Kristen Bell: A New "Hero"?

We loved her as "Veronica Mars". We enjoy her as the voice of "Gossip Girl". Now Kristen Bell is joining the cast of "Heroes" this coming Monday the 22nd as Elle, a mysterious woman who is chasing the Peter Petrelli character all over Ireland. Is Elle a baddie or a friendly? We'll have to tune in to find out. Kristen checked in with us on the phone and, in between, various attempts to wrangle her feisty dogs, she gave us a big scoop on her new character, her geeky pleasures, her personal long-time friendship with Hayden, the Hero she'd most like to interact with and what it's like being the new kid on set.

TeenTelevision: Soon you're going to appear before millions of people worldwide and you're not playing a teen anymore. Yay! Is that a relief since you are in your 20's in real life? Do you hope your fans will move on with you?

Kristen: Yes, I certainly hope so because I have always played about ten years younger than I am which is a major blessing just even in real life. My family's very petite and I have a young- looking face and good genes I guess. I'm thankful to my parents. That being said, as an actor there are certain things that I'm going through in my own life in my late 20s that I'm experiencing and that's what you draw upon in your acting. So I hope that I'll be accepted as playing closer to my age. I know that I still look a lot younger. But I'm thankful to sort of be out of teenageville a little bit. I don't dislike it at all but I've had a lot of it.

TeenTelevision: Kristen, how did you get involved with "Heroes"? Were you a fan of the show?

Kristen: I was a huge fan of the show. I watched it from its premiere episode and I joked with the writers that 'Heroes' was the water cooler conversation at 'Veronica Mars' on set. And they had said that, in many individual writer circles, Veronica Mars is the water cooler conversation now when they were working at 'Heroes'. I've certainly put feelers out there during ComiCon and let them know what a fan I was of the show I think with the secret hopes that one day I could be a part of it. It was ultimate flattery when they (came forward) and said we might have something for you to do.

TeenTelevision: Was it difficult or maybe intimidating for you to join a cast that had already been working together since the show's beginning?

Kristen: There was anxiety and nerves certainly, but nothing about it has been hard. They are some of the nicest people I've really ever worked with. And having had social relationships with a few of them, I've sort of heard through the grapevine what a great job it was, not just an excellent show, but actually really fun to be a part of and an ensemble that really supports each other. To find that many good people in one setting is really hard.

TeenTelevision: Yeah. Usually, it's hard being the new kid.

Kristen: Every time you join a different show, it kind of feels like you're changing schools like when you're in high school. It's that kind of anxiety, like is everyone going to like me? Is this going to be fun? Am I going to do well? And the warmth that I was greeted with, it felt like I was starting a school that all my friends already went to.

TeenTelevision: Are you having fun so far playing this new character Elle?

Kristen: Oh it's been so much fun. I have been crossing my fingers in hopes that I'd get a job soon where I could play someone who was as Tim likes to call it, 'a little off' or perhaps didn't have the brightest and shiniest of intentions. She's so conflicted and sort of comes across as such as vixen, it's so much fun to play with.

TeenTelevision: Any little secrets of your character that you can reveal?

Kristen: Well, I can't reveal her secret powers. You'll have to watch next Monday. But it's a very cool power. She has ties to HRG and to Claire. And there's going to be a very interesting dynamic I think, between her and Claire. I think there's going to be a deeper relationship there than people are expecting. They're going to see some parallels. But, she also has ties, a little bit, to Suresh. And she's a little messed up in the head which makes her really manipulative and always out to get what she wants. She doesn't have many boundaries. The whole first season has been about these fairly good-natured people in trying to embrace these confusing abilities and being very [conflicted] as to how they should be using them and Elle is not that way at all. She very much enjoys her power and enjoys the emotional power it gives her over other people.

TeenTelevision: Oooooo, a bad guy vibe, cool. Hayden has said that she'd known you since she was eight years old.

Kristen: Yeah. I have known Hayden since she was eight. We met in New York. We had the same agent. I was substantially older than she was, but I was just starting college and met her. And she came to some plays that I did in New York. She was a lovely little girl. And even then you could tell that there was something so alarmingly special about who she was and what she was going to be able to accomplish as a performer. It was right before Remember the Titans that she was so great in. I've sort of kept up a relationship with her just socially. And having joined the cast now it's been really nice because I think really good girlfriends are so rare to find in LA. And she's a really cool, honest girl. We've become closer because of the show. And we always used to joke about trying to play sisters or friends in a project.

TeenTelevision: Have you had a chance to catch your former co-star Jason Dohring in the new show 'Moonlight' and do you keep in touch with any of the former 'Veronica Mars' cast mates?

Kristen: We do actually keep in touch a lot. I just came back from breakfast about 20 minutes ago with Ryan Hansen who played Dick Casablancas and (Wakmi Tadeo) who was our DP. We went to breakfast this morning. I have not caught Jason's show, but I have been Tivo-ing it. And Tim's been keeping me pretty busy so I haven't caught up on all my Tivo yet. Everybody got along really well on that show so we're all pretty supportive of each other's careers. And we've maintained those friendships.

TeenTelevision: Veronica Mars was a good girl. This character seems a bit more sinister. Do you hope your "Veronica" fans will latch onto Elle?

Kristen: Well one thing I will say about 'Veronica Mars' fans, they are extremely interactive whether it is on a street corner or whether it is on a blog. I hope everyone will have fun with it. It's a little deeper character work when you have to really figure out someone's intentions. It's also a lot of fun to play someone who's a little crazy.

TeenTelevision: TV is full of geekish characters in lead roles. Sooo, what are your geeky guilty pleasures?

Kristen: Humm, well ComiCon would be a geeky, guilty pleasure. I'd definitely try to go around and get pictures with every single person who dresses up because the people come in full costume. Having done Fanboys, anything Star Wars is now sort of wonderful and fascinating to me. All my friends are Fanboys. Now I'm sort of coming into my own as a Fangirl. The New Beverly in Los Angeles had a double feature the other night of Tron and The Last Starfighter so I was like I kind of need to see that at least just once in my life because that seemed like an awesome double feature, you know?

TeenTelevision: What TV shows do you like now?

Kristen: 'Pushing Daisies' I love. I do of course support and watch our NBC line up of 'Chuck' and 'Journeyman'. I've watched 'The Office' since it started and I watch a lot of BBC shows, don't watch all of that many American shows. I'm kind of into reruns of 'America's Funniest Home Videos'. That's sort of my number one. That's my geekiest, guilty pleasure. I'll tell you that right there.

TeenTelevision: How long can we expect to see you on 'Heroes'? And would you be up for a long term commitment on the show?

Kristen: Right now I think that I am signed on for 13 [episodes]. [Depending on the plot-lines] they could use me or I could just sit on the sidelines. Then at the end of the 13, we decided to have a pow-wow and sit down and see if it makes sense for me to continue.

TeenTelevision: Has it been fun doing the voice of 'Gossip Girl'?

Kristen: 'Gossip Girl''s been great. I've known Josh Schwartz for a little bit and was sort of happy when they wanted me involved in it. And it's an easy deal for me because it's not on camera. And I've always dreamed about having a job where I could go and show up in my jimmies! It's been a lot of fun. But, I don't think I'll ever make an on-camera appearance [as Gossip Girl].

TeenTelevision: Of all the characters on the show, which would you like most to see Elle interact with? And if you could steal one of their powers, which one would it be?

Kristen: For on and off camera reasons, I'd most like to interact with Zachary Quinto [Syler] because he has been a good friend of mine for almost ten years now and I've always wanted to work with him. [Syler] is so unpredictable and so downright evil. And it's almost hard for me to watch because it's the polar opposite of Zach's personality because he's just the kindest, gentlest most giving person. I would love to see him and Elle face off one day. I think that that would be unbelievable. As far as a power I think mine would be multiplicity. Because I think it would be great to be able to multiply myself and cook myself dinner. I'd just be like 'hey, clean that up', you know? Because I always feel like if there were more of me, I could get so much more done. I'd be so much more happier.

TeenTelevision: You've spoken of Elle's moral ambiguity and her mental health status. Can you tell us what some of her strengths will be?

Kristen: Oh wow, determination. She's a very fierce and intense personality. When she wants something, she wants it and she wants it now which I think is good when you're working with the good guys and is really bad when you're working with the bad guys. And I think that's what she'll kind of ping-pong in-between. She has an inability to decipher between right and wrong. That's what makes her so interesting. She always thinks what she's doing is right. It's because she was raised by the company and not by a normal family that you'll sympathize with her. I certainly hope you'll sympathize with her in trying to understand how her childhood really messed her up. And then hopefully, you know, she can get a little bit of redemption.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.