd have to tell me that. I don't know.

CraveOnline: Where are you going on the Heroes world tour?

Ali Larter: Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

CraveOnline: Have you been there before?

Ali Larter: Yes, yes, yes, and I lived in Tokyo just before I turned 18 and it was amazing, so it will be very interesting to go back.

CraveOnline: Do you speak the language?

Ali Larter: Conichiwa, arigato. That's about it.

CraveOnline: You can learn from Masi.

Ali Larter: Yes, I'm so excited to go with him. Masi, Sendhil, Greg and Tim.

CraveOnline: What does your family think of the show and the character?

Ali Larter: They love the show, they love my character. My sister calls it straight to me. She wants to see certain things but for her, I've been in the business for a while so she's just excited that I'm happy.