Mamma Petrelli answers our questions !
Cristine Rose by Mitchell Haaseth/NBC
TVGuide.com: That was quite a reveal in the season premiere!
Cristine Rose: It was! It's a good one, I think.
TVGuide.com: How did you react when you first read that script?
Rose: Well, they had been hinting at a big surprise. Actually, it was Zach [Quinto, Sylar] who said, "I think I know, I think I know...," the day before I got the script. He told me and I said, "That's so cool!" What's interesting is we actually shot almost the entire scene just before the [winter 2007-08 WGA] strike, when it was in Episode 13. In the interim, they added the fact that he is my son, so we reshot parts of it. They actually have split the scene in two, and at the beginning of [this week's Episode] 3 you'll see it has a double punch. The revelation that he is my son is just the beginning. In Week 3, you get beyond the "icky" factor.
TVGuide.com: Is Sylar "happy" to hear the news? Will he be sending you Mother's Day cards?
Rose: Hmmm, does that fit into his character? No.... [Chuckles] But that's not why I need him or want him. In the past I've dealt with whether or not I love my children or whether I had indeed bore them out of a need for power, to use them as tools or weapons. She can be torn at times, but they are weapons for her.
TVGuide.com: So she's happy with Sylar's bad boy status?
Rose: She has to harness him. And he only has the power of telekinesis at this point, and that's not going to be much good to her. The reason she needs these tools in the first place is it's rather frustrating just having the power of dreams.
TVGuide.com: It is a pretty mediocre party trick.
Rose: Yes, in the end I'd much rather have the ability to change my hairdo. But having those dreams and no other active ability, it makes sense that she would use [her children]. I have come to think of Sylar as my weapon of mass destruction. But how is she going to harness his potential?
TVGuide.com: How was the role of Angela first presented to you?
Rose: In that first pilot scene, she's rather dominated by Nathan — she has just stolen a pair of socks, and came off as a rather mealy mouthed type of character. But I played it with a tinge of humor, and in the next scene with Peter you saw a bit of her gumption. I saw her as not being born into wealth, but coming from somewhere else. She's not hurting for money, and she's not hurting for spunk. I was open to anything.
TVGuide.com: Think we'll ever get flashbacks to a younger Angela, to explore her origins?
Rose: Well, I do know that in the middle of this "Villains" volume we go back — I cant say how far back — and get insight into who Angela is and why she is the way she is. It wasn't too long ago that she was very different. But something happened that really set her on a course to be the woman she is today.
TVGuide.com: Do you enjoy more working with the younger folk or your contemporaries?
Rose: What a terrible question! [Laughs] There is no answer. I have been blessed to work with incredible people on this cast. It's been fun to work with Milo [Ventimiglia] and Adrian [Pasdar] because they give as good as they take.
TVGuide.com: And then you have the Malcolm McDowells....
Rose: I have not, as of this point that we are talking about, had scenes with him, but... that might be coming up. And we know that Robert Forster is appearing this season as Arthur [Petrelli], who we know is dead, so it has to be in the past. He has been lovely to work with. I have worked with Malcolm this season and I have worked with Robert and it is a different, delicious dynamic playing with my contemporaries.
TVGuide.com: Speaking of Arthur, is he necessarily Sylar's father?
Rose: [No response]
TVGuide.com: "And there was deafening silence."
Rose: [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Moving onto the next question....
Rose: I will tell you, I have a theory from when I heard that Malcolm McDowell was coming on to join us. My fantasy was that he was actually the father of Nathan, and out of that sprung the possibility that we all met at Woodstock, dropped some acid and enjoyed the "Summer of Love." And then when George Takei came into play, I was just grinning so big. [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Has Cristine Rose ever dreamed the future?
Rose: You know, I never dreamed that I would have at this late date such a glorious bit of my career. I had a nice career on the stage, a lovely two decades in L.A..... So now that this as come along, I've been overpaid.
TVGuide.com: And lastly, has How I Met Your Mother expressed a need to have you back this season as Ted's mom?
Rose: I don't know, they haven't called. I figure that when he gets married I have to be at the wedding! They've used me a couple times, and I would love to be there when he meets "the mother" and gets married."