Exclusive interview: Heroes’ Brea Grant

Daphne Millbrook, the fastest hero on the west, had a secret that she kept for years. Arthur Petrelli had that hanging over her, forcing the Speedster to do his bidding. I suspected that her secret may have something to do with a bad past, like killing someone or stealing something from the federal government.  Last week, I asked actress Brea Grant, about her character’s history and past, before her secret was revealed, and Daphne’s fate in the future volume. I learned a new thing or two!

Brea Grant got the part to play Daphne Millbrook when the producers saw her from a character on Friday Night Lights, which is another NBC show. The producers were looking for someone spunky, and someone “like the girl Jean on Friday Night Lights”. The writers were writing Daphne like Jean, and decided to bring in the girl who played Jean!

“I still had to audition,” relates Brea. “I had to screen test with Greg, so, it was still a whole song and dance to get the role.”

Over the phone, I asked Brea Grant more about her role in “Heroes” and we talked about Greg Grunberg’s Matt Parkman, the coming Fugitives volume,  how things are on the show without the two producers. Find out what Brea says after the cut.

Image credit: Newscom

Brea Grant revealed that Daphne’s past was originally written as part of the episode 8 flashbacks, but the writers decided to move it to a later episode and set it in present day, and that made it a major moment for Daphne.

"It’s a very big moment for Daphne’s character,” Brea began our interview. “It’s a major turning point in her story line where you really realize who she is. Up until this point she’s sort of been carefree and crazy and then you realize where she is coming from.”

Last Monday night, with the part one of Heroes episode 3.10 “Eclipse”, we found out that Daphne Millbrook has cerebral palsy and her condition has no cure. The graphic novel added some details about her character. Daphne grew up as a paralytic. On the day of her mother’s funeral, the first eclipse happened, and her powers of speed manifested.

In the second eclipse, her powers disappeared and Matt Parkman saw Daphne as she really is. How does Daphne really feel about Matt?

Brea Grant admits Daphne is falling for Matt. “Because I think they make a good couple. He was sort of exactly what she was looking for because he really believes in her, that she is a good person. Up to this point she has sort of been hanging out with these people who are villains. She is starting to wonder if she’s a bad guy and he’s the only person who really believes that she is good. Matt is a good person and she sees that in him. I think that is really important for her.”

Do we get to see their relationship progress?

“Yeah, the rest of this first half of the season. You get to see their relationship sort of progress. Yes.”

Marriage?

“They’re not necessarily going to get married, no.”

So, Matt-Daphne fans, there you go! We’ve been waiting for some real romance between these two, and we did see Matt professed his love for Daphne in the last episode.

My interview with Brea shifted to the coming new volume “Fugitives”, where almost everyone will be running. Is Daphne one of them?

“Yeah, I am going to be a fugitive. Everyone is…pretty much most of the Heroes that you know are going to be fugitives.” And who are they all running from?

“I think that that has been revealed. I think I can tell you. You know It’s so funny, there’s all these rules about things they can say and can’t say, but we’re running from the guy that we’re just calling The Hunter right now, and that’s really all I can tell you, but he’s hunting down all of the Heroes.”

That much we already know, but I do want to find out if he’s part of the Company. “No.” Pinehearst? “Not necessarily, no,” was all Brea was letting go.

“We’re wrapping up the story line, you find out what happens to the formula. You find out what happens to Pinehearst, everything gets wrapped up episode thirteen, and at the very end of episode thirteen you get to see a glimpse of what’s happening in fourteen, which is the second book of the season.”

When I asked what’s going to happen to Daphne in the new volume, I learned a new thing or two. Brea elaborates –

“We are only two episodes ahead, and we don’t know ahead of time what’s happening, so I still don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with my character. As far as the regular characters go, you get to see them a lot of things that you probably wouldn’t get to see them do. Matt Parkman goes a little crazy and gets a little bad and a little evil because everybody is on the run. Everybody is in a totally different situation because everybody is being hunted.”

Did you read that? Good cop Matt will be a baddie! Good or bad for the character and their relationship? We’ll find out next year, Brea hinted. On a serious note, I asked her how the show is doing without the two producers Jessie Alexander and Jeph Loeb.

Brea – “They were also major writers, which is going to really change things. I’m not sure how. They were around day to day, but also a lot of the (other) producers and writers are around day to day. So no matter what episode we are shooting, there is at least one writer on the set all the time who had a hand in writing it.”

“It’s different, but it hasn’t changed day-to-day much. I think we’re waiting to see as much as everybody else is. We’re kind of waiting to see if the story lines change, if things happen differently, but right now it only happened a couple of weeks ago, so it’s very new to us.”

Her guess is as good as mine. We’ll know in the next volume how the series changes without the two main producers, and with Tim Kring doing extra care now to return “Heroes” to its first-season glory.

Meantime, tonight, are you watching “Heroes”? Part two of Eclipse is going on right now!

Image credit: NBC Photo / Adam Taylor