On Wednesday, actor Leonard Roberts penned a lengthy and disturbing article on Variety, in which he detailed alleged friction while acting in the mid-aughts superhero show Heroes, resulting in his role being greatly reduced and his character unceremoniously killed off. Among those who made his experiences unpleasant, he said, was co-star Ali Larter, who played his character’s wife and who, he claimed, treated him differently than she did other screen partners. Mere hours later, Larter has responded, saying Roberts’ account left her “heartbroken.”
Roberts wrote that Larter was distant and cold with him, and that she made dramatic changes in what was supposed to be an intimate scene between their characters. He later learned that she had no such concerns with such scenes with another actor, who’s white, leading him to wonder if race had been a factor. He implied that she was partly responsible for his character being written off the show in the beginning of Season 2.
Larter began trending soon after the Variety article went live, and she soon issued a statement to TVLine, expressing horror at what Roberts had gone through though claiming that none of what she is accused of doing was intentional:
“I am deeply saddened to hear about Leonard Roberts’ experience on Heroes and I am heartbroken reading his perception of our relationship, which absolutely doesn’t match my memory nor experience on the show. I respect Leonard as an artist and I applaud him or anyone using their voice and platform. I am truly sorry for any role I may have played in his painful experience during that time and I wish him and his family the very best.”
Roberts’ Variety piece was corroborated by 10 other people either involved with Heroes or who had knowledge of the experiences in question. Larter had also been contacted, but she wouldn’t make any on-the-record statements. Heroes ran for four seasons starting in 2006, and its creator, Tim Kring, said his goal was to “cast the most diverse show on television.”
(Via TVLine)
