Ali Larter 20Q Interview

TV's hottest hero talks about her on-screen split personality, discusses chest size, learns to pole dance and explains why her ideal man has to be a sports fan

Q1

PLAYBOY: On Heroes you play two parts: Niki, the good girl, and her dead sister, Jessica, who is trouble. Since they now see each other only in reflective surfaces, how has your role changed your own mirror routine?
LARTER: Not much. I feel mirrors are more for when you're young and nervous and judging yourself. When I look in the mirror now, I see happy. There's a little twinkle in my eye. It's a nice time in my life. There are always ups and downs and in-betweens, but my family is healthy. I'm in love with my boyfriend, and I love my TV show. It's a nice moment. And here comes the hurricane! [laughs].

Q2

PLAYBOY: Imagine the Niki-Jessica action figure. Will they make one with a head that flips or sell two dolls separately?
LARTER: If I had to guess based on the way we're going on the show right now, there would be only one. The two characters will merge, taking the strengths of both—Niki's vulnerability and Jessica's backbone—to make a complete woman.

Q3

PLAYBOY: The other heroes have some pretty cool powers. Who would you like to trade with?
LARTER: Ooh! I don't know. For a day I would like to teleport. I would love to experience different time periods. I would love to have felt the counterculture movement in the 1960s, to have been a flapper, to have had dinner with my great-great-grandfather.

Q4

PLAYBOY: Your current film is Resident Evil: Extinction. Give us a short course in fighting zombies, killer crows and creatures infected with a terrible virus.
LARTER: The movie is two hot girls kicking ass in the desert. I play Claire Redfield, an established video-game character. She is really strong and the leader of a convoy, and she treats all the other characters in different ways: She acts as a mother to one; she treats another like a boyfriend. She knows what's going on. It's a huge international movie, and I thought the script was pretty good. It was also a chance to go to Mexico for six weeks, kick some butt, shoot some guns, make some money and get a new audience.

Q5

PLAYBOY: As part of a sci-fi-fantasy television series, you appear at comic-book conventions. When did you last tell a fan to get a life?
LARTER: I did Comic-Con last year. This year I was at WonderCon for Resident Evil, and a guy asked me, about Heroes, "You're the worst on the show. When are you going to die?" All I could think about was how he must have stayed up late the night before thinking about how he was going to get me. I didn't say "Get a life," because his comment hurt me a bit. But I'd say it now.

Q6

PLAYBOY: When do you most like being the hot blonde?
LARTER: The older I get, the more I like it. I had a harder time when I was younger and fighting to be taken more seriously. I was in a lot of teen genre movies as the blonde character, and I wanted to be this dark, intellectual, brooding character instead. But that wasn't me. Once you stop trying to be someone else, once you give up--and for me it was giving up--you can have anything you want. They think I'm a dumb blonde? C'est la vie.

Q7

PLAYBOY: About your movie 3-Way, an Internet critic wrote, "The girl you want to see with her shirt off never takes it off. Where is the justice?" Why not give your fans what they want?
LARTER: I don't do nudity. I'm not saying I never will, but what's under my clothes is mine and my lover's. In the right hands nudity can be beautiful and provocative. It has to mean something, not just showing your boobs. There are certainly times when nudity can accentuate a scene. Take Kate Winslet in Little Children. How brave and beautiful was she?

Q8

PLAYBOY: How does a real-chested gal of average proportions make it in the land of silicone and surgery? Are you pressured to enhance?
LARTER: Average? I'd say a little smaller than average. [laughs] I have little boobs. I embrace my chest bone, right here [points]. If surgery makes you feel better about your body, I don't judge it. But I would be uncomfortable if I had made that decision. Surgery isn't who I am. It's not what I believe in and not how I want to be in bed.

Q9

PLAYBOY: What part of your body do you love more than any other?
LARTER: I have a little belly, and I'm learning to love it. I can't lay a ruler flat from hip bone to hip bone anymore. I definitely have a soft little area. I also have a bit of a bubble butt.

Q10

PLAYBOY: We read that Niki was originally envisioned as a showgirl but was changed to an Internet stripper because of your physique. How does a serious actress prepare for a stripper role?
LARTER: I did some research. I went online. What struck me most was the blankness in most of their eyes. That was what I wanted to show. I thought it was sad, but my boyfriend thought it was thrilling. He'd call while I was researching and say, "Hey, what are you doing?" "I'm online, watching some girls stripping." He was like, "On my way!" In a recent episode I play a pole dancer. I took private lessons for a week, a couple of hours a day. I have a newfound respect for those women. It's harder than you imagine, but I made it look good.