Roswell, New Mexico Star on That Shocking "Sex and Candy" Twist and More

Dealing with it all

Maria's been going through a lot this season, with her mother's health and well-being. And even more added on top of that now, that she's in on the big secrets, the aliens, Rosa's resurrection, Max's resurrection, all of it. How is Maria doing with all that?

Well, I think like anything, Maria just wants to be active when she gets this information. She's not a complacent person. She's not going to just sit back and watch everybody else deal with the chaos. So she is shocked to find out, and she's upset with her friends for not telling her, but once she gets over that initial confrontation, she's like, okay, let me dive in. And we really see Maria for the rest of the season take the bull by the horns with this newfound information, and how it applies to her. She goes deep into researching her and her mother's history, and she gets really curious about her own psychic abilities, and starts to find her comfort level with exploring that. And so it's really fun that now she is part of that alien gang. Now Maria gets to have all the fun, I think.

Important relationships

Oh, definitely agree. Something else that's really delightful to see this season is that we've really gotten to see that Maria's friendship with Alex kind of even strengthen and bloom a little bit more, especially now that she's in on the secret, and he's the only person, they've kind of gotten even now, where with our relationship, where one might expect them to be at odds, given the common love interest of it all, instead we're really seeing them kind of use each other as support, and bond over that. It's really, really refreshing to see that on television. How do you think having that very unique form of support will impact Maria as she digs in deeper to those elements of her life?

Well, I think it's so important to acknowledge those friendships in our lives that challenge us, and sometimes break us down, but they also build us back up. And that's what she's finding with Alex and Liz is that no matter what they go through, these people are her family, and they're going to be there for each other through thick and thin. And so I think as we go along, we really find Maria making some amends, and some forgiveness, and then saying, okay, you know what? You've got your issues, and I certainly have mine, and she's willing to take a look at those, and explore them further. Even if it's something that means she might not like what she finds out.

Yeah. I think it's really important that we get to see that element of things. Kind of going back a bit when you said that Maria, she's kind of hurt when she finds out everyone's been keeping these secrets. I think one of the things that's really refreshing about Maria as a character and the way you portray her is that it's a very, you see it's a very realistic reaction to how she's been hurt, rather than something that's amplified for drama. And I just think that's so important that we're seeing that development of a very human response to sometimes the people you love hurt you, but you can still trust them and find ways to go through that, find support. It's just beautiful.

Absolutely. I mean, that's family, that's blood. You can't just write people off because they make choices that you don't agree with. And I think in today's culture we have a very... that cancel culture, and that's all very easy to do when you're canceling somebody on the internet. But when that's your family, when that's your best friend, something that I've learned, in these past few years, is that you need to give people a chance to be human, or be alien, and make those mistakes accordingly, because nobody's perfect. And that's a tough pill to swallow with somebody who's behaved against what you were hoping, but I think forgiveness is one of the most powerful things that I've done in my life, and I think it's beautiful how Maria finds forgiveness throughout the season, and acceptance for people just to be who they are, and love them anyway.

On that heartfelt talk with Alex

ComicBook.com: There is a scene in Monday's upcoming episode with Maria and Alex having a really heartfelt talk in the truck. I think that it's something that will really resonate with people, especially because Maria is offering Alex nothing but love and support, for what is very much a difficult situation for him, but also something difficult I think a lot of people have dealt with in their own lives as well. Kind of when they're approaching their sexuality, and how that changes maybe the way the world interacts with them. How did you prepare for that scene, and how do you think it impacts Maria, and by extension, her friendship with Alex?

Heather Hemmens: Well, this is a conversation that I've actually had with friends before. So I think it was really beautiful how life can imitate art sometimes, or art can imitate life. I think I drew on my own experience for that, in being a support system as my friends have gone through certain things, and the way that I've been supported through my own exploration. So yeah, that was something. And also just working with Tyler Blackburn, who is one of the most emotionally available people and actors that I know. You just can't help but extend your empathy towards him, and his experience. He makes it impossible not to relate. And I love their friendship, and I'm so glad that it can endure through all different types of... even life and life and death experiences.

Working with David Anders and being a "final girl."

David Anders is a guest star. He has played, oh my gosh, nearly everything you can imagine, and he's a total chameleon. What was it like working with him?

He was hilarious. He really, really took this role seriously. And I guess hilarious is a strange way to put it. What was so funny to me is between takes, he's just the nicest funniest guy. But then when he turns on this serial killer kind of weird guy on the farm personality, it's really cool to see him make the switch. And I just loved working with him. He really brought an intensity to that character that I needed to play off of to be that vulnerable in that situation, where we're showing up at his farm.

Absolutely. And speaking of showing up at the farm, there's a few fun little dialogue jokes about horror movies, and things like that, and it does definitely take on a cute little, cute's the wrong term, but it kind of is cute. Little mini horror movie vibe, and we get to see Maria kind of be a sort of final girl in this little mini horror situation. How cool was it to get to be a little bit bad-ass with Maria, and get to be that sort of quote unquote final girl?

This episode had all the things that make me happy. It was my favorite episode of the series so far. It was a lot of fun, and I am definitely convinced that I have a slasher movie dream inside of me somewhere, because I was having too much fun running through the corn fields and everything that this episode required. I am just so grateful to the writers for really going there with the genre of this episode, and it's just a bright spot in the season for me. It really was a lot of fun, and also very, very impactful for the storyline, and how it continues throughout the rest of the season. So for me, episode six is a big turning point in my character's life.

About that threesome

Absolutely. And yeah, so about that. About that love triangle between... and I don't know if really love triangle is the right term for it, but between Alex, Michael, and Maria, things definitely do take an interesting turn in the episode. Like you said, it definitely feels like a big turning point for Maria, but also for everyone involved. How do you think this is going to impact Maria going forward, as well as her friendship with Alex, and that relationship with Michael as well?

Well, I think this is the moment that the audience is going to lose their mind. Whether they were divided about the Michael and Maria and Alex thing before, this is the moment where people are really going to get to have their opinions heard. So I'm so excited for what the audience is going to think. And I think for Maria on a character level, she is just kicking the door wide open with the possibilities for her, and Michael, and Alex, because they have been in this do-si-do, this little dance for the past two seasons, and she's kind of saying, look, if I love you no matter what, I love both of you. And no matter what we decide here, after what they go through in the episode together, she knows that they will forever support each other. And so she just says, "Listen, let's comfort each other, and you have my support." And I think the next morning she's interested in what direction that will take now that everything is out the open.

What's next for Maria?

What do you think is next for Maria overall, now that she's in the alien gang, and she's had this whole new world opened up to her?

Well now that this world is opened up to her, she actually learned that it's just as much her world as it is everybody else's. So she explores her family history. She finds some really, really interesting facts about her ancestors, and why her and Mimi have these abilities. And so Maria, now that she's been let in on the story, she takes control of that narrative, and wants to know everything about it. And it's really, really interesting how that is unraveled through the rest of the season, and how she connects to that story that she wasn't even aware of just a few months earlier.

On the music

One of the things that I think a lot of fans really connect with on Roswell, in addition to the great stories that have so much relevance to our current world, and things that people are going through, is the music. If you had to pick a favorite song that has been highlighted in Roswell this season, or previous, what would you pick and why?

Well, I did pick a song last season. I sang an Alanis Morissette song as the character Maria, and that was from a list of songs that I gave to Carina when I knew I was going to do the karaoke episode. I wanted to do Alanis Morissette because that is just so the 90s for me. It sums up a lot of moments in my life at that time, so that was really, really fun to not only have that song in an episode, but to get to be the one to sing it.

That's awesome. Do you think we'll get to have you sing again this season as well?

No, not this season. Although, we have been picked up for season three, so I guess that's something that could happen at sometime. Maria does own a bar, where they have open mic nights, so I guess she could jump up on stage and do a song whenever's she's feeling like it.