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Huntington Woods native tests her powers in NBC prime-time drama.  Kristen Bell might not have super powers in real life, but don’t be surprised to start seeing her appear everywhere at once.

The 27-year-old actor, who grew up in Huntington Woods, wowed TV critics as the star of “Veronica Mars.” Since that show’s cancellation, she has juggled a busy schedule, narrating the CW show “Gossip Girl” and filming two upcoming movies, “Fanboys” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

But Bell has recently garnered the most buzz for her Oct. 22 debut on NBC’s sci-fi hit, “Heroes.” On the show, she plays Elle, a superhuman who was raised within a shadowy organization called the Company.

At an Oct. 16 media teleconference, Bell and “Heroes” creator Tim Kring unveiled a few facts about Elle. She is searching for Peter Petrelli (played by Milo Ventimiglia) and knows about his past. She also has connections to HRG (Jack Coleman) and Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere).

Though Bell kept her character’s super power a secret, she said she found it refreshing to portray Elle’s depth and conflict — a clash of ferocity, guts and blindness to right and wrong.

“She’s a little messed up in the head, which makes her really manipulative and always out to get what she wants,” Bell said. “She very much enjoys her power and enjoys the emotional power it gives her over other people.”

Kring explained that the writers dreamed up Bell’s character before she was cast. “But when you do cast an actor, especially one where you are familiar with their work … you try to tailor their character a little closer to who the actor is,” he said. “So it’s hard to know when one starts to influence the other.”

Bell compared her first jitters of joining the cast to enrolling in a new school. But knowing several cast members, like Zachary Quinto, made the transition much easier. “It felt like I was starting a school that all my friends already went to,” she said.

Although Bell debuted this week — the fifth episode of the season — her character’s storyline will play out in episodes eight and nine, she said. She is currently signed for 13 episodes, after which she will discuss what happens next with her bosses.

While she said she hopes to stay on the show, she added that she tries not to think too far ahead with her career predictions — even for 2008. “I try to live moment to moment just in general,” she said.

Bell started her early career in metro Detroit by appearing in commercials and local theater, such as Stagecrafters in Royal Oak. The theater, she said, was where she grew up because being “always about 50 pounds” didn’t make sports very fulfilling.

“When we were at Stagecrafters, we would make the set, and it was a very comfortable circle of friends,” she said. “And I really miss being on the live stage and sort of seeing the immediate gratification of seeing the audience laugh or cry or emote at all.”

After attending New York University, Bell performed on Broadway. But while she said she loves and misses the stage, movies and television carry their own perks.

“Film is so much fun as well, and it’s a little more like camp,” she said. “With TV, I really like the security, and I like the sense of family.”

Since filming “Fanboys,” a movie about traveling “Star Wars” fanatics, Bell said, she got in touch with her inner geek, appearing at comic book conventions and making a recent pilgrimage to see “Tron” and “The Last Starfighter” at the movie theater.

When Bell meets her “intense” fans, she considers their shaking, tears and sweaty palms a compliment because it means they are invested in her work.

“The thing about cult shows for me is that I would so much rather be on a show that people are wildly obsessed with …  than on a show that people just turn on because it’s on prime-time television,” she said.

Article courtesy of C and G Newspapers

By Eric Czarnik
C & G Staff Writer

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