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| Zachary Quinto stars as Sylar in "Heroes" season three episode 'The Second Coming" | |
Is it possible that one of television’s most sinister villains is going soft? You would think so from listening to Zachary Quinto -- who plays the evil Sylar on NBC’s “Heroes” -- talk about what fans can expect from his character in the forthcoming season, entitled “Villains,” which begins September 22nd.
“There’s a softer side to my character in this episode,” said Quinto.
The episode to which the actor is referring is the fourth of the popular show’s third season, and will feature another glimpse into a possible future for the expansive cast of characters.
CBR News recently visited the set of the hit show and spoke to Quinto about his character, the series, and a few interesting surprises that fans can look for.
“This is an alternative sort of reality,” explained Quinto of the episode he was shooting. “As our show does and has done in the past, you catch glimpses of time that may or may not actually come to fruition but are possibilities. Episode nineteen of Season One was called ‘Five Years Gone,’ and that whole episode was based on that premise. This episode has elements of that and my character is involved in those elements.”
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| Zachary Quinto stars as Sylar in "Heroes" season three episode 'The Second Coming" |
Quinto, who was dressed very “un-Sylar,” wearing Khakis and a button-down shirt, had his hands covered in paint for the scene. “There is a little bit of painting that happens in this scene as well,” he said. “Because I am put in a position to prove something to myself in this scene and I employ my old stand-by ‘paint the future’ power in order to do that.”
In this episode’s glimpse at a possible future, our favorite villain is living a pretty normal life. Quinto explained, “What was the Bennet house is now inexplicably my house.” He also went on to drop this bombshell, “My son’s name is Noah. Isn’t that interesting?” That’s right -- Sylar has a son in the future and he named him Noah!”
Quinto would not say who his son’s mother is, but when asked if the spawn of Sylar inherited any of his father’s powers, he did have something to share. “My son actually is a gifted child. He’s very subdue and cool both as an actor and a character.”
Although Sylar may be different in the future, it sounds like fans can expect “present day” Sylar to be up to his old tricks. “There’s no softer side there,” joked the actor. “The great thing about my character this year is that he’s all over the map. In terms of his internal conflicts, the orders that he is given by certain people that have power over him this season and the situations that puts him in, it really forces him to employ a kind of restraint that you haven’t seen him necessarily need to employ before.”
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| Sylar action figure | |
Of the new season, “Villains,” Quinto said, “It’s the most fun I’ve had on the show so far. That’s hard to say actually because the first season was amazing and last year was really exciting too, but it feels like it’s emerging unto itself.”
“Heroes” employs a hectic shooting schedule that involves filming scenes from several episodes at the same time. “Right now I’m doing [episodes] two, four, eight and nine,” stated Quinto. When asked if shooting simultaneous episodes of a show known for jumping around its timeline is difficult, the actor was hopeful. “So far so good, but we’ll see.”
Finally, Quinto shared his feelings on returning to the show after last year’s writers strike cut the second season short. “I think that the time we had away from the show really made all of us that much more grateful to come back and that much more excited,” he said. “It’s been so long since we’ve been on the air. All of us are just really a hundred percent committed to what we’re making this year. The response that we got at Comic-Con was so exciting and so enthusiastic that we’re really excited to carry that into the rest of the season with us.”
“Heroes Volume Three: Villains” will begin attacking viewers September 22 on NBC.
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Keywords: heroes, zachary quinto, sylar