Heroes Search for Redemption in Season 4
Battlefield Expands with Addition of Knepper, Park
Sep 21, 2009
Call it irony. Call it coincidence. Or call it appropriate.
In any case, the new season of Heroes – titled Redemption – isn’t just an opportunity for the fictional characters to find a second chance. It’s also an occasion for the cast and crew to atone for two admittedly lackluster seasons.
Masi Oka Says Heroes Season Four is About Risk-Taking
“I think it’s definitely, you know, it’s hard not to ride the highs and the lows of the show,” Masi Oka, who plays Hiro Nakamura, says in a phone interview. “Without a doubt, season one was absolute lightning in the bottle and, you know, we knew we had something absolutely special. And season two and three, it was definitely hard for them to meet the expectations in some senses. But season four … I think there is a sense, you know, we understand our backs might be a little bit against the wall. But, because of that, we’re swinging – creatively swinging for the fences. And we’re taking – there’s so many, like, bold choices and risks that are being made, and a lot of creative freedom in some senses because of that.”
In terms of bold choices, nothing sticks out more than the recent cast additions. The Heroes universe has expanded with the addition of Robert Knepper and Ray Park, two actors widely known for portraying memorable characters in recent years.
Knepper, known for his role as Theodore Bagwell on the Fox thriller Prison Break, has carved out a niche for himself as a loathsome villain. Park, on the other hand, was cast as Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. This past summer, he starred as Snake Eyes in GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
While both actors fall into “the same general category of baddies or bad guys,” Knepper says, he expects fans are “smart enough to realize the difference between one role to the next.”
“You know, a lot of times I get a lot, you know, asked questions, ‘Well how do you feel about being, you know, stereotyped now as a bad guy?’ And I'm like, ‘I don't know, I just prefer being stereotyped as a working actor,’ ” Knepper says.
“So each role is different,” he adds. “This is hopefully different enough from (Prison Break) where people go, ‘Wow, the guy's, you know, once again showing that he can act.’ ”
Samuel Sullivan Gets What He Wants
On Heroes, Knepper plays Samuel Sullivan, a carnival ringleader with the power to move earth.
“I think Samuel … he’s going to get what he wants by being charming and not, you know, beating people over the head,” Knepper says. “I like the fact that we’re kind of going with the opposite of what was on paper, which is again a stereotypical – could be a stereotypical carnival barker. ‘Step right up. Ray walks, he talks, he really, really walks.’ You know, that kind of clichéd, non-human kind of thing.
“We turned him into a kind of a Keith Richards-esque rock and roller kind of guy. So that’s always kind of fun. And then I sort of threw in this sort of Gallic-Celtic-Irish-English-Scottish accent – a mutt all in one. So that, I think, is kind of fun to play.”
Park portrays Samuel’s crony Edgar, a lightning-fast, knife-wielding assailant.
“I was really intrigued with the carnival and where my character could extend or where it could go,” Park says. “And so, a lot of the unknown is very appealing to me, but a little bit frustrating at the same time. Where it’s like, even though we’re working, but it’s still that uncertainty of where it’s going to head, you know, where my character would be going and where (is his) place. And it’s a lot of fun. I mean, Edgar is compassionate, and he’s good at what he does. But he feels the carnival is his family and so, you know, he'll bend over backwards, do anything to protect, and do what’s good for the carnival.”
For Park, the transition back into a sci-fi/action/adventure project was seamless.
“This role is great because it’s – I'm a big fan of the show myself. So, it really sort of transfers – the things I've done in the past – it really is all, you know, transfers over the same sort of fans, that sort of genre,” he says.
While the carnival-goers are bent on having their way with society, the heroes and villains of past seasons are trying to recoup after the climatic battle that ended Volume Four: Fugitives. Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), his mother, Angela (Cristine Rose), and officer Matt Parkman must deal with the fallout from tricking Sylar (Zachary Quinto) into believing he is the deceased Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar). Sylar, conversely, must find a way to reclaim his former existence.
Hayden Penettiere as Claire Bennet
Hiro finds the side effects associated with his regained powers are more serious than he expected, and returns to Japan.
Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), meanwhile, is trying her hand at college – and hoping to lead a “normal” life.
“I’m … in college and dealing with a new best friend and roommate with a very … we have a very interesting relationship together,” Panettiere says. “But she’s really the first person that (Claire has) been able to let in on her secret, and somebody that’s really a confidant. But that’s a very delicate balance that can easily, you know, fall apart.
“And one little misstep and her dad (actor Jack Coleman’s Noah Bennet/H.R.G.) will, you know, bring Rene the Haitian in to wipe their memories and that will be that. And she’s happy that she’s semi caught up to normal life, that normal life that she’s been chasing. But where exactly we’re going to go, I think there’s going to be some manipulation and just some fun stuff. We really don’t know, so that’s why we get so excited to read the scripts every week.”
Heroes returns Monday, September 21, 2009, at 8/7 Central on NBC.
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