New Heroes cast member Kristen Bell yelped a heartfelt “yay” at the thought of leaving the teen world behind.

“I always have played about 10 years younger than I am, which
is a major blessing, even in real life,” said Bell, the 27-year-old
former star of Veronica Mars. “My family is very petite and I have a
young-looking face and good genes, I guess. I’m thankful to my parents.

“That being said, as an actor, there are certain things I’m
going through in my own life in my late 20s and that’s what you draw
upon in your acting. So I hope I’ll be accepted playing closer to my
age.

“I know I still look a lot younger. But I’m thankful to be out
of teenage-ville a little bit. I don’t dislike it at all, I’ve just had
my fill of it. I’ve had a lot of it.”

Bell will make her first appearance as a sinister character
named Elle in the next episode of Heroes (Monday on Global and NBC).

“Unfortunately it might be a little bit of a tease, because I
start in episode five (of the second season, which airs Monday), and
then I’m not in six or seven,” Bell said. “But episodes eight and nine
have a lot of Elle.”

Elle has an undisclosed power and she was raised by the
“company” that is at the heart of the plot in Heroes. She has ties to
many of the characters and when we first encounter her, she is looking
for Peter Petrelli (played by Milo Ventimiglia).

“I think one can assume that she finds him,” said series creator Tim Kring.

It isn’t known whether the Peter-Elle connection will be linked
to the show’s foray to Canada, which may be introduced next week and
definitely will be flushed out in episode six.

Bell shot down rumours that she spurned an offer to join the cast of Lost (CTV, ABC) in favour of Heroes.

“The media might have gotten a little bit ahead of themselves,” Bell said.

“I had been spoken to about possibly doing a role on Lost. I was never actually offered one.

“That certainly would have been a wonderful opportunity. But I
had been such a fan of Heroes from the very beginning, this would have
been the dreamiest situation I could have possibly thought up as my
next job. So when Tim came forward, I just sort of pounced on it.”

Bell’s desire to exit the teen world notwithstanding, she
maintains ties to high school as the voice of the unknown Internet
blogger on Gossip Girl (CTV, CW).

“It’s sort of an easy deal for me,” Bell said. “It’s not
on-camera and I always have dreamt about having a job where I can show
up in my jammies.”

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