Interview Excerpt: ‘Heroes’ Co-Executive Producer Adam Armus
Here’s an interview excerpt with Heroes co-executive producer, Adam Armus from the new issue of the Official Heroes Magazine.
Last year was a challenging one for the writers, with some strong critical feedback about the Fugitives volume. What has all that meant for the team’s approach and focus in Fugitives?
ADAM ARMUS: Honestly, it’s really about bringing the humanity back to the show. The dependency on shows like this is to get wound up in the machinations and the mystique of what’s going on. But what we are finding is that our most successful episodes, and the stories that we all like the best, are the ones that focus on our characters and gives them human problems. The idea of Fugitives is a sort of reset and getting back to who the heroes are again. It’s no longer about dealing with The Company and their agenda. It’s about protecting ourselves and finding ourselves and helping ourselves. It’s been the impetus for this arc and it’s allowed us to tell some really nice dramatic stories.
What are the main themes of the volume?
ADAM ARMUS: Fugitives has a strong component of reconnecting the heroes to where they came from and who they are as people. Of course, there is the story about the government going after our heroes, which is the drive of the volume, but our characters will have their moments and discussions about who they are, what they are and what is at stake for them personally not just the world.
A major new player this season is Emmy winner Zeljko Ivanek as The Hunter. What’s he bringing to the mix?
ADAM ARMUS: We have added some fantastic actors and it’s exciting to us because we know our words are in good hands. When we add new blood it’s like a fresh kick. Zeljko is a really talented actor who we are giving a very villainous role to. Initially, we didn’t even have a name for him. We just called him ‘The Hunter.’ Ultimately, we found his character and we’re finding unique stuff for him to do. We paint him as a very bleak guy and then we dig a little deeper and we find a very complex, damaged guy underneath all of that. What better actor to do all that stuff? We have a great story planned for him in episode 22. We see some of the mystery behind the man who is this very dark figure who is Draconian in his approach. We are really excited.
You’ve also added actor Dan Byrd as Sylar’s new sidekick?
ADAM ARMUS: I was a huge fan of Dan Byrd on Aliens in America. I loved him on the show and always thought that show was way ahead of its time. The world wasn’t ready for a show that clever. When I saw his name come up as a possibility I said, ‘We have to get him.’ He has such range and he’s with one of our strongest actors on the screen Zachary Quinto. We needed someone to keep up with him and Dan has not been a disappointment. His character has a dark soul as well. Sylar gets a little bit of a protégé in him, but Sylar and a protégé are not going to take the usual mentor/protégé turns. In the episode that Kay and I just finished, there is a big blowout confrontation that is really powerful.
Read the full interview in issue 9 of The Official Heroes Magazine on newsstands now.
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