A Muscle-Mimic Holds Her Tongue

If there’s one superhuman power that Heroes cast members possess, it’s keeping their mouths shut about the show’s future plotlines. In a recent conference call, new Heroes Dana Davis and (former Star Trek star) Nichelle Nichols talked freely about their characters, the legacy of Hurricane Katrina, and even the forthcoming Star Trek movie helmed by J.J. Abrams­—but they never revealed concrete information about what fans can expect to happen next on their hit show.

On Heroes, Nichols is Nana, the mysterious great aunt of Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey), who lives in New Orleans. Micah comes from a long line of superheroes—his recently deceased father could walk through walls, his mother Niki (Ali Larter) has a split personality endowed with super strength, and Micah himself has power over machines. Davis plays Micah’s cousin Monica, who has recently discovered that she has a special ability of her own: Monica is a muscle-mimic, meaning she can do whatever she sees someone else do. This includes everything from carving tomatoes into pretty shapes and jumping double-dutch to kicking serious ass with moves borrowed from late-night Kung Fu movies.

“Oh my God, I was just kind of thrown into it,” Davis said with a laugh when asked how much training she had to endure to play Monica. “It was really hard for me, because I’m out of shape—I’m an actor, and I don’t even work out. My idea of working out is going upstairs in my apartment. So I had to do a lot of physical things right away ... Now it’s gotten a little easier.”

At that point, Nichols interrupted, affectionately saying, “Don’t believe it. She’s in beautiful shape. But I can appreciate that she’s sore.”

Nichols and Davis aren’t actually related, but in playful moments like this, the two have such a close relationship that it is almost easy to believe they are grandmother and granddaughter in real life as well as on Heroes. Both actresses spoke at length about the importance of family on the show and off—as Davis said: “I think that Heroes really is about family. Sure, it’s a surreal story about people with powers, but the story behind that story is a story about family.”

Nichols agreed and even talked a bit about her own family, saying, “There have been phenomenons in my family, and so I’ve grown up just thinking that what people refer to as ‘powers’ are natural extensions of our lives, of our abilities, and hidden somewhere in that 90 percent of our brain that even Einstein hadn’t used yet.”

Later in the call, she elaborated on those “phenomenons”: “My mother was a genuine psychic—she never went into business for it, but she could interpret dreams ... She knew before I knew everything, she knew when people were in trouble, and she knew when people were pregnant before they did sometimes, and this was a natural thing. It was not a phenomenon to me,” Nichols said.

Maybe diehard Heroes enthusiasts should consider contacting the elder Nichols for information about coming plot twists—Davis and Nichols certainly aren’t talking. When asked whether or not her character has a power, Nichols said only, “I couldn’t tell you if I knew. We very jealously guard what is coming, because it’s very wonderful for the audience to discover in the moment.” Davis agreed, saying, “We’re sworn to secrecy.”

But don’t despair, spoiler lovers—one tidbit of possible information was divulged during the call. After one reporter asked Davis what she thought of “the idea of Monica and some of her super friends and family cleaning up New Orleans,” Davis replied, “Wow ... I think you’re right there with what the producers want. That’s the direction they’re going.”