Trivia / Heroes

• Ability over Appearance:
  • Mohinder Suresh was originally written for a 55-year-old, but Sendhil Ramamurthy's audition tape and screen test were convincing enough for writers to rewrite the part.
  • Niki was originally written to be a showgirl. However, Ali Larter did not fit their original vision of a showgirl, so the character's profession was changed to internet stripper.
  • Simone Deveaux was originally a bohemian white woman. The character was changed when Tawny Cypress got that role instead of Niki.
• Actor Leaves, Character Dies: When David Anders left to film Children of the Corn, Adam Monroe was quickly killed off to make way for a new villain. They brought him back for Hiro's dream trial a year and a half later when Anders was available.
• Actor-Shared Background:
  • Micah is a child prodigy and talented pianist, just like Noah Gray-Cabey, who was accepted into Harvard at 15.
  • Hiro and Masi Oka were both raised by single parents (Hiro by his father, Oka by his mother), and at the beginning of the series, Oka held a job as a programmer at Industrial Light & Magic, while Hiro was a Level 3 programmer in his father's company. As of Heroes Reborn, Hiro has become head of the company and trapped in a video game; Oka is head of a company that makes video games.
• Billing Displacement: Averted. Not only are the main cast members always billed in strictly alphabetical order, Heroes (along with Charmed and Eastwick) is one of the few non-soaps to credit just the actors who appear in each episode, instead of running a standard cast list.
• Cast Incest: Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet) and Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) dated while playing an onscreen uncle and niece.
• Cast the Runner-Up:
  • James Kyson Lee originally auditioned for the role of Hiro Nakamura, but instead got the role of Hiro's sidekick Ando.
  • Greg Grunberg originally auditioned for the part of Peter Petrelli. The role of Matt Parkman was written for him after Tim Kring's wife pointed out that the show had no everyman character.
  • Tawny Cypress (Simone) originally auditioned for the role of Niki.
  • Christopher Eccleston was originally offered the role of Sylar, but declined, as he didn't want to be typecast in Evil Brit roles. He accepted the role of Claude.
  • Jimmy Jean-Louis auditioned three times for the role of D.L. Hawkins before being cast as the Haitian.
• Character Blog: Several characters had online blogs of some kind or another, including, not surprisingly, the geeky Hiro Nakamura and the hacker Hana Gitelman.
  • Several had MySpace pages as well, including Zach. The listing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Birdcage as favorite movies fueled speculation that the character was gay.
• Contractual Immortality: Subverted. Niki Sanders was Killed Off for Real, with Ali Larter staying on the show thanks to the reveal that she was one of three clones. Also, Nathan Petrelli was really killed and had his place taken by an amnesiac, permanently transformed Sylar.
• Creator Backlash:
  • In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tim Kring commented on criticisms of season two, and the series' 15% decline in ratings. Kring said that he felt he had made mistakes with the direction of season two. He had thought that the audience was looking for a "build-up of characters and the discovery of their powers", when viewers were instead looking for "adrenaline." Kring also outlined what he felt were problems with plot development, stating that season two "took too long to get to the big-picture story", explaining that Peter's vision of the viral armageddon should have occurred in the first episode instead of the seventh. He feels that it would have been better to introduce new characters within the context of the main storyline, as with Elle, rather than in unattached arcs such as that of Maya and Alejandro. Kring also admitted that he should have resolved the "Hiro in Japan" storyline much more quickly, and that the romantic stories were not working well. With regard to Claire and West, and Hiro and Yaeko, he said, "I've seen more convincing romances on TV. In retrospect, I don't think romance is a natural fit for us."
  • Christopher Eccleston wrote in his memoir that he didn't care for his time on the series:
  I received decent reviews for Heroes, but basically all I was doing was repeating the performance I'd given in Britain in America with a beard. The show's producers were never going to let me carry an episode, which is what I wanted and what I was used to. Similarly, I didn't love the writing of Heroes. I didn't feel like I was making the standard of television I was back home. I also knew that eventually they would turn my character into a rogue. In the end, that combination of doubts meant that I just couldn't go back. They kept asking me to return and I kept saying no, which really puzzled them, but the message I was putting out was that I needed better material.
  • During the WGA Writers Strike in 2023, Greg Grunberg expressed his dissatisfaction with Season 2 due to the previous writers' strike that affected this series' production.
• Creator Couple: Matthew John Armstrong (Ted Sprague) and Ashley Crow (Sandra Bennet) are married in real life. In one episode, Ted threatens to kill Sandra. In the episode commentary, Matthew observes, "Yeah, our kids aren't gonna be allowed to watch this one."
• Creator's Pest: Simone Deveaux was killed off towards the end of Volume One because the writers ran out of ideas for the character.
• The Danza:
  • In the Japanese dub, Kimiko Nakamura is voiced by voice actress Saemi Nakamura.
  • Eric Roberts as Eric Thompson Sr.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Deanne Bray is TV's best known deaf/speaking actress so when the character of Emma was created, she was cast.
• Executive Veto: The writers were also originally going to have a gay character in the original script for season 1 but the executives said no so in retaliation the writers filled the script to the brim with Subtext for all of them...
• Fake American: The Chilean-English Santiago Cabrera as Isaac Mendez.
• Fake Brit: Adam may be British, but David Anders is American.
  • Young Linderman is played by an American actor. It's very obvious.
• Fake Nationality:
  • James Kyson is Korean-American, and doesn't speak any Japanese. He had to rely on Masi Oka and a dialect coach to help him speak the language correctly.
  • Samuel and Ricky are played by Americans Robert Knepper and Holt McCallany. Will and Caitlin are played by Brits Dominic Keating and Katie Carr.
  • While Mohinder is from India, Sendhil Ramamurthy was born in Chicago and grew up in Texas. Lampshaded by Ando who says (of white people, though): "They all look alike."
• Fandom Life Cycle: The first season created a huge fanbase. But then season 2, with its quality decay caused by the writer's strike, ensured Heroes would never rise to the mainstream recognition of The X-Files or Lost. While fandoms usually cool down and become a cult after a show ends, Heroes arguably got there during the final season.
• Fandom Nod: Sylar explains that he, in fact, does NOT eat brains.
  • Also in one GN when meeting a trio of evolved humans who think of him as an inspiration, Sylar notes with some surprise "I have... fans!?" most likely a nod to the Sylar fandom.
• Follow the Leader: The series aired right on the heels of Lost with it's large ensemble cast, international feel, ongoing story arcs, mythical world-building, etc.
• Franchise Killer: Season 4/Volume 5 ended up being the final season, despite leaving a Cliffhanger. Opinion is divided over whether or not it was due to Volume 5 itself, or just karma from arguably inferior previous seasons catching up. Actually, not only was the show cancelled, but they also ended up abruptly ending the graphic novels, and original plans for an end-of-series movie was also scrapped as well. It would be another five years until Heroes Reborn would appear. However, after Reborn's poor showing, it's unlikely that any future television projects would appear.
• Gay Panic: The first season had some issues with this regarding Claire's friend Zack, who dropped heavy hints that he has reason to empathize with Claire's "freakishness," and was apparently supposed to come out...at least, until someone (it's uncertain whom) tried to shout that development down, as the actor was up for the part of John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Nothing ever came of Zack's sexuality, and the fact that the actor has now played a bisexual in a Gregg Araki movie is one of life's little ironies. Perhaps even more ironically (or just fitting) actor Thomas Decker later came out as gay.
• Hostility on the Set: Leonard Roberts hoped that the role of D. L. Hawkins would be his Star-Making Role, but instead, it "nearly broke him." Much of it came down to friction with his co-star Ali Larter, who played his character's wife Niki Sanders, and the indifference shown to it by Show Runner Tim Kring. D. L. and Niki were portrayed as being in a fraught relationship, and this was reflected in Roberts and Larter's interactions, with Larter often dismissing and belittling Roberts and feeling uncomfortable shooting intimate scenes with him. The fact that Larter was white and Roberts was Black also added a racial dimension to their hostility, especially since she had no such reservations about shooting a similar, more explicit scene where she seduces her white co-star Adrian Pasdar. Other people who had worked on the series reported that Larter was a divisive presence in general, and got along poorly with several people on set. During production, TV Guide published a blind item reporting hostility between two unnamed opposite-sex co-stars to the point where their scenes together had been cut down, and Roberts not only confirmed that it was about him and Larter, he mentions bringing it up with producer Dennis Hammer, who simply assured him that they were taking care of it. When Roberts learned that two other non-white characters, Isaac and Simone, were due to be killed off, he started getting nervous about the fate of D. L., culminating in him being pulled into Kring's office with Hammer before the start of production on season 2. There, he was told plainly that the "Ali Larter situation" had led to D. L. being killed off between seasons. The stress of his experience working on Heroes dealt a serious blow to his career; only in 2017 did he land another major role, as Ray Stabler on Mom.
• I Knew It!: Rebel's identity... if you weren't betting on it being Hana (though she died in the comics).
• Looping Lines: Per the DVD Commentary, Sendhil Ramamurthy did this for at least one scene where his "accent went completely American", despite the fact Mohinder is supposed to sound English.
  • Also used to fix a line for the DVD release where, originally, in "Five Years Gone", as broadcast, Matt referred to the Haitian as "Jim", apparently because the actor's name is Jimmy Jean-Louis. Oops.
• One-Take Wonder: According to Leonard Roberts, D.L.'s death scene was done in one take.
• The Other Darrin: A different actor initially portrayed Chandra Suresh for photos, one of which made it into a recap sequence as aired. The actor portraying him in the old Suresh family photo that appears in Volume 1 is also different from the actor who portrays him (about ten years before the photo was taken) in the Coyote Sands flashback in Volume 4.
  • Sylar was initially voiced by Maurice LaMarche and depicted by an extra in a baseball cap and high-collared jacket.
• Promoted Fangirl: Kristen Bell was a fan of the series and had met up with the writers that informed her they would love to have her on the show. While the character of Elle was created before Bell was cast, following her casting, the character was slightly altered to better resemble her.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: There hints in Volume One that Zach is gay. Thomas Dekker came out in 2017.
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle:
  • Peter's shaggy bangs were a result of Milo Ventimiglia filming his last Gilmore Girls appearance, Rocky Balboa, and the pilot within a short time of each other, thus having no time to get a haircut in between. He hated having the long hair so much that the show wrote in Sylar cutting off a lock of Peter's hair as a reference to his hatred. After the first season finished shooting, he buzzed it all off and kept it fairly short until the final season. Elle giving him a haircut in Season 2 was written in because of it and he had to wear a wig in the flashbacks.
  • During most of the third season, Hayden Panettiere had to wear a wig because she cut her hair short in real life.
• Recycled Set: When the plot called for a visit to Las Vegas, they opted to simply use the standing sets from NBC's Las Vegas, resulting in the Montecito being the casino.
• Spared by the Cut: The writers were originally going to have an "Everybody Dies" Ending at the end of season 1 and have a rotating cast each season. They didn't anticipate the characters becoming popular and developing a fanbase or Executive Meddling and it became increasingly difficult to properly use the Super Power Lottery winners like Peter and Hiro again.
• Scully Box: Hayden Panettiere and Kristen Bell are very petite women, only coming up to 5'1" at best. They either needed the Scully boxes or wore heels in order to fit into scenes against Zachary Quinto (6'1) and Jack Coleman (6'2").
• Separated-at-Birth Casting:
  • Adrian Pasdar auditioned to play Milo Ventimiglia's father in a proposed Gilmore Girls spin-off. The casting director at the time made the comment that Adrian could pass for Milo's brother because of their strong resemblance.
  • Hayden Panettiere looks close enough her onscreen birth parents Adrian Pasdar and Jessalyn Gelsig she's wholly believable as their child.
• Star-Making Role: For most of the cast, really.
  • While Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia, Greg Grunberg, and Adrian Pasdar weren't exactly unknown before (Grunberg with a long-running role on Felicity and Pasdar as the lead in the short-lived Profit), but the show definitely increased their acting profiles. Santiago Cabrera's and Sendhil Ramamurthy's UK profiles also were boosted by the show, as most of their post-Heroes jobs have been UK productions.
  • This show is essentially the reason you know who Zachary Quinto is. He's said that the show is how he got his even bigger role as Spock in the Star Trek reboot films.
  • Masi Oka often gives nods to the series, either in his new roles or simply in interviews or commercials for Mobius Digital's games. While he'd had recurrent roles before, Hiro was the character who stuck in everyone's minds and made him recognizable.
• Throw It In!: Christopher Eccleston ad-libbed his character being named after Claude Rains.
• Underage Casting: Cristine Rose, who plays Angela Petrelli, is only 14 years older than Adrian Pasdar. Mohinder's mother is played by Sakina Jaffrey, who's only older than Sendhil Ramamurthy by 12 years.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The obvious example is how volume 2 was cut short, with plot threads clearly related to the main story ending up going nowhere. A bigger example would be the entire style of the series: The original intent was to have a revolving cast, with most characters not returning in future seasons. What could have been, indeed, if after season 2 we didn't have to deal with most of the extended Petrelli family?
  • Had season two been longer, "Generations" would have ended with Peter failing to stop the Shanti virus, resulting in it being released airborne. Immediately, victims start to pile up and the virus spreads to the edges of Odessa. Nathan leads the Odessa Police Dept., along with Matt, while Peter closes off the main highway into town with a landslide. During a press conference, Nathan announces on national television the spreading of "a deadly virus" and immediately collapses from a fever. This would've led into the next Volume, "Exodus", which would have focused on the main characters dealing with the aftermath. The CDC and National Guard begin to take control of Odessa, reformatting gymnasiums and educational institutions into research labs and shelters. The town is held quarantined, with anyone attempting to leave it gunned down by the National Guard. Claire, in order to save Nathan and reunite with Peter, attempts to force her way into town. Mohinder and Maya would also try to enter the town and try to find a cure. Agent Howard, who Peter met in the future, was set to be the Big Bad of this season. He turns out to be an agent for the Company who was tasked with letting the outbreak kill the entire town, as to ensure the secrecy of the Company. In the end, Maya would use her power to absorb the virus, sacrificing herself in the process. Meanwhile, Elle is tasked to capture and bring in Sylar, who is once again acquiring new powers. Thanks to Noah, she learns that she is in-fact just bait for the killer. "Exodus" would've led into the next Volume "Villains", but the extent of the differences between what "Villains" could've been and what it ended up being is unknown.
  • Elle was supposed to show up in the "I Am Become Death" future as the mother of the little boy, but conflicts with Kristen Bell's filming schedule forced the writers to cut the Sylar/Elle arc short and kill her off.
  • Originally, Elle was only meant to be Bob's stepdaughter and Meredith Gordon's daughter, making her Claire's sister, however this idea was dropped due to "lack of storyline and plot holes".
  • Even after Season 2 was cut short and its original plot (the Shanti Virus) halted, Bob Bishop was going to play a larger role in Season 3, probably getting to use his power more and get some development (which, let's be honest, he desperately needed). Unfortunately, Stephen Tobolowsky had a terrible riding accident in the months leading up to production, one which nearly paralysed him and put his neck on the mend for months... so they Dropped a Bridge on Him with Sylar killing him offscreen for his ability, and he did little in his few scenes until this happened. To add insult to injury, Sylar never even used said power, and Bob's daughter Elle was killed off anticlimactically (as noted above).
  • Peter and Nathan were actually written to be twins, but since they had trouble casting the roles, they just aged up Nathan instead. Peter was also originally named Ethan when Milo Ventimiglia read for the role.
  • Sylar was not originally intended to be a watchmaker, but a middle-aged priest. The character was altered accordingly after Jeph Loeb expressed concern that the part was too limiting storywise after a test screening of the original pilot. The character was altered again after Zachary Quinto read for the part, which explains why the character was faceless until "Homecoming".
  • An alternate version of the pilot showed that Ted Sprague's power originally belonged to another character named Amid Halebi. The character was going to be involved with a terrorist plot and was a foreign exchange student who stayed with Matt Parkman's family when they were teens, but Tim Kring felt the storyline was far too controversial and cut it out of the final pilot. Halebi's ability was then reworked into Ted's story.
    • In the same original pilot, it was shown that Isaac had gotten to the drugs in order to paint, despite having handcuffed himself, because he used a saw to cut off his hand — further explaining why he was in such terrible condition when Simone and Peter found him. The footage was cut and spliced to remove this element. Kring admitted on the DVD Commentary that the reason for this was that original outline had Season 1 lasting months if not a whole year (as opposed to imitating Lost), during which Isaac was to relearn how to use his hand after it was reattached, in addition to learning to see the future without his drugs; this became impractical when the narrative was condensed into (roughly) six weeks and so was cut from the final product.
  • Zack in the earliest plans was a geeky girl named Zoe who was to be(come) Heterosexual Life-Partners with Claire, before being rewritten as her Ambiguously Gay male friend. He was also meant to come out to her in "Homecoming" but Thomas Dekker's agent vetoed this due to a belief he'd be typecast in gay roles; she was also the one who pulled him out of the show partway through the back half (he would star as John Connor later that year), leading to Zack's sudden Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
  • Niki was originally supposed to have the power to be in two places at once, which stems from her life as a single mother.
  • The Haitian was originally a New Zealander called The Kiwi, while Simone Devaux was originally a bohemian white woman named Stella.
  • The writers had discussed several storyline possibilities for Simone such as pregnancy and becoming another "Horn Rimmed Glasses".
  • Sylar was originally created as a cannibal who ate his victims' brains and "digested their power"; however, in order to avoid the potential silliness and zombie associations, the producers deliberately made this fact vague in the series.
  • One of those Aborted Arcs was to keep Debbie and make her Claire's love interest, with the subtext already written into the character when she was in the first half of the second season. Of course, when the show resumed the gay characters were still being given vetoes (so Debbie may well be gay or bi, this just wasn't shown explicitly). By the time they weren't, Dianna Agron was playing this character on Glee alongside other Heroes vets.
  • Emma Stone auditioned for the role of Claire Bennet.
  • David Bowie was the alternate choice for Linderman.
  • Vincent Kartheiser was offered the role of Isaac Mendez.
  • There were plans to bring Claude back, but Christopher Eccleston kept turning it down.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: The writers never planned out the show beyond season 1, with the following one starting an anthology-format with a rotating cast. But given the season one characters instantly became popular sensations, so they were forced to come up with new plots for them on the fly. Which were then knocked down and reshuffled by the writers' strike...
• Tim Sale is the artist behind most of the art featured on the show, except for Sylar's art, which was done by Alex Maleev, Peter's first stick figure doodle (done by Jeph Loeb), and Molly's doodles, which the actress did herself. Sale and Jeph Loeb are frequent comics collaborators, which strengthened the show's ties to comics.
• The vignettes that aired promoting new characters that would debut in the following season is a technique that originated in Professional Wrestling, specifically in Memphis, TN with The Fabulous Ones in the early 1980s and is still used today.

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