- Has Season 3 has placated fans, after some were disappointed by Season 2?
We have the advantage of also having volumes, so we have two season finales every year, which is great. But, yes, I agree with you what happens on a show like ours or Lost, you have this incredible amount of discovery and its exciting on the first season. The audience is discovering the show and discovering what the hell is going on, and figuring it all out, and it’s so exciting to see it unfold.
The characters also are discovering their powers and getting into the groove. And then you match that with the success we had we made this big splash coming out. But on Season 2, they tried to match that by coming out of the box where everybody had super powers. It’s not a normal world anymore and that was our biggest problem, I think.
Everybody’s chest was puffed out it was heroes against heroes, good and bad, and it was not as relatable. You were like, ‘Who do I root for here?’ There are certain battle-lines you want drawn. There’s an episode where we were all in the hospital room, and you panned over these characters in Arthur Petrelli’s office and you panned over us in the hospital room, and it was good versus evil. At that moment, you went, ‘I LOVE this!
I know who’s good and bad.’ Sure, people turned and the allegiances were not where you thought they were set. But at the same time, that’s the key to our show. Relatable characters. People in normal situations having to deal with this.
- Who are your favourite characters on Heroes?
People ask me if I had the choice to play any part or have any power well, I wouldn’t trade my power with anybody’s. I just think as an actor, it’s a great role to play. It’s emotional and you’re dealing with the brain and people’s thoughts. There are times when I love Hiro’s character because I love how he blends the comedy and also the ‘heroes’ element.
He has such a fanboy quality to him that I think we all have. As cheesy as he is, you go ‘These are the rules this guy lives by, man!’ If he has to run into a burning house, nothing will stop him. Then I love Milo’s character this guy who is just a nurse and has to live up to this stuff. At its core, I think it’s a family drama and I could find reasons to love every one of these characters.
- Would you want Matt’s power? Do you not see it as a curse?
Totally! It’s the worst I don’t want to know that I look fat in that shirt. You can think it but you don’t say it, and I don’t want to know all those thoughts! It’s a curse in many, many ways. But I love how powerful it is.
If I could have any power in the world, it would be super-metabolism. I would love to eat anything and not gain weight! That would be a great power. I would have an intravenous Guinness with me, everywhere I went! But I wouldn’t want to know what my wife is thinking. It’s a difficult power, yeah.
- How much has you life changed with Heroes? Speaking to Hayden, I know she gets a lot of bother from the paparazzi. Do you get that kind of attention?
I never used to at all. I don’t get them following me. But to give you an example, four days ago, I went to the beach. My son, who is epileptic, was having a tough day, having seizures. So we thought, ‘Let’s go to the beach it’s really calming.’ And sure enough, my wife points and a hundred yards away there’s a guy with a long lens. So I look at him, and I do a pose but he won’t stop. It was so annoying.
It’s just a lack of respect. And the next morning on AOL, it’s ‘Stars at the Beach’ and there’s pictures of me and my family. You can take pictures of me, but my kids? They didn’t ask for this. So it just sucks. I don’t envy Hayden at all.
It comes with the territory. I’m on Twitter and I happily answer things, and I love the connection with the fans. But for anything else, I like to be in control, so it’s difficult.
But again, I don’t get bothered. I’m a boring guy I have a wife and three kids. I’m not like Mr. Controversy, so it’s fine. We were out yesterday, and people were stopping me, asking for autographs, and I love that.
- Heroes must still be very popular in the US?
A: It is. Like everything else, TV is getting beat up, the ratings are dropping, but our show’s doing really well. The DVD we just have a great fanbase and especially on DVD, people love watching the show.
Our show’s like a little mini-movie every week and it doesn’t disappoint. The special effects are up there with anything, so it’s exciting to be a part of that.
- Can you see it going beyond Season 4?
Oh, yeah. I think so. Nothing ever surprises me. It’s a business and our show is not inexpensive to make. But if we continue to get the support all around the world that we’ve got, then it’s just a money-maker for them, and hopefully it will continue.
I can see this going eight years. That’s what I see. But that’s a dream. I’ve been on other shows Felicity was four years and Alias was five years, and I tried a couple of other things that didn’t quite go so long.
But this is one of those I can see going a long time. They have to mix it up and bring in some new characters, but right now there’s so many stories to tell.
- Do you have much contact with fans? Do you go to conventions?
Very occasionally. I’m actually doing Eclipse in Northampton. But as I said, I’m on Twitter I love that connection with the fans. But I don’t really have time to do a bunch of these conventions.
- What’s with your J.J. Abrams’ connection? You’ve mentioned you were on Felicity and Alias. You were also in Mission: Impossible 3 and were offered a role in Star Trek.
That’s true. There’s a movie I co-wrote, produced and starred in called Group Sex and I had the chance to make that, so I couldn’t accept that role of Olsen [in Star Trek]. He’s the red shirt that dives down to the planet with them and he won’t pull his cord, and he dies.
That was the role that J.J. offered me, which would’ve been amazing. J.J. I’ve known him since I was three. He’s my oldest friend.
- You were also the luckless pilot who dies in the pilot episode of Lost.
They’re asking me to come back now, which I really want to do. I love the show. I love Lost so much. So it would be great to go back before the season ends, to show what did happen in the cockpit. That pilot episode was so great J.J. did such a great job with that.
- So what is Group Sex about?
It’s independently financed. It’s very funny. It does not disappoint. We’ve great actors in it. It’s a romantic comedy set in the world of a sexaholic recovery group. You can imagine a guy who gets into this group, because he follows a girl that he just admires and loves, and realises she’s a sexaholic and thinks it’s the greatest thing ever. But it comes with all the consequences and rules. It’s me and Tom Arnold and Henry Winkler really great people.
- Tell me about Band From TV, which you set up. You play with Hugh Laurie, right?
Hugh was on at the very beginning of the band. He’s been so gracious with his time. I put this thing together, because the press attention we can garner, it raises so much money for all the charities we support.
Every penny the band makes goes out. We don’t keep any of it. We have a DVD, called Hogging All The Covers, and it’s all cover songs. Hugh plays with us. He plays with us every time he can. It’s tough as he lives over here. But Jesse Spencer from House is in the band, and Adrian Pasdar from Heroes, Teri Hatcher and James Denton from Desperate Housewives.
- And you play the drums?
Yeah! I’m the heartbeat of the band, baby! We play at big corporate events and for charity events. We’ve raised almost $2 million in the last three years. It’s been a great labour of love.
Selfishly, we get to pretend to be rock stars but at the same time we’re doing a lot of good. We each have charities Hugh’s is Save The Children. Mine is for epilepsy. So we each have a charity we’re really passionate about.
Heroes Season 3 is out on DVD & Blu Ray from 12th October.
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