"Heroes"' Man with a (Sinister) Plan

Next to Masi Oka’s Hiro, the most intriguing character on “Heroes� is Jack Coleman’s “H.R.G.,� who seemed something of an afterthought in the pilot but has since blown up into a complex, terrifically Machiavellian character. Claire’s dad is running the show, a vast, murky conspiracy against the other characters, yet still trying to protect her from whatever it is he’s up to.

Coleman, a friendly, funny guy who’s also a big fan of the Clippers’ Elton Brand, first came to prominence on the ’80s primetime soap “Dynasty.� He suggests that in contrast to that show, “Heroes� seems downright plausible.

“In some ways, ‘Dynasty’s’ plots were even more improbable,� he says with a laugh. “Crystal’s evil twin being locked up in an attic with George Hamilton for three-quarters of a season, that’s probably more improbable than bending time and space.�

Coleman says his character was a more a pair of eyeglasses than a real character at the outset.

“It was something that was written into the script from the very beginning – he was known as Horn Rimmed Glasses; there was no name,� he recalls. (He’s still simply referred to in scripts as “H.R.G.�) “Clearly, it was a look that Tim (Kring, series creator) wanted, a sort of Max von Sydow/'Three Days of the Condor' kind of character. And there’s nothing like a pair of horn-rimmed glasses that add an air of possible sinister quality to somebody. I think they just started really enjoying all the shots they could get with the glasses.�

Kring says, “Jack is a spectacular bit of casting. He committed to the show based on five lines of dialogue in the pilot, and playing a mysterious character who has little to sink your teeth into in the pilot. And a pilot is a big thing to commit to. When we cast that part, we wanted someone we would want to explore. It’s a testament to Jack that that character has become as prominent as he has.

“Jack really met us halfway and allowed us to take him in all the fun directions because he’s so fun to watch,� Kring continues. “He’s a very intelligent actor and does not lean away from a dark character, and yet that character is so grounded in wanting to be the perfect father. He’s quintessentially protective."

Coleman describes his character, dropping a couple of spoilers, so consider that in your decision to read further:

“This is a guy who has a really difficult job, but he loves his job. But as the season goes on, he’s probably having some serious second thoughts as to how much he loves his job because in the first few episodes you see a guy kind of at the top of his game, and as the season goes on, events start to overwhelm him. He’s certainly resourceful and tough and duplicitous.

“But kind of nothing’s going his way in the middle of the season. He’s lost Claire to a certain extent. For the first half of the season, H.R.G. has this big secret on Claire and for the second half, she has this big secret on him. She doesn’t know exactly what he’s up to but she knows he’s up to something. She knows his method, she knows the Haitian is his accomplice and it was intended for her and she avoided it. I don’t know what that whole double-crossing thing with the Haitian is about or how it’ll play out, but the second half of the season, she sees him through a different prism. He’s still trying to keep her out of harm’s way, but no longer does he have the advantage of her being a willing accomplice. She’s looking at him like, ‘Who are you? What is your malfunction and why am I supposed to play along with this?’�

In a scene shot the day of my set visit, H.R.G. brings his wife Sandra (Ashley Crow) home from the doctor, filling Claire (Hayden Panettiere) with even more dread. “She’s started to have her memory erased one too many times, and it’s having its effect on her,� Coleman explains.

In fact, it gets so bad that Sandra doesn’t even recognize her beloved pooch Mr. Muggles. Episode director Roxann Dawson joked, “Muggles should be stuffed in this episode and she wouldn’t notice.�

Coleman admits even he’s not sure what H.R.G. is up to. “My feeling is, it’s a sort of need-to-know basis. I have a scene today where I’ll have to ask one of the producers, ‘What does this line mean?’ Not necessarily ultimately what it means, but I need to know what I’m saying. I don’t get into the am-I-good-am-I-bad stuff. I know how to play it. Certainly, they’re going to shade it in a way that’s going to make it more clear. When I’m on the phone and ask a question about Claire, what does this mean? Not in terms of the season finale, but at this moment, what does this mean?�

Of his character, Coleman says, “I don’t think anybody in their wildest dreams would’ve thought that this character has become what he has become. The great thing Tim did fairly early on was think, ‘Wait a minute? What if this shadowy guy is her father?’ My guess is that the sort of mantra that he and the writers keep in their head is that there’s no point in anything being completely random or arbitrary. So he’s writing the shadowy character, make him connected – make him really connected. It ratchets up the ante, makes everything more interesting. So even in the pilot, where there were only three scenes and two in which I was somewhat obscure, I knew there was great potential there if everything worked out.�

Coleman concedes the specter of characters getting killed off on the show is daunting. “It’s a jittery business,� he says. “There’s little sanctuary for anyone in this line of business. You can be replaced at pretty much any time no matter what you’re doing. Certainly, this show has more of that because it’s fraught with danger. I know there were a couple of people earmarked early on that have not died because it’s working so well. It’s hard to start killing people off when you like what’s happening.�

In tonight’s episode, which takes place two weeks after the finale in the fall, H.R.G. attempts to enlist Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) to help him with his murky machinations. “Together, we can actually make a difference,� he says -- warns? promises?

Meanwhile, Claire pretends to H.R.G. that she has in fact lost her memory. Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) worries that Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) is absorbing the powers of others at a dangerous rate. Hiro locates the sword that turned up in Isaac’s painting, and turns up a new shadowy figure in the conspiracy: One Mr. Linderman.

- “Heroes:� 9 tonight on NBC (Channel 4).