The “Veronica Mars” alum—who’ll make her debut as the mysterious Elle on Monday, Oct. 22 at 9 p.m./8c on NBC—gave us a little inside scoop about her vixen of a character, her hero connections and her dream face-off with bad guy Sylar.
So how did you end up actually being on the show?
I 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 hope that one day I could be a part of it. It was the ultimate flattery when they said they might have something for me to do.
Was it hard to jump in to such an already established cult show? Or were you welcomed with open arms?
There was anxiety and nerves certainly, but nothing about it has been hard. Every time you join a different show, it kind of feels like you’re changing schools. Like, is everyone going to like me? Is this going to be fun? Am I going to do well? The warmth that I was greeted with…it felt like I was starting a school that all my friends already went to.
So what’s it been like playing this new super-mysterious character?
Oh, it’s been so much fun. I’ve been crossing my fingers I’d get a job where I could play someone who was a little off or, perhaps, didn’t have the brightest and shiniest intentions. The depth at which they’ve written Elle—she’s so conflicted and comes across as such a vixen—it's so much fun to play with.
And what is Elle’s power?
I can’t reveal her secret powers…but it’s a very cool power.
From what we hear, your character will be seen with Peter Petrelli first—do you have a connection to him?
I have a lot of information about Peter’s past.
OK…does Elle have ties to anyone else?
She has ties to HRG and to Claire. There’s going to be a very interesting dynamic between her and Claire, a deeper relationship than people are expecting. They’re going to see some parallels. And she also has ties, a little bit, to Suresh.
Very cool—so tell us more about this vixen business.
She’s a little messed up in the head, which makes her really manipulative and always out to get what she wants. She doesn’t have many boundaries, which I think is the really interesting part. The whole first season has been about these fairly good-natured people trying to embrace these confusing abilities. And Elle is not that way at all. She very much enjoys her power and enjoys the emotional power it gives her over other people.
The other actors on the show always say they don’t know much until it happens, but you sound like you know quite a bit about what’s going on…
I was a little lucky—and I’m giddy when I say it—that when I was picked for the character, Tim [Kring] let a few cats out of the bag. Unfortunately, all the other cast members were trying to get it out of me. I think I did a pretty good job of just smiling through it, knowing that I was lucky enough to have been told where my character was going, or at least her first arch.
So you’re not accepting bribes?
Oh, I didn’t say that. [Laughs]
How many episodes have you signed on for?
Right now, I’m signed on for 13. I’ll be one of the ones who keeps my fingers crossed that I don’t get killed.
So anything in particular that you’re super excited about? An episode with really good Elle stuff?
Oh wow—yes! Unfortunately it might be a little bit of a tease because I start in episode 5, and then I’m not in 6 or 7, which I guess is sort of part of the mystery. At least, that’s what I’m saying. Episodes 8 and 9 have a lot of Elle. A few of the storylines completely revolve around her.
Are fans going to love or hate her?
I think she’ll go back and forth in that area. I think they will love to hate her initially, when they’re confused about her intentions. But I think the more you find out about her—like she was raised by the company and not by a normal family—the more you’ll sympathize with her.
Which hero do you most want to square off with?
Zachary Quinto. He’s been a good friend of mine for almost 10 years now and [Sylar is] pretty much the coolest thing because he’s so unpredictable and downright evil. It’s the polar opposite of Zach’s personality—he’s the kindest, gentlest, most giving person. But I’d love to see [Sylar] and Elle face off one day. That would be unbelievable.
And if you could pick any power to have, what would it be?
Multiplicity. It’d be great to be able to cook myself dinner. Then I’d just be like, “Hey clean that up!” If there were more of me, I could get so much more done. I’d be so much happier.
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