Ali Larter has responded to Heroes co-star Leonard Roberts after the actor, who played the intangible D.L. Hawkins in the first season of the hit NBC series, detailed the harassment and marginalization he experienced while filming the series as well as conflicts with Larter who played his on-screen wife Niki Sanders in an essay published by Variety. In a statement to TVLine (via Variety), Larter says she is “deeply saddened” about Roberts’ experiences and that she is “truly sorry” for any role she may have played in the experience.
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“I am deeply saddened to hear about Leonard Roberts’ experience on Heroes and I am heartbroken reading his perception of our relationship, which absolutely doesn’t match my memory nor experience on the show,” Larter said in the statement. “I respect Leonard as an artist and I applaud him or anyone using their voice and platform. I am truly sorry for any role I may have played in his painful experience during that time and I wish him and his family the very best.”
In Roberts’ essay, the actor details a disturbing account of his experience as a black man working in Hollywood with his role as a series regular on Heroes meant to be his big break that quickly became far from it. In his essay, he notes how his role shrank from the original plans for the character and also details instances with Larter when she became difficult on set in scenes that featured their characters in intimate moments as well as that Larter ignored his attempts to reach out. Roberts was ultimately written out of Heroes‘ second season, something that he says he learned about via voice mail.
“I took a couple of days to cuss, mope and second guess, after which I decided to take [showrunner Tim] Kring up on his offer, and set an appointment with him. When I arrived at his office, I was surprised to see that [executive producer] Dennis Hammer was there as well,” wrote Roberts. “Kring began by reiterating that because of my co-star, he just couldn’t make my remaining on the show work story-wise. I’m typically not one who refers to himself in the third person, but in that instance I felt compelled to channel my inner Alexander O’Neal and pointed out he fired Leonard Roberts, but only mentioned Leonard Roberts’ co-star as the reason for his firing, and that Leonard Roberts found that … curious.”
Variety substantiated Roberts’ account, speaking with 10 people who worked on Heroes with Roberts. Neither Kring nor executive producer Dennis Hammer disputed Roberts’ account, though they did not comment about what transpired on the set of Heroes. Both complimented Roberts’ professionalism and talent.
“In 2006, I set out to cast the most diverse show on television. Diversity, interconnectivity and inclusivity were groundbreaking hallmarks of Heroes. So too was the huge, diverse cast that continually rotated off and onto the show, with none ever being written off based on their race,” Kring said. “Looking back now, 14 years later, given the very different lens that I view the world through today, I acknowledge that a lack of diversity at the upper levels of the staff may have contributed to Leonard experiencing the lack of sensitivity that he describes. I have been committed to improving upon this issue with every project I pursue. I remember Leonard fondly and wish him well.”
You can read Roberts’ full piece here.
Photo: Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
