An indestructible high school cheerleader, a woman with superhuman strength and matching alter ego, a man who can walk through walls-these are some of the characters in NBC’s award-winning, science-fiction drama “Heroes.” The show’s second season will feature a new character who also has amazing powers, Elle, played by Kristen Bell. The question is if Elle is friend or foe, as the mysterious new character will make her debut in “Heroes'” upcoming episode on Monday.
Tim Kring, creator and executive producer of “Heroes,” along with Bell, recently discussed the new season as well as Bell’s new character in a conference call. Both Bell and Kring were unwilling to reveal Elle’s power, but did offer some insight and details into the character’s past.
“She has ties to HRG and Claire,” Bell said. “There is going to be an interesting dynamic between her and Claire. I think there is going to be a deeper relationship there than people are expecting.”
Kring also revealed some insight into Bell’s character, saying that she is tied to The Company, mentioned in the first season. Claire’s father is involved in The Company, and Elle has lived with her superpowers her whole life.
“One of the ideas was that Elle’s character is raised inside The Company,” Kring said. “It’s in some ways a cautionary tale of what would happen to any of our characters if they had lived with their powers their whole life, as Elle had.”
Bell, who was the star of the WB’s “Veronica Mars,” will appear in 13 episodes this season. She described her character as a sort of bad girl.
“She’s a little bit messed up in the head, which makes her really manipulative and always out to get what she wants,” Bell said.
Bell said her character differs from the other characters of “Heroes” in that so far, the show has mainly focused on good-natured people dealing with their new abilities.
“Elle is not that way at all,” Bell said. “She enjoys her power and enjoys the emotional power it gives her over other people.”
Bell’s role as Elle is a departure from her role as the title character in “Veronica Mars,” where she played an amateur detective. So far, she has enjoyed it.
“I think the depth they’ve written Elle, this character, is so conflicted and comes across as such a vixen,” Bell said. “It’s so much fun to play with.”
While “Heroes” deals with extraordinary people, Kring said that superhero stories did not inspire the show. Instead, the show was inspired by issues that he believes are on everyone’s mind.
“The world is a very dangerous and complicated place and in need of help-in need of help from all of us who are all ordinary,” Kring said.
After its first season, “Heroes” was nominated for several Emmy awards and won many other awards. Kring believes he knows the secret to the show’s success so far.
“The secret of the show is that it really is about the relationships and about the characters,” Kring said. “We always try to focus our stories and filter through that idea. In our show, things change and morph and become very complicated and different as you watch. One of the hallmarks of the show is that nobody is what they seem to be.”
“Heroes” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
David McNeely can be reached at [email protected].
