Nichelle Nichols (Nana) and Dana Davis (Monica Dawson) sat down last week and had conference call with various media and press. Here are a few highlights from this Q and A session.

Q: Many of the characters on Heroes, they accept their powers begrudgingly, like they’re cursed instead of blessed. Monica seems to enjoy her powers so far. I think that’s kind of refreshing. What do you think about that? And also, if you were in a position like that in your real life, are you the type of person who would view it as a blessing or as a curse?

NN: I don’t think anything God given is a curse. It’s a matter of how we, but some things that happen to us that we, powers if you have, it’s startling when you discover you have it and it’s a little disconcerting when you realize that you’re different from other people or other people view you as differently. But I think that Monica did a wonderful job in being amazed by hers...

DD: Yea absolutely. I think in the beginning the producer sat down with me and they said just what you said, they said Dana, all the heroes, you know, most of the heroes on the show are burdened by their powers and we want to bring, you know, back the excitement of like when Masi in the beginning was so, you know, yatta! and so excited about his powers they wanted to bring that back ... a little bit with Monica and so it is refreshing, it’s fun because I’ve done a lot of drama in my career and I’ve played a lot of burdened sad characters, so it’s, it’s fun for me to play Monica.

Q: Heroes has a rather interesting way of working in that they’re shooting sometimes three episodes at once, meaning that you can work with three different directors in one day. How is that for you?

DD: When I first came into the show, I started on Episode 4 on like a Tuesday. And then Wednesday I was on Episode 5. Thursday I was back on Episode 4. It was crazy. I’d never done that before and really it’s very, very stressful for the actor. But you kind of get used to it. Like right now we’re on Episode 11 and I’ve gotten used to it. At first it was really hard, but now I kind of enjoy it. It’s fun. There’s never a dull moment on the set.

NN: I can attest to that. And I’m really delighted to hear that Dana did have that difficulty because when I first came in and we were shooting one scene. And then it’s four months earlier and I’m not sure what took place and where. And I’m one, you know - I immediately ask questions. And I think they thought I knew more than I did about the series, and I should be adjusting. But it was very stressful. I learned to adjust - make that adjustment and now it’s fun.

Continue reading "Conference Call with Nichelle Nichols and Dana Davis" »

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Here is a continuation of questions answered last week during a conference call with Tim Kring and Kristen Bell. All the Kristen Bell/Elle questions were covered in Part 1.

WARNING some spoilers follow.

Q: A question regarding the photo of the 12. Will we be seeing more of the five that we aren’t aware of yet? Have we already met some of them? And will you be using the same actors from the photograph for those roles if they show up? Can you confirm whether or not Joanna Cassidy was one of the actors that was standing there?

TK: Yes on almost all of those accounts. We will be seeing the people who - in the photo. I think all of them will be playing - will be the same one which I just have to tell you, the photo has got a life of its own. Because logistically it was so difficult to actually come up with this photograph that’s used now and refers to things that are shot well in the future here, it was very difficult to get that all lined up. But yes, the photo is as accurate as we can make it. And it did look an awful lot like Joanna Cassidy in there.

Q: The storyline about Micah’s new family unit focused more on him and Monica than on Nichelle Nichol’s character. Does she get more play as the story progresses? And has the cast now become jaded to meeting StarTrek cast members?

TK: Nichelle Nichol’s character will be in the sort of support of Dana Davis character for a while. But I think we can look for around mid-season for that character to start to emerge in its own right.

As for the jaded to the StarTrek, you know, it’s not really our intention to bring characters on from that show. It in a strange way has been an odd coincidence. The best people who walked in to read for both the character of Kaito Nakamura and for the character of Monica’s grandmother just happened to be former cast members of that show. And it’s been a lot of fun for a certain segment of the audience to see that.

Q: A question on the reconstruction that you’ve done with Matt Parkman’s character, especially with the change now and his family dynamic and his wife --will she ever come back into the story?

TK: We will see the wife again shortly. But there is clearly a mystery as of now -- there won’t be in the next couple episodes -- to what happened in these intervening four months of the end of the season, season one to the beginning of season two.

But clearly he went from a man who was - who’s wife was pregnant and expecting a baby to - and living in LA to a man who’s living in New York and no longer with his wife. So something happened in those - that intervening time. And we will find out about it. But yes, we will see the wife again.

Q: At what point in the season can we expect the foray to Canada that you’ve spoken of before?

TK: The show takes that turn in I think two episodes from now.

Continue reading "Conference Call with Tim Kring! (Part 2)" »

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I recently had the chance to participate in a teleconference interview with Kristen Bell and Tim Kring. Here are some questions and answers from Kristen and Tim on her addition to the cast of Heroes and some information on the character she plays.

Q: How did it work out that you’re doing this wonderful show to begin with? Did you reach out to Tim Kring? Did the show reach out to you?

KB: I think it was - I’ve certainly put feelers out there during Comic-Con and let them know what a fan I was of the show I think with the secret hopes that one day I could be a part of it. It was ultimate flattery when they (came forward) and said we might have something for you to do.

Q: Was the character of Elle written with Kristen Bell in mind, or did you create the character and then go, you know who’d be good for this...?

TK: The character was created before we cast Kristen. And we had been talking about the character for a while and thinking about the character for a while.

But when you do cast an actor, especially one that you’re familiar with their work and has as much personality as Kristen has, you try to tailor the character a little closer to who the actor is. So it’s hard to know when one starts to influence the other.

Q: Was it difficult or maybe intimidating for you to join a cast that had already been working together since the show’s beginning and kind of had already gelled and kind of had their dynamic? Was that hard to jump into that and be a part of it?

KB: There was anxiety and nerves certainly, but nothing about it has been hard. They are some of the nicest people I’ve really ever worked with.

Q: Has it been fun playing this new mysterious character?

KB: Oh it’s been so much fun. I have been, I think crossing my fingers in hopes that I’d get a job soon where I could play someone who was as Tim likes to call it, a little off or perhaps didn’t have the brightest and shiniest of intentions.

And I think the depth at which they’ve written Elle, this character, she’s so conflicted and sort of comes across as such as vixen, it’s so much fun to play with.

Q: Do you have any idea how many episodes will be on this season?

KB: Right now I think that I am signed on for 13 which, you know, certainly to the discretion as how it fits into the major plot lines they could use me or I could just sit on the sidelines.

Q: Can you tell us is - do you have any connection to Peter Petrelli and whether or not your character works for the company on the show?

KB: I have a lot of information about Peter’s past.

TK: We introduced the character and she is looking for Peter Petrelli. And I think one can assume that she finds him.

**** WARNING: Spoilers below! ****

Continue reading "Conference Call with Kristen Bell and Tim Kring!" »

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Greg Beeman is an Executive Producer and Director for Heroes. He was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions I had regarding his job, his blog, and the upcoming Heroes season.

9thWonders: According to your biography, you are one of several executive producers as well as a director for Heroes. What's it like "wearing two hats"? Can you tell me a little bit about your role as a producer? What does it entail, or what are you responsible for?

GB: Wearing two hats is great, because, usually just when directing gets overwhelming I can transition into producing and visa versa. Sometimes it's hard though when I have to "pull the plug" on myself when I'm irresponsibly going into overtime.

The rest of my job I consider to be overall quality control of the show. I bounce around between every department and aspect of the show, using my instincts to guide me, and try to influence it for the better.

There's a lot of us doing this and we each have different interests and specialties - but luckily HEROES is a big show and there's enough for us all to do.

9thWonders: I know you guys started filming the second season sometime in mid-June. What's your summer been like? What have you been doing the last little while?

GB: I had only a week or two off. Season 1 posted until May and by then we were already well into booking directors, hiring new crew and scheduling Season 2. it's cool tho' because I love my job.

Continue reading "Interview with Greg Beeman" »

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In a continuation of last week's post, here are more questions answered by Hayden Panettiere.

A word of warning that the following questions and answers may be considered "spoilery" to some.

Fred Topel, Crave Online: Jack Coleman told me that HRG is sort of back up to his old tricks in Season 2. How do you feel about that dynamic coming back?

HP: Well, I think we all have proven that in this show, we all have our dirty little secrets.

Him going back, you know -- I think him becoming the house dad, you know, wouldn’t be very exciting. The good dad, you know, people like watching good bad people and you sometimes want to hate Jack’s character and you sometimes, you know, love him. And it’s kind of a toss-up, depending on what side you're on.

But how do I feel about that? I think it’s exciting. I think it’s exciting for him. I'm not sure if that’s exactly what’s going to happen, but, you know, as I said, everyone always has their dirty little secrets. But I'm excited to see what happens with everyone.

I wish I could turn bad. I’d turn bad in a second. I’d be like, “Yeah.” I’d be the villain.

Continue reading "Press teleconference with Hayden Panettiere, Part 2 (Spoilers)" »

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NBC held a phone conference with Hayden Panettiere last week, and our very own bozinka was there to ask a question!

Here is her question along with several questions Hayden answered from other journalists.

9th Wonders: You, at the beginning of the call, confirmed that you're going to be going to Europe for the Heroes World Tour? Can you confirm possibly like who might be going with you, and what are you most looking forward to about the world tour?

HP: It’s me, Milo, Jack, and Adrian. And - and what am I looking forward to? Getting out of this country. I’m so serious. At least out of California.

I'm - you know, I’ll be 18. I think it’ll be exciting, it’ll be fun -- you know, just to get away and be with my cast members, it’s going to be so much fun. I can't even imagine.

You know, just seeing those beautiful countries and just being able to be there and, you know, staying at the top hotels in Paris and London and Munich. I mean, what more could you ask for, honestly?

But I'm excited to be with my cast mates. I'm excited to have time with them like that. We haven’t really spent that kind of time together. You know, we see each other all the time and we do spend a ton of time together, but not days consecutively. We’ll see who’s mad at each other by the end of the trip -- how many fights there have been, how many people are cranky.

On Heroes Fans:

Bill Harris, Toronto Sun: As you listen to everybody dissecting everything about the show and about your character, is there any part of you -- even though I’m sure NBC loves the attention for the show -- for you personally, do you go in the back of your mind, "For the love of God people, get a life?"

HP: I’m sure it’s crossed my mind. But I think it’s very cool that they like it. And I think it’s because of the fact they like it so much that -- you know, it’s almost – it’s pat on our back, you know, every time that they say something about it and love it. It’s, you know, it’s -- besides from, like, award shows, you know, we’re behind the camera, you know, we’re the ones filming it in the studio and you don’t, you know, it doesn’t always click to you that 15 million people are watching the show. And so you see them and you hear from them.

So, it’s cool to hear from them. You know, it’s definitely our kudos and our pat on the back.

Continue reading "Press teleconference with Hayden Panettiere" »

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9th Wonders: Comicraft is credited with the lettering in all of the online graphic novels over at NBC.com. Is that Comicraft credit basically you?

JG: Yes, I've lettered all the Heroes comics so far, with the help of fonts we created based on (of all people!) Tim Sale's pen and brush lettering.

9th Wonders: Is there a favourite story out of all the "novels" you've lettered?

JG: I've really liked the latest batch, written by the Man of Action Studios guys. I think they've taken the stories to new levels. I got chills during parts of "It Takes a Village".

Continue reading "A chat with John 'JG' Roshell -- Part 3" »

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Here is part 2 of my interview with John 'JG' Roshell.

9th Wonders: How and when did you become involved with 9thWonders.com (and the design of the 'prop' comics)?

JG: Ah, good story!

Comicraft has lettered all the comics Jeph Loeb writes for many years, and we have a great working relationship with him. Completely outside of work, Jesse Alexander's family and mine are friends. Since he and I are both big geeks, we've always thought what the other does for a living is immensely cool. So when the subject of comic book design for Heroes came up, Jeph and Jesse both insisted that I do it.

Continue reading "A chat with John 'JG' Roshell -- Part 2" »

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I seems appropriate that I post my first entry just in time the San Diego Comic-Con. I chatted with John 'JG' Roshell earlier this week. We talked about Comic-Con, 9thWonders.com, and the online graphic novels. Here is part one of the interview.

9th Wonders: First of all, thank you for taking time out of your crazy schedule to chat with me.

JG: Absolutely! Thanks for asking. It's funny, in comics, the letterer/designer is way, way down the interview food chain list, but this Heroes thing has suddenly made a whole different realm of people interested in what I do.

9th Wonders: You mentioned you're a letterer/designer. What's your official job title, and where do you work?

JG: I started working at Comicraft before it was Comicraft -- just Richard Starkings and I lettering in his apartment -- in 1992, right out of college. I now work from home in Santa Barbara, CA. We're too small of a company to have any "official" titles, but I've become known as "The Secret Weapon" because I kind of do everything -- lettering, logos, websites, book collections and (my favorite) font creation.

Continue reading "A chat with John 'JG' Roshell" »

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Movie watchers have been familiar with Ali Larter for nearly ten years. She made her movie debut in Varsity Blues which led her into memorable roles in Legally Blonde and the first two Final Destination fans. To the legions of Kevin Smith fans, she was seen as a fast-food-eating jewel thief in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Ali recently completed work on the movie sequel Resident Evil 3 playing Claire Redfield, a new addition to the film series who appeared in one of the earlier video game installments.

Now she makes her TV series debut in Heroes, where she plays a single mother named Niki Sanders who must deal with the hardships in her life, all while being haunted by the face in the mirror.

If the pilot episode is any indication, this first journey into television is a great one, as Niki is one of the most fascinating characters in the ensemble. Ali was kind enough to provide 9thwonders.com with an interview, which you can read here.

Continue reading "Ali Larter Interviewed by Craig Byrne" »

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Before he was a Wizard Top Ten comic book writer, and before joining the talented group of creative people behind Heroes, Jeph Loeb wrote several hit movies in the 1980s. A script for a Flash feature film that never surfaced led him to a choice meeting with Jeanette Kahn, then the publisher of DC Comics, who proposed to Loeb that he should write a comic book for DC. That comic book was Challengers of the Unknown.

Challengers, with artist Tim Sale, propelled Loeb into the comicsphere, and he, with Sale, continued their collaboration with the Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special. The popularity of the Halloween Special led to some award-winning mini-series and other team-ups between Loeb and Sale included the popular Superman For All Seasons, Catwoman: When In Rome, Spider-Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow, and Hulk: Gray.

Traveling between Marvel and DC throughout his career faster than Hiro bounces between continents, Loeb's comic book career included runs on Cable, X-Force, Captain America, X-Man, and Superman, and then finally, Loeb was the writer of a popular Batman story arc drawn by superstar artist Jim Lee and the best-selling Superman/Batman comic book series.

Loeb's runs on Superman/Batman and Supergirl recently ended as he has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics, where, among other things, he will soon be bringing us The Ultimates 3 and 4 and a special Heroes Reborn/Onslaught anniversary event. A very big, top-secret comic book project from Marvel is said to be on the horizon.

In between all of this writing in the world of four-color, Loeb continued to have his hand in screenwriting and production, including a 1994 TV-movie called Model By Day which, if anything, gave us our first chance to see Famke Janssen as a superheroine. He was also a supervising producer and writer for a children's series titled Seven Little Monsters. In 2002, Loeb joined the staff of The WB's Smallville where he wrote some of the show's most memorable episodes, giving us Clark Kent's first exposure to red Kryptonite, his first leap of a tall building in a single bound, and an episode that sadly became the final acting appearance of Christopher Reeve. Loeb was also one of the architects and executive producers of the sadly aborted Buffy the Vampire Slayer animated series, working directly with creator and friend Joss Whedon.

After Smallville, Jeph moved on to become a supervising producer on the popular genre hit Lost, working with creator Damon Lindelof and crew to expand and explore the mysteries of that show's second season. After a meeting with Heroes creator Tim Kring, Loeb knew immediately that he wanted to be involved with this new project. The interview follows.

Continue reading "Jeph Loeb Interviewed by Craig Byrne" »

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Greg Beeman directed and produced many of the most memorable episodes of Smallville in the past five years, including some big season premieres and finales and the "Rosetta" episode guest starring Christopher Reeve. Very well known and liked by the actors who work with him, Beeman is not only a talented director, but an entertaining coworker with a keen sense of humor.

Last season, Beeman took a trip to Miami to film the pilot episode for an Aquaman TV series for The CW that was not picked up by the network. Though Beeman's adventures with a second super-powered hero didn't work out, he soon found himself face-to-face with a new challenge involving several super-powered Heroes—and he is now signed with the show as one of its primary directors and co-executive producers.

Beeman's interview with 9thWonders. com follows below.

Continue reading "Greg Beeman Interviewed by Craig Byrne" »

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DAMON LINDELOF - Okay, Tim -- Brace yourself for everyone and their mother to start asking you "Do you know where you're going with this?" and the ever-loved follow-up "Does HEROES have an ending?"
Two parts...
a. Do you know the ending?
b. But more importantly... does HEROES need an ending?

TIM KRING - "Do you know where you're going?" and "Do you know the ending?" are two very different questions. I know where we're going in great detail for the first half of one season. We have a real sense of where we want these stories to be by the end of season one. We have a broad sense of where we'll go in season two. I have some ideas about farther down the road, but I'm pretty superstitious about that.

Continue reading "Tim Kring Interviewed by Damon Lindelof" »

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You may have first noticed Jesse Alexander's name in the executive producer credits for ABC's popular spy drama Alias. Now, this Santa Barbara native who got his start making Super-8 movies with his Star Wars figures has graduated from the depths of SD-6 and APO and has moved into the world of Heroes.

A self-admitted "fan boy from way back," Alexander took the film school route before ending up in Los Angeles, where he struggled to sell his spec scripts. This journey landed him at Dark Horse Entertainment, where he did his first professional writing job creating a new opening sequence for Barb Wire starring Pamela Anderson.

Alexander then wrote a ton of features, several of which didn't get made (such as Flash Gordon and a modern day Jason and the Argonauts) and some that did (like Eight Legged Freaks). Eventually Jesse Alexander's childhood buddy - a fellow by the name of JJ Abrams - asked for his assistance on a pilot he was writing for a show about a co-ed by day, spy by night hero named Sydney Bristow. This adventure lasted for five years. JJ also enlisted Alexander's help with a crazy idea about a bunch of people who plane crash on an island -- a show you all know as Lost.

Now, Jesse Alexander moves his creative talent and experience in working on mythology-based hour-long dramas to Heroes. He's been kind enough to provide 9thWonders.com with one of our first interviews, which you can read below. Enjoy!

Continue reading "Jesse Alexander Interviewed by Craig Byrne" »

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