NBC’s Heroes, which debuts with a two-hour pilot on September 25, is one of the most talked-about new series of the fall season of 2006. (The show is also available as a free download on iTunes starting September 1.) The Chicago Sun-Times says that “Heroes” is “called for tone, pace, action, character development,” as they compared multiple issues. ensemble sci-fi drama to ABC’s hit “Lost.”
With so many new faces on the show, we’ve compiled brief profiles of each of NBC’s “Heroes”;
Hayden Panettiere (Claire Benet)
Hayden Panettiere, only 17, is a veteran of television and movies. He is best known for his roles in the daytime soaps “Una Live Live and more recently “Directing the Light”, he appeared also in dozens of television shows, over 50 commercials (according to IMDB.com), and several films.
Panettiere’s most recent work includes a human role in the 2005 animated film Acercula and recurring appearances during the Fox hit “Malcolm in the Middle”. In “Heroes,” Hayden plays Claire Bennett, a high school student in Odessa, Texas with a seemingly unbreakable body.
Adriani Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli)
Adriani Pasdar started his career in Hollywood with the role of Chipper in the 1986 mega-hit Top Gun; according to IMDB.com, director Tony Scott was so moved by Pasdar’s audition that he “wrote the part of Chipper for (Pasdar).” In the twenty years since, Pasdar has lived on the fringes of Hollywood, taking roles in TV shows and independent films until 2005 when he guest-starred in both “Judging Amy” and “Museum Women”.
Perhaps best known for the controversial marriage of country star and fellow Dixie Chick, Natalie Maines, Pasdar grew up in Pennsylvania and He attended the University of Florida on a football scholarship before a car accident ended his life. In NBC’s “Heroes,” Pasdar plays Nathan Petrelli, a New York City politician fearful of his brother’s claim to supernatural powers.
Milo Ventimiglia (Petrelli)
Milo Ventimiglia is a seasoned television actor who has been a regular on the long-running “Gilmore-girls” and NBC’s “American Dream.” , in addition to guest appearances on “Boston Public” and “CSI,” in addition to a new role on “Heroes,” he joined the cast of WB’s “Bedford Diaries” in 2006.
Ventimiglia will also star in Rocky Balboa Jr. in Rocky Balboa, the sixth installment of the Rocky series, to be released later this year. Off-screen, Ventimiglia dated “Gilmore Girls” co-star Alexis Bledel for three years before splitting in July, according to People Magazine. In NBC’s “Heroes,” Ventimiglia plays Peter Petrelli, the younger brother of a politician who believes he can fly.
Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh)
One of the newest faces of “Heroes,” Sendhil Ramamurthy lands a recurring lead role on “Heroes,” following successful guest turns on “Numb3rs,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Guiding Light.” A native of Chicago, and the son of an Indian-born doctor, Ramamurthy is married to actress Olga Sosnovska, best known for Lena Kundera’s “All My Children.”
Despite his relative lack of experience, the character of Sendhil will be the center of “Heroes”: a famous geneticist from India who migrates to America to reveal the mysteries of other heroes.
Ali Larter
The latter is undoubtedly the most famous cast member of “Heroes”; a star of several movies including Final Destination, Just Blonde, and Jay and In Strike Back‘s Silent Bob, she’s famous (or infamous) for the cream bikini she plays opposite James Van Der Beek in “Varsity Blues”.
A native of New Jersey, Larter began acting at 13, according to IMDB.com, and after several TV guest spots – including a role in “Just Cast Me” – began his film career. In NBC’s “Heroes,” Larter plays Niki Sanders, a single mom and a stripper from Las Vegas secretly in her mirror.
Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura
Oka is another new face in the “Heroes” ensemble; He began his Hollywood career behind the scenes as a technical assistant on the Star Wars trilogy, as well as Hulk and Terminator 3. A 2001 guest appearance on “Dharma & Greg” brings Masi in front of the camera, and appearances on “Gilmore Girls”, “Yes, Dear” and the most frequent role on NBC’s “Scrubs” soon followed.
Oka was born in Japan but graduated from Brown University before joining the light of George Lucas’ Industrial & Magic (where he worked on the production of his three recent Star Wars films). In NBC’s “Heroes”, Oka plays Hiro Nakamura, a Japanese manager with the sudden ability to change time.
Santiago Cabrera
“Heroes” cast members least skilled, and most interesting, is Santiago Cabrera, who plays Isaac Mendez, heroin-addict New York City is a painter who discovers that he can see the future. Cabrera’s US TV experience was limited to his 2005 role as Octavius in the ABC epic miniseries “Empire”.
Mendez is a world traveler, born in Venezuela and has lived in six countries since his fifteenth birthday. Like co-star Adrian Pasdar, Cabrera was a college athlete – a soccer player in Chile. Cabrera found his true calling in London, becoming an established theater actor while taking small roles in several British television series. Fluent in four languages, Cabrera also stars in Meta! II opposite David Beckham, who will be in the near future.
Gregor Grunberg (Matt Parkman)
Grunberg is an experienced TV actor on set; with regular roles in “NYPD Blue” “Happiness”, and recently-cancelled. From the ABC series “The Others,” Grunberg is a familiar face to regular television viewers. He has also appeared in several national commercials as well as on “The Tonight Show”.
Grunberg nearly “lost” producer J.J. Abrams (eating in the lost pilot); for that reason he does not appear in the “Heroes” pilot. as told by E! Online: “Survival is what I share and this is that if I am in the pilot there is a question. I was not a pilot of happiness, and I was a regular for years. I was not in a pilot. About Alias, I was a regular for years
Grunberg will play Matt Parkman, a beat-up cop who hears new voices that help him save his struggling marriage and career.
