It’s a good thing the characters on Heroes have super powers. Otherwise an explosion might actually kill them. We’re happy to see Ali Larter back for a third season, even though Nikki was in an exploding building in the last season finale. Here to not reveal how she survived is the lovely Ali Larter.
Crave Online: Are you hard at work?
Ali Larter: We are in it, yeah. We’ve got three units running but that’s what’s great about our show. You never get bored. We’re not on some procedural thing where we’re just on a stage. We go on locations, we have huge stunts and harnesses. We fly and freak and do all those fun things.
Crave Online: Do you do the stunts yourself?
Ali Larter: I do as many of my own stunts as I can.
Crave Online: Any injuries?
Ali Larter: Luckily, no. I hope you didn’t jinx me. No, I get away with as much as I can and then they bring in people to make me look good.
Crave Online: What stunts have you done so far this year?
Ali Larter: I have flown and I have tossed some things.
Crave Online: How does it feel when they fling someone across the room after you go like this?
Ali Larter: It’s amazing. The whole process, when you do stunts and these big kind of effects shots is amazing to watch. When it’s all cut together, you see the seamless scene. When we’re shooting it, sometimes we’ll start at the end. Sometimes they have to paint out the strings that show how we can fly. It’s really cool though.
Crave Online: We’re very glad you’re back. Were you worried?
Ali Larter: No, I’m not someone by nature who gets worried about those things. Tim Kring has always had a very strong vision for the show. As long as he wants me to be a part of it, I will show up and be there and give the best performance that I can.
Crave Online: Is there any danger it reduces the peril, when you survived an explosion?
Ali Larter: Well, it is part of the show. You never know what you’re going to get. There’s fun in watching one episode or there’s fun in watching a season. I think that is, even though we are serialized, you can also, each show can stand on its own.
Crave Online: How does Villains relate to your character?
Ali Larter: We’re moving into that. I just snuck episode nine out of the makeup trailer and it’s really good, so I’m pretty excited about where things are going. We only know a couple episodes ahead so it’s exciting when I find out little tidbits of it.
Crave Online: What was the long break like?
Ali Larter: Oh my gosh, it reenergized us but I think it was really for our writers. Our crew is one of the hardest working crews in Hollywood. The hours that they pull with the multiple units that we’re running, it’s so difficult. I think that also, the scope of our show, it’s not just a couple characters and a couple love stories. We’re jumping time, there’s special effects, there’s powers, there’s different places. So I think that because our show is so complicated that our writers needed a break so that is maybe the positive side effect of it. I think it was terrible for our industry. I felt horrible for so many people that had to find work in different places but the other end of it is that our scripts are better than ever. There is definitely a renewed spirit, a kind of ferocious energy almost. It’s just intense and it’s fast. Everyone is just very, very deeply involved this year.
Crave Online: Are you close with the cast?
Ali Larter: Definitely. We all are kind of like season oners. Season oners and I love Adrian. I think he is just so incredible and I think, I mean, everyone on the show really stands alone in their work. I feel lucky each time I get to work with them and they raise the bar every time I work with them.
Crave Online: How do you welcome the new cast members to Heroes?
Ali Larter: Hugs and kisses. Welcome aboard. We don’t have a lot of egos on our set. We don’t work like that. Our show we’ve always considered a family and we’re excited for everyone that comes on for a little bit, for a couple of episodes, that leaves. We just don’t think about things as short or long or about the size of a role. We don’t think that way.
Crave Online: Do you ask the writers the long term plans or do you just go from script to script?
Ali Larter: For me, I love control and I love knowing things. Information to me is power and I love it, but in TV you really have to relinquish that. For me that’s definitely one of the biggest struggles, that I never know where my character is going. So I take what they want me to know and I formulate it to the best my ability to deliver a great performance.
Crave Online: Have you gotten good at giving me vague answers so you don’t give anything away?
Ali Larter: So good. So good. I’ve perfected that art since I’ve been on Heroes.
Crave Online: Do you enjoy that?
Ali Larter: No. I’m a straight from the hip girl and so if I could tell you everything I would, but you never really know what you’re supposed to tell and what you’re not. The other end of it is that you’re maybe a fan of the show and you don’t really want to know things. It’s fun to watch the show and be surprised. So there’s something to that also.
Crave Online: How do those harnesses feel when you have to wear one?
Ali Larter: They hurt. Not good. They kind of pinch your skin, but then you know how cool it’s going to look. I love all the things that this job brings to me. I get to work with so many different people. I get to play with so many different characters and I feel lucky that I get to be inspired that I get to work like that.
Crave Online: The Niki/Jessica stuff was fantastic acting stuff for you. Do you have an equivalent sort of situation for you now?
Ali Larter: There is, but I still think that will be for me, that whole season one and that whole storyline, I didn’t know where it was going and it challenged me as an actor. It challenged me emotionally. It challenged me professionally and I feel lucky that I got to do that on TV. A lot of people don’t get those opportunities. Wherever the show goes I think that will always just be – that kind of coins my favorite time.
Crave Online: Have you gotten any more hints about other characters you’ll be interacting with this season?
Ali Larter: I get to see Nathan. That’s very exciting for me because I think that Adrian just grounds the show and I think that when you do let these storylines become so hyper-real that when you work with someone like him it just drops it deep into reality and I think that’s always the line that we have to dance, staying true to what the story is about, but also keeping it real so that when you’re watching it you actually believe that it can be you standing there. It’s a fine line.
Crave Online: Are there any romantic angles for Niki? She’s been involved with a Petrelli brother in the future.
Ali Larter: Possibly, yes. I like a little love story here and there, but I don’t think it’s what our show is built on. So we might dabble in it a little bit, but I don’t think we’ll fall too far from what made us fun the first year. I just worked with Hayden and I’d never worked with her before. So that’s really fun and we’re all kind of sitting on the sofa and hanging out. There’s something nice about the familiarity that you get when you’re on a show for this many years.
Crave Online: But you’ve gotten to know her as a person over the last couple of seasons so what was it like going toe to toe with her?
Ali Larter: We just had the littlest bit, but I have such respect for her as an actress. I think she’s incredible and I hope that we get to work together more. I think that you can fit us both in a scene, you can fit us in there so lets do it.
Crave Online: Who was the first character or actor on television you fell in love with as a kid?
Ali Larter: What I was just watching? Oh. J.R.
Crave Online: You like the bad boys?
Ali Larter: I was up really late. We’ve been shooting late, late. So I got up at two or three in the morning this week and I was just flipping through the channels and Dallas was on. I remember my parents used to watch it. I would be sitting on my dad’s lap on the sofa and they would always watch Dallas. I just remember thinking that he was so cool. Not the cute ones. I like the power boys.
Crave Online: Did you have a chance to do any movies during the break?
Ali Larter: I just finished a movie called Obsessed with Beyonce [Knowles] and this actor named Idris Alba who played Stringer Bell on The Wire. Again, it was an incredibly creative experience. It pushed me emotionally also. It’s kind of in the vein of Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. It’s a thriller.
Crave Online: What’s the worst career advice you ever received?
Ali Larter: The worst career advice. Let me think because I’d like to give you an original answer that. The worst career advice was, "Don’t move back to New York." A lot of people didn’t want me to leave the business for a little bit and for me it’s time and real life that makes you a real actor. You have to have something to say. So I think live your life, that’s what every actor needs to do.
