Heroes Reborn Stars Promise “Surprises, Twists, and Turns”

For the Heroes Reborn cast, the pressure of the past isn’t lost on them, though the excitement of the future leaves them confident that there’s something new to say about powered people in a realistic world.

“It’s cool to continue on in a world that’s pre-existing and has a built in fanbase, but that also has a lot of expectations that come with it, too,” admits Zachary Levi. He says “people will be surprised by all the new faces, and getting used to a whole new group of people.” While Jack Coleman’s Noah “HRG” Bennett returns to the cast and some cameos will pepper the thirteen episode series, the grand majority of the cast is filled out with newcomers.

Robbie Kay and Gatlin Green play a pair of high schoolers that give the series its sense of wonder – and of fear – of the exploration of powers. Kay’s Tommy is powered while Green’s Emily starts to look at the world through his eyes, despite being a non-powered human. The young actors were surprised by the scope of the series when they started filming.

“It’s a beast of a show,” Kay told ComicBook.com at the red carpet premiere in Toronto. “I’ve never been involved in something as large as this. The amount of time we’re taking to shoot these episodes: it’s like we’re shooting a movie every day!”

Green concurred, saying “everything has been a surprise, every day.”

That seems to be a theme for the actors, who received the scripts in a piecemeal fashion, learning about their characters one episode at a time alongside the viewer. “The writers like to keep things secretive so that we don’t know what’s going on all the time,” Danika Yarosh, who plays light-bending Malina said. “So when we get the scripts, every single time, it’s just ‘oh my gosh, what’s happening?’ and it’s mind-blowing.”

Francesca Eastwood plays a character from the original series all grown-up, but still had to discover who she was all these years later in the same fashion. The experience was strange to the actor who grew up surrounded by the business.

“I would never ask for it again, but I think that for this it was cool,” Eastwood said. “I would never think as an actress to ask for that, for information to be withheld, but for this it works.” As for the surprises, she was amazed by them when getting each script as well. “There are some big surprises, cliff-hangers and twists that we’d be reading, and I’d just start crying or get the chills!” she exclaimed.

Some characters return, of course, even if it’s just here and there, and fan-favorites Greg Grunberg and Jimmy Jean-Louis are amongst the returnees. Grunberg says that while it’s nice to “help tie it all together,” he’s certain that “people will get very familiar with their new favorite characters very quickly.” Jean-Louis said the tonal shift with the new heroes “being chased down” interested him enough to return.

Of course, none of this would bear its weight without Jack Coleman, who returns to anchor the show as HRG. Noah Bennett has been “living a normal life, off the grid and under the radar” in the suburbs until the story picks up, “and just like Michael Corleone, he gets pulled back in.”

Coleman was surprised by the enthusiasm of fans as Heroes returns, and says they’ll likewise be surprised by “the new blood. They’re pivotal to the show continuing, and the new storylines are so exciting.”

Of course, some surprises are less momentous; for Ryan Guzman, the “tight pants” brought their own surprises, and worries, when he suited up as a vigilante on the show. Levi, meanwhile, “specifically wanted to play a character that was darker, grittier,” but didn’t expect the weight that storyline would carry. “To sit in that intense storyline as an actor is really tough at times.”

Overall, the cast is ready for the new adventures, and as Eve Harlow said, the “effect that superpowers could have on society and pop culture as a whole.” The “twists and turns” that Green and her castmates love are reflective of “how different the world is now,” Kay concluded. But while the world is scarier and even “dystopian,” the pair promise that there’s “a great balance.”

“There’s a great element of comedy in some of the scenes as well,” Kay promised. “So in the middle of all the crazy moments, there’s some brilliant lines thrown in there that kind of assess the ridiculousness of the situation.”

Heroes Reborn premieres tonight, Thursday September 24, 2015 on NBC with a special two-hour opener at 8/7 central.