We'll have to wait until September to find out what happens next on Heroes but the cast has been back at work throughout the summer for our entertainment. Many of them came to NBC's annual summer press party to tease the upcoming episodes. Ali Larter looked more glamorous than any human being should with short shorts revealing most of her bronzed legs. Luckily you don't have to be distracted by that while you read this interview.

Crave Online: Where are you at in the season? How many have you read?

Ali Larter: We are shooting the third right now and they're amazing. They're introducing new characters. The writers on our show are so creative and they just are unleashed I feel like in the writer's room, so it's great.

Crave Online: How are things between Nikki and D.L. now?

Ali Larter: They are interesting. They're interesting. You're going to find a lot out this year about their past and what happened.

Crave Online: Will the Nikki/Jessica dynamic continue at all?

Ali Larter: They're coming into one character. It's only Nikki and I think the writers are so smart on this show that they really looked at what worked and what didn't. To be able to focus on the one character is I think going to be the best move.

Crave Online: How is the work different this year, only playing one character?

Ali Larter: I really am enjoying it. We went down a lot of different roads last year and it was really creative for me that I got to do those scenes where I was in jail and some of the stuff with my son. Playing Jessica, some of the stunt stuff, I feel like I actually jumped through genres at times within the season last year. So I think it was really fun. I think we took risks and chances. I think some worked. I think some didn't. I think this year, the writers are going to look at all that and focus it. I think it'll be great.

Crave Online: How difficult was that to shift in mid scene?

Ali Larter: That was one of the fun challenges that I was talking about being scared of. It could have looked like a soap opera. Not that soap operas are bad but in my work, I try to go for a little bit more realism. So it was challenging but it was such a great year all around, honestly, I feel like most of the cast must be saying that. We were all pushed different ways creatively. The response that we had in the States and around the world is just incredible.

Crave Online: What do you want to see happen for Nikki?

Ali Larter: You know what? What I love about the show is when they let the characters breathe. I love the action packed side of it but I like the dialogue. I'm an actor so I love the dialogue. I love just moments that you can have between actors so I just hope that there's always room for that within all the [action].

Crave Online: Have they told you where the character will go?

Ali Larter: Yes. I've heard a little bit La Femme Nikita.

Crave Online: Are you happy about that?

Ali Larter: Absolutely. I'm happy about most things they give me on the show. What's different about television for me because it's my first show, I'm used to a film where you have a beginning, middle and an end, and with this, once they get to know you, they kind of find your strengths, the things that maybe you're not so great at and focus on it. So I'm excited to see where they're going but I'm not past script three.

Crave Online: What was your reaction to the final episode when Hiro went back in time?

Ali Larter: It was shocking an amazing but if we can do that stuff and push the envelope of what you can see right now on television, how great. Let's keep doing it. I hope that the show keeps taking risks, risks that don't always work but that's going to be something fresh.

Crave Online: What do you think worked and didn't work last year?

Ali Larter: I don't look at it as much in the realm of the show as I look at things that challenged me and that I feel like I was able to do to the best of my ability.

Crave Online: Are more you confident playing the character now after a successful first year?

Ali Larter: Absolutely not. I think the day that happens, I'll hand in my card. A part of for me, is not being sure and always trying to figure it out. That's what I hope I always feel for a lifetime in this industry.

Crave Online: Is this the role you're the most proud of so far?

Ali Larter: I guess you could say that. They gave me some cool stuff to do and I didn't work for a couple years and I really had some life experience and I'm a woman now, so I think that there's more complicated things that I've been through in my life and I'm able to put that into my work. I think things just get more interesting as you get older.

Crave Online: Do you do any training because of the show or for the show?

Ali Larter: I think we're going to be getting into a little of that. I haven't yet. That's the hard thing about television too, you don't have enough leeway. They don't really have things locked until days before sometimes. On film you really have the chance to learn a different language if you need to or you have that couple months to really get in shape.

Crave Online: How do you do it without a trainer?

Ali Larter: You go for it. Absolutely. I will jam it into three days if I have to, absolutely because coming from the film world, there's a certain expectation I have of myself.

Crave Online: What is different about being back this year?

Ali Larter: I just think everything's on a grander scale. I think that's most of all, we made it, we got it. Now let's just try to hold onto the integrity of what made it so special.

Crave Online: What seems grander? Tim said the budget isn't bigger.

Ali Larter: Well, there are different actors coming on so they're introducing different storylines. For me, it just feels that way. Everything feels just a little bit bigger.

Crave Online: Does Nikki still have Jessica's strength?

Ali Larter: That is something that is definitely being explored second season.

Crave Online: What have you done over the summer?

Ali Larter: Well, we only had about four weeks off and I spent that time with my nephews outside of Indianapolis. That was amazing to see how fast the kids grow. I got a chance to go to Hawaii which was amazing and now we're back at work. So it goes like this, bop, bop, bop.

Crave Online: You didn't want to do a movie? Just rest?

Ali Larter: You know what? We didn't have enough time off to really get anything going. With films, you need really about two to three months and even if you're doing small parts, they still want to hold you for a certain amount of time and it just didn't work out this year with the show, but small, small price to pay.

Crave Online: How do you keep your fantastic movie star body?

Ali Larter: Aw, please. You're just being sweet. I'm at the gym. Nothing comes for free.

Crave Online: You took a few years off before Heroes. Are you different now because of that?

Ali Larter: Absolutely. I feel really lucky that I did take a couple years to live in New York and just step away from the business to define myself without the pressures of this industry. It worked out for me. I'm so lucky in getting Heroes. I wasn’t sure I was going to get anything again so it was a time in my life that was filled with a lot of not insecurity and not indecision but instability maybe you could say within my career.

Crave Online: Does Hollywood see you differently now that you're back and in Heroes?

Ali Larter: I don't know. You'd have to tell me that. I don't know.

Crave Online: Where are you going on the Heroes world tour?

Ali Larter: Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

Crave Online: Have you been there before?

Ali Larter: Yes, yes, yes, and I lived in Tokyo just before I turned 18 and it was amazing, so it will be very interesting to go back.

Crave Online: Do you speak the language?

Ali Larter: Conichiwa, arigato. That's about it.

Crave Online: You can learn from Masi.

Ali Larter: Yes, I'm so excited to go with him. Masi, Sendhil, Greg and Tim.

Crave Online: What does your family think of the show and the character?

Ali Larter: They love the show, they love my character. My sister calls it straight to me. She wants to see certain things but for her, I've been in the business for a while so she's just excited that I'm happy.

How Heroes' Ali Larter Became Bollywood's It Girl
by Matt Webb Mitovich

While Heroes' Niki cools her jets this summer, her portrayer can be seen in a very different and certainly less intense role. In the romantic comedy Marigold, now in theaters, Ali Larter plays the title character, a real brat of a B-list actress whose credits include such suspect sequels as "Indecent Proposal 2," "Fatal Attraction 3" and even "Apollo 14." When Marigold's snarkiness finds her stranded in Bombay, it's off to Bollywood — and into the arms of one of the genre's dreamiest leading men. TVGuide.com spoke with Larter about her big-screen lark, and pressed her for scoop on Niki's next heroic adventure.

TVGuide.com: Let's be a bit introspective: Is this the same Ali Larter I spoke to a year ago? Following all this Heroes hoopla?
Ali Larter: Absolutely, absolutely. I love our show, and it has been such an amazing opportunity for me. In this industry we go through so many ebbs and flows, and right now I'm at this great place where I love working on the show and people are responding to it, I have movies coming out that were amazing journeys for me.... It's a fun time.

TVGuide.com: I saw Marigold last night, and it's different, fun, a sort of primer for Bollywood movies.
Larter: It is, it's a sweet little romantic comedy, and I think it gives people a taste of India. This movie stands on its own in its uniqueness. It's about this little bitter actress who gets [a part] in this Bollywood film; it's a fish-out-of-water story and a comedy of errors when you see the cultures collide.

TVGuide.com: As a career choice, did you figure the rewards outweighed the risk?
Larter: I don't ever worry about risks. The more risk, for me, the better. It was such a fun movie to do. We were working six days a week, 12 hours a day, it was so hot, but I was there and I got a chance to really experience this country. I was blown away by the generosity of the people and the women dressed in these blues and greens and oranges and reds, coming over the desert.... It was extraordinary.

TVGuide.com: My favorite part is when it almost turns into a Bollywood film, in a sort of fantasy sequence.
Larter: Right! It's just so fun. It's a Princess Diaries kind of movie. You can go with a date, or you can grab a bunch of girls and go and have fun.

TVGuide.com: Your leading man, Salman Khan — just how huge a star is he over there?
Larter: It's like nothing I've ever experienced. They treat their actors in almost a godlike way. There are shrines built for him, people would chase him everywhere.... He had to have like 10 bodyguards around him. On the other side of it, he was so funny. He has an incredible sense of humor. I feel really lucky to meet him and develop a true friendship.

TVGuide.com: One of Marigold's big obstacles is that she doesn't have particularly great dancing skills for a Bollywood production. Be honest — your own dancing skills going into this movie...?
Larter: [Sheepishly] Terrible. I'm not good. Put me in a club and I can dance till dawn. If you put me in a situation where I have to land on a mark? That presents a bit of a challenge. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: I told myself that that works, though, since Marigold shouldn't evolve into a perfect dancer.
Larter: That's how I thought about it, also! In a Hollywood movie, you usually have six weeks to kind of rehearse. I had three days and did the best I could.

TVGuide.com: I also noticed there is no kissing in the film, which makes it marketable in India. [Marigold, in fact, is being simultaneously released in India, as well the U.K. and Canada.]
Larter: There is definitely a modesty in Indian movies. They've perfected the way you can hint at a kiss.

TVGuide.com: I saw that "sneak preview" you hosted on NBC the other night for your other movie, Resident Evil: Extinction....
Larter: Cool. That comes out Sept. 21, and I play the video-game character Claire Redfield. I'm part of this convoy traveling across a postapocalyptic Nevada desert. It's survival of the fittest. Talk about a bit of whoopass! There are zombies and some big guns. Lots of blood. Lots of gore.

TVGuide.com: Let's finish up with some Heroes talk. I understand you're going to be MIA for a bit of this season, as Niki goes to "fix something"?
Larter: I know I said that to Ausiello, but things get blown out of proportion. It's not like I'm missing. They're introducing five new characters in the beginning of the season, and while that's happening we'll all be weaving in and out. But I was just in there shooting Episode 5, and the writers have some unbelievable ideas for my character, so I'm pretty fired up.

TVGuide.com: I was going to say, Niki is due for a reboot.
Larter: Definitely. What makes our show fresh is that we try different storylines. When you make a show that's provocative and fresh, you have to take risks, and some things work and some things don't. The writers are taking a look at the things that worked for my character and we're going to be moving more into that for the second season.

TVGuide.com: A year ago, you weren't at liberty to spell out for me Niki's superpower. Is it now safe to say that her power is the ability to unleash a can of whoopass?
Larter: [Laughs] I love that! That's a great way to describe it.

TVGuide.com: What about the building buzz that we have seen about the last of D.L.?
Larter: You know what? Nothing's real on our show in that way. If you think someone is going away, they'll probably end up coming back. One of the points of our show is that it has a revolving door. Whatever you expect, think the opposite.

TVGuide.com: I just thought that if he was gone, we could start steering Niki back toward Nathan. Or she and Parkman seemed to share a "look" during the finale.
Larter: Yeahhh.... I've had scenes with Adrian [Pasdar], with Milo [Ventimiglia, who plays Peter].... So who knows?

I wanna see Niki go all La Femme Nikita, that should be cool.

Yeah because Niki used the super strength, so we kinda saw she had it.

I wanna see Niki go all La Femme Nikita, that should be cool.