Among the many developments to come when season three of Heroes kicks off on Sept. 22--which it will do with a two-hour premiere consisting of the episodes "The Second Coming" and "The Butterfly Effect"--Suresh will shoot himself up with a serum that will make him as powerful, in his own unique way, as Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), Sylar (Zachary Quinto) or any of the show's assorted heroes and villains. In fact, the big question is this: Will Suresh use his new-found powers for good or evil?SCI FI Weekly recently chatted with Sendhil Ramamurthy about Suresh, the ramifications of the character gaining powers, and what it's meant to the Indian-American actor to be part of a global sensation like Heroes.
Volume 3 of Heroes is called "Villains," and Suresh apparently will head down a dark path at least for a while. How have you enjoyed exploring that side of the character?
Ramamurthy: Certainly, as an actor, to get to explore all facets of a character is great. The fact that I've got that opportunity is huge for me as an actor, but I also think that fundamentally the character is the same. You're just going to see a little bit of a darker side to him that I think any good character has. It's just that usually you don't get a chance to see it on TV because if a character is good, a character is good, and that's it. It's usually black and white, whereas we're getting into grey territory for a lot of the characters. The way that it's done I think is going to be kind of gripping for the audience. They have to deal with the consequences of their actions. It's kind of what the season is about for a lot of the characters. I think Suresh starts to question his morals a little bit because of what's happening around him, to the people around him and what's happening to him. There are changes happening to him because of this power. He's out of control and Suresh, if anything, has always tried to be in control of his emotions, because that's all he's got. He didn't have a power. He was the moral compass of the show and his compass goes a little bit askew this volume.
There's an inherent risk in Suresh gaining a power, in that he's not only been the show's moral compass, but also its most human character, the one that the audience probably most relates to. What was your initial reaction when you were told about what would happen this season of Heroes?
Ramamurthy: I never wanted the character to have powers. Again, you've got to understand, as an actor, it's not like [creator and executive producer] Tim Kring calls you up during the hiatus and is like, "Hey, we're going to give Suresh a power. What do you think?' You get the first script and Suresh has a power. You're not really consulted. But as an actor you just go with it. That's kind of the life of an actor. You do what you can with what you're given. And I was extremely skeptical. There were a lot of emails back and forth and phones calls with Tim about it because I was very unsure. I still am unsure; I don't know how I'm going to react. The audience reaction at Comic-Con was unbelievable. I think it works, and I never thought it would. I really didn't. I told them, "We're going to be in trouble here." As it's progressed, the way that they've done it, it really works, surprisingly. And I'll be the first one to admit that I was wrong, because I didn't think it would work.Chances are if we spoke six months ago and asked what you might like to see for Suresh you might have said, "I'd like to see him have a power for a while." Now that he's got a power, what else would you like to see?
Ramamurthy: Wow. What I would really like to ... just from my own personal point of view as the actor, I'd really like to explore more of his beginnings, Suresh's beginnings, his origins as it were. I'd like to find out more about his interactions with his family, with his father and his mother and, really, the sister. I think it would be really cool to have an origins episode with Shanti, the [deceased older] sister, the one that was born with the power. Some actors will go up and pitch storylines to writers, and they're actually open to it. They'll listen and they'll either go with it or they won't. I've never really done that, but if you were Tim Kring I would say, "I think it would be really cool to kind of explore Shanti a little bit, and just the family dynamic in general, to see how Suresh became who he is."
Prior to Heroes, you were best known as a stage actor in England. As a result of being part of the show is Hollywood calling? Are you reading more scripts?
Ramamurthy: I am. During the writers' strike I did a movie called The Slammin' Salmon, with the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. I got to do some comedy, which, again, nobody looks to me for comedy, for whatever reason. I guess I don't look funny. I don't really even get auditions for comedy, or I didn't. Now, things have opened up. And, you know, I think the thing that I'm the most excited about is that it's opened up the doors to parts that aren't specifically Indian, that aren't specifically tailored to your ethnicity. People are calling me in just to play a part, and it has nothing to do with whether you're Indian, white, Hispanic, African-American, whatever. I think that's been the biggest difference that I have seen as far as meetings. I am kind of in final negotiations, I'm hoping, for a movie. I can't say anything about it yet, but it would go during the hiatus. I think we're supposed to finish shooting sometime in March if all goes as planned, because we're doing 25 episodes this season. Actually, after I get off the phone, I have a conference call with my agent and my attorney to discuss it all. But there's an offer for a film and I like the script a lot and I like the woman I'd be playing opposite, and it'd be my first lead in a movie. I'd carry the film. I'd play the title character. And that would never have come my way had it not been for [Heroes], and I'm very aware of it. So I have a lot to be thankful for, a lot to be grateful for. 
