List of Heroes cast members

This is a list of recurring actors on the US television show "Heroes". Every actor credited in two episodes or more is included in the article, which covers episodes 1.01 to 3.04.

Main cast

This list shows the show's main cast, and the number of episodes for which each actor has been credited in. Normally the actors are only credited in the episodes which they appear in - exceptions to this are noted below.

In coherence with the credits, the list is in alphabetical order. The season(s) during which each actor has been included in the main cast are marked in green, while the season(s) during which a starring actor appeared as a guest star is marked in yellow.

Notes

# Although initially hired for a recurring role, David Anders was promoted to series regular prior to the broadcast of season two. He is credited as a guest star in the first three episodes of the season. He is credited as a special guest star in season 3.
# Kristen Bell is credited as a special guest star in season 3.
# After having been credited as a guest star for the first half of the first season, Jack Coleman was promoted a series regular, starting with episode 1.11.
# Tawny Cypress was credited in 13 episodes of the first season, but she only appeared in 12 - although credited in episode 1.05, she didn't appear in it.
# Ali Larter played Niki Sanders is seasons 1 and 2, beginning with 1.01. From season 3, she appeared as Tracy Strauss, beginning with 3.01.
# Sendhil Ramamurthy appeared only as narrator in episodes 1.07, 2.08 and 3.03.

Casting

Sendhil Ramamurthy's character of Mohinder Suresh was one of only a few characters that was changed based on casting. Suresh was originally designed to be a 55-year old professor, however, due to Ramamurthy's audition, the part was rewritten and made younger to fit him.cite video |people= Kring, Tim (creator) |date2= 2008-08-28 |url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0813715/|format=DVD |title=(Unknown episode) |medium=Season one episodes |publisher= NBC Universal Media|accessdate=2008-01-20]

Hayden Panettiere was cast by Marc Hirschfeld, executive vice president of casting for NBC Universal Television. Hirschfeld explained that when they were trying to decide who the cheerleader should be, he literally picked up the phone and said to the producers, "You got to meet Hayden Panettiere." [cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/22/apontv.castyourfate.ap/|title=How the 'Heroes' cheerleader got the part] Dania Ramírez was cast on the series based on her work on "The Sopranos". She was notified by Kring that he was creating a Latin character and wanted her to come and test. Ramirez was the only actress called in to test for the role. [cite web|url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/822/822222p1.html |title=Exclusive Interview: Heroes Star Dania Ramírez] Kristen Bell was first approached about being cast in July 2007, during a train ride back from the San Diego Comic Con with "Heroes" actors Zachary Quinto and Masi Oka, and writers from the series. The writers had mentioned that if Bell "ever want [ed] to come on "Heroes", give us [writers] a call", to which Bell said she would love to. Bell had several casting options, including ABC's "Lost", however it was officially announced that she was cast in August 2007. [cite web |url=http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Exclusive-Kristen-Bell/800020731| title= Exclusive: Kristen Bell's First Interview Since Becoming a Hero! |author= Ausiello, Michael |publisher= TV Guide |accessdate= 2008-01-20] David Anders auditioned for the role of Takezo Kensei. He read his scenes, impersonating Peter O'Toole, in which the producers responded by asking him to tone down the impression on his second audition. He was contacted two weeks later and given the part. Anders was aware at the time that his role was a recurring role that had the possibility of being promoted to a main cast role, however, he did not find out until the filming of episode five that he would be portraying Monroe, and that his character would be moving into the present. [cite web |url=http://www.heroesfanatic.com/2007/09/an-interview-with-david-anders/ |title=An Interview with David Anders |publisher= HeroesFanatic.com |accessdate= 2008-01-20] [cite web|url=http://www.buddytv.com/articles/heroes/exclusive-interview-heroes-sta-13999.aspx|title=www.buddytv.com/articles/heroes/exclusive-interview-heroes-sta-13999.aspx ]

La Padura stated that the character of Peter Petrelli was the hardest to cast due to conflicts regarding the Petrelli brother's ages. La Padura states the Petrelli brothers were originally written to be twins, and it became obvious in the production process that in order to have correct dynamic between the two characters, Peter had to be the younger brother. Adrian Pasdar was cast first. Milo Ventimiglia's role as Peter was the last to be cast and the most difficult.cite web|url=http://heroeswiki.com/Interview_%28Jason_La_Padura%29|title=heroeswiki.com/Interview_%28Jason_La_Padura%29 ] Greg Grunberg originally auditioned for the role of one of the Petrelli brothers. It was not a fit for him, but the production liked him so much, they rewrote the role of Matt Parkman to fit him. Originally Parkman's character was to be much younger, and La Padura was looking to cast a Ryan Phillippe-type actor for the role.
Jack Coleman was originally cast to only be in the pilot, with an open-ended contract. The connection between the characters of Claire and Mr. Bennet, and Kring's approval of Coleman's performance led to him being upgraded to a recurring character, before being promoted to the main cast roster. [cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Interviews-Features/Article/default.aspx?posting={301DC1FF-48F6-4260-8270-86D9F52B2E0A}|title=www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Interviews-Features/Article/default.aspx?posting={301DC1FF-48F6-4260-8270-86D9F52B2E0A} ] Dana Davis received the "Heroes" script during the 2007 pilot season. She auditioned once for the role and was cast. [cite web|url=http://www.buddytv.com/articles/heroes/exclusive-interview-heroes-sta-12777.aspx|title=www.buddytv.com/articles/heroes/exclusive-interview-heroes-sta-12777.aspx ] [cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/news/heroes-dana-davis/071022-01|title=www.tvguide.com/news/heroes-dana-davis/071022-01 ]

La Padura also states that Masi Oka was the easiest actor to cast although casting the character was difficult due to a small pool of Japanese-speaking actors. Masi walked in the door and production knew he was "terrific" and "ideal" for the role. Ali Larter was cast for the show after reading several pilots during the 2006 pilot season. She auditioned for the role and was brought in a second and third time to meet with the studio and network respectively before being officially cast. [cite web|url=http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/interviews/ali_larter.shtml|title=www.nbc.com/Heroes/interviews/ali_larter.shtml ] Tawny Cypress also auditioned for the role of Niki, but was not awarded the part. Instead, Kring rewrote the role of Stella for her and renamed the character Simone Deveaux. [cite web|url=http://www.blackvoices.com/black_entertainment/television_features_reviews_clips/qacanvas/_a/5-questions-with-tawny-cypress/20061201152509990001|title='5 Questions' With Tawny Cypress] Zachary Quinto auditioned for the role of Sylar, during the time when the series was currently airing. Tim Kring was not present at his first audition, but after a five day process, Quinto was awarded the role. [cite web|url=http://www.wizarduniverse.com/television/heroes/003131972.cfm|title=www.wizarduniverse.com/television/heroes/003131972.cfm ] Santiago Cabrera was cast through an interview process. When he auditioned for the production team, he went all out, doing the scene from the pilot when Isaac was under the influence of heroin. After the scene, the producers asked, "Well thank you very much for that. Maybe you would try it now not so on the effects of drugs." He eventually landed the role. [cite web|url=http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=90615|title=SANTIAGO CABERA: HEROES ARTISTIC HERO] Leonard Roberts was awarded the role of D.L. Hawkins, after he beat out Jimmy Jean-Louis (The Haitian), who auditioned for the same part three times. The part of the Haitian was rewritten for Louis. The original concept for the Haitian was to be a character from New Zealand, who would have been called "The Kiwi." [cite episode |title= The Post Show |episodelink= The Post Show|url= |series= |serieslink= |credits= |network=G4 |station= |city= |airdate=2007-12-15 |began= |ended= |season= 1|number= 10|minutes= 60|transcript= |transcripturl=]

Guest cast

A

*Dianna Agron - Debbie (4 episodes, season 2)
*Matthew John Armstrong - Ted Sprague (8 episodes, season 1)
*Erick Avari - Chandra Suresh (3 episodes, season 8)

B

*Link Baker - Broken Nose Guard (2 episodes, season 1)
*Randall Bentley - Lyle Bennet (12 episodes, season 1-2)
*Nicole Bilderback - Miss Sakamoto (2 episodes, season 1)
*Alan Blumenfeld - Maury Parkman (3 episodes, season 2-3)
*Jeanette Brox - Camille (2 episodes, season 2)
*Eugene Byrd - Campaign Manager (4 episodes, season 1)

C

*Francis Capra - Jesse Murphy (2 episodes, season 3)
*Katie Carr - Caitlin (6 episodes, season 2)
*Kevin Chamberlin - Aaron Malsky (3 episodes, season 1)
*Sally Champlin - Lynette the Waitress (3 episodes, season 1)
*Josh Clark - Sheriff Davidson (4 episodes, season 1)
*Ethan Cohn - Zane Taylor (2 episodes, season 1)
*Mark Colson - Mr. Zern (3 episodes, season 2)
*Ashley Crow - Sandra Bennet (22 episodes, season 1-3)

D

*Nicholas D'Agosto - West Rosen (9 episodes, season 2)
*Thomas Dekker - Zach (11 episodes, season 1)
*Clea DuVall - Audrey Hanson (7 episodes, season 1)

E

*Christopher Eccleston - Claude (5 episodes, season 1)
*Justin Evans - Simon Petrelli (4 episodes, season 1-2)

F

*Bill Fagerbakke - Steve R. Gustavson (2 episodes, season 1)
*Colby French - Hank (4 episodes, season 1)

G

*Ashlee Gillespie - Lori Tremmel (2 episodes, season 1)
*Jessalyn Gilsig - Meredith Gordon (4 episodes, season 1 and 3)
*Brea Grant - Daphne (3 episodes, season 3)

H

*Stacy Haiduk - Elisa Thayer (3 episodes, season 1)
*Cory Hardrict - Gang member (2 episodes, season 2)

I

J

*Sakina Jaffrey - Mrs. Suresh (3 episodes, season 1)
*Jimmy Jean-Louis - The Haitian (19 episodes, season 1-2)
*Carlon Jeffery - Damon Dawson (2 episodes, season 2)
*Dutch Johnson - Linderman's Guard (2 episodes, season 1)

K

*Stana Katic - Hana Gitelman (2 episodes, season 1)
*Dominic Keating - Tuko (4 episodes, season 2)
*Shishir Kurup - Nirand (3 episodes, season 1)

L

*Lisa Lackey - Janice Parkman (10 episodes, season 1-2)
*Matt Lanter - Brody Mitchum (5 episodes, season 1)
*T.W. Leshner - Derek (2 episodes, season 2)

M

*Garrett Masuda - Young Hiro Nakamura (2 episodes, season 1)
*Tohoru Masamune - Mr. Egami (2 episodes, season 1-2)
*Michael Maury - Deputy Lloyd (2 episodes, season 1)
*Jayma Mays - Charlie Andrews (3 episodes, season 1)
*Holt McCallany - Ricky (4 episodes, season 2)
*Adetokumboh McCormack - Tuko (4 episodes, season 2)
*Malcolm McDowell - Daniel Linderman (5 episodes, season 1 and 3)
*Milos Milicevic - Big Guy (1 episode, season 1) "and" Hulk (1 episode, season 2)
*Kurando Mitsutake- White Beard (4 episodes, season 1-2)
*Ben Murray - Rufus (2 episodes, season 1)

N

*Saemi Nakamura - Kimiko Nakamura (2 episodes, season 1-2)
*Mark Nearing - Nevada State Trooper (2 episodes, season 1)
*Paula Newsome - Dr. Witherson (2 episodes, season 1)
*Nichelle Nichols - Nana Dawson (5 episodes, season 2)

O

*Shalim Ortiz - Alejandro Herrera (7 episodes, season 2)

P

*Janel Parrish - May (2 episodes, season 2)
*Missy Peregrym - Candice Wilmer (6 episodes, season 1)
*Rick Peters - Tom McHenry (2 episodes, season 1)
*Missi Pyle - Hope (2 episodes, season 1)

Q

*Deirdre Quinn - Tina (6 episodes, season 1)

R

*Javin Reid - Sanjog Iyer (2 episodes, season 1)
*Eric Roberts - Thompson (5 episodes, season 1)
*Richard Roundtree - Charles Deveaux (3 episodes, season 1)

*Danielle Savre - Jackie Wilcox (6 episodes, season 1)
*Barry Shabaka Henley - Bryan Fuller (4 episodes, season 2)
*Ryan K. Smith - Deputy (2 episodes, season 1)
*Rena Sofer - Heidi Petrelli (5 episodes, season 1-2)
*Sara Solomon - Martha (2 episodes, season 2)
*Mark Allan Stewart - High Roller (2 episodes, season 1)

T

*Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa - The Swordsmith (2 episodes, season 2)
*Mio Takada - Tatsuya Atsumi (2 episodes, season 2)
*George Takei - Kaito Nakamura (8 episodes, season 1-3)
*Eriko Tamura (credited as Eriko) - Yaeko (6 episodes, season 2)
*Brian Tarantina - Weasel (2 episodes, season 1)
*Adair Tishler - Molly Walker (15 episodes, season 1-2)
*Stephen Tobolowsky - Bob (11 episodes, season 2-3)
*Karri Turner - Lisa (2 episodes, season 1)

U

V

W

*Karl T. Wright - Principal Marks (2 episodes, season 1)
*Jackson Wurth - Monty Petrelli (4 episodes, season 1-2)

X

Y

Z

*Nora Zehetner - Eden McCain (8 episodes, season 1)

References