'Heroes' Expands Universe with Roberts

Zap2It.com | January 23, 2007

Eric Roberts

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Cohen reunites with 'Gilmore Girls' creator at FOX

The cast of "Heroes" will grow a little bit more this season with the addition of the ever-busy Eric Roberts.

The one-time "Less Than Perfect" star will join the first-year NBC hit later this season. He'll be playing a character named Thompson, an associate of Jack Coleman's shadowy HRG, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In other casting news, Scott Cohen ("Law & Order: Trial by Jury") is reuniting with "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino on a FOX pilot, and former "24" regular James Badge Dale will star in NBC's drama "Fort Pit."

It's unclear whether Roberts will be a regular or have a recurring part on "Heroes." He's one of several recent additions to the cast; former "Dr. Who" Christopher Eccleston made his first appearance on the show Monday, and Stana Katic ("24," "The Shield") was seen in a preview for a future episode. Jessalyn Gilsig ("Nip/Tuck") will also be featured on the show this season.

Roberts, whose credits range from "Star 80" to "The Cable Guy" to "Less Than Perfect," will next be seen in the Hallmark Channel's miniseries "Pandemic." He also has several film projects at various stages of production.

Also at NBC, Dale will play a fresh-from-the-academy police officer in "Fort Pit," a drama about a precinct filled with rookies and veteran officers riding out the last days of their careers. Dale starred in the third season of "24" and recently co-starred in the Oscar-nominated "The Departed."

Cohen, meanwhile, has taken a role in "The Return of Jezebel James," a comedy about two estranged sisters who reunite when one agrees to carry the other's baby. He'll play the boyfriend of one of the sisters. It's a reunion with Sherman-Palladino for Cohen, who played Lorelai's (Lauren Graham) boyfriend Max Medina early in the show's life.