Rya Kihlstedt doesn’t think her “Heroes Reborn” character, Erica Kravid, is evil. She’s just following a moral code that other characters—and many viewers—might not like.
“I think of Erica as being the ultimate hero and being the one who is willing to make the ultimate sacrifices nobody else is,” Kihlstedt told me during San Diego Comic-Con International.
Viewers will meet Erica, who runs the global conglomerate Renautas, in “Under the Mask,” the NBC series’ third episode airing at 7 p.m. Oct. 1.
Kihlstedt denied Erica is an evil corporate overlord, although she conceded that her cast mates might disagree.
When we meet her, Erica introduces the world to her company’s latest “tech” that will help authorities find Evos—those people with super powers that many feel endanger the rest of civilization. It’s not a very nice plan.
Erica’s agenda “comes in contact and in conflict with most of the other cast,” Kihlstedt said, teasing that there will be clashes with heroes and Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman).
I spoke with Kihlstedt and co-star Henry Zebrowski again at the Toronto International Film Festival. Zebrowski plays conspiracy theorist Quentin Frady, who teams up with Bennett to figure out who is behind the bombing of an Evo convention in Odessa, Texas.
Their characters don’t seem like the types who would get together in a friendly way. But in the video below, Kihlstedt and Zebrowski discuss just how Erica and Quentin connect and what their combined special power is.
They also talked about how cast members always worried that they may get killed off in the next script.
“Every single one of us at some point went, ‘I’m dying and that person is taking me out,’ ” Kihlstedt said. “We had a constant running dialogue of who is dying when and how.”
Watch more “Heroes Reborn” interview videos at the TV Show Patrol YouTube page, including Zebrowski talking about the conspiracy theories he believes.