Go ahead and count Zachary Quinto out of the upcoming ‘Heroes’ reboot as well as the next season of ‘American Horror Story’ as well…
When ‘Heroes’ debuted in 2006 there was a murderous villain named Sylar that was supposed to be the ultimate big bad for the show, but at the time the creators behind the series didn’t even cast the part instead opting for a shadowy figure wearing a baseball cap down over his eyes. Only a few episodes later did they finally find an actor to play the power stealing bad guy and that’s where Zachary Quinto came in and not only performed but really did a masterful job in the part.
Quinto was so good that Sylar, despite being the villain, was one of the most popular characters in the ‘Heroes’ franchise and became nearly impossible for the producers of the show to kill off due to his immense connection with fans of the show. When ‘Heroes’ wrapped up its run after four seasons, Quinto went onto several other major roles including his turn as Spock in the rebooted ‘Star Trek’ franchise from director J.J. Abrams.
But now with ‘Heroes Reborn’ planned for a 2015 run on NBC and at least one major character from the original series already confirmed to return, many have wondered if Quinto could make an appearance as everyone’s favorite bad guy Sylar.
Well unfortunately while Quinto does stay in contact with executive producer Tim Kring, scheduling will not likely allow him to return to the part, and truth be told since he’s moved onto new roles after ‘Heroes’ was over, he’s not even sure he’d like to revisit that part of his life again.
“I’ve been in touch with Tim over the years, and he told me that they were doing it, and certainly left the door open for me to be involved. The trouble is really my availability,” Quinto said when speaking to Comic Book Resources. “I don’t know that it would really even be possible, and it’s a challenge for me because that experience and that role and that opportunity really changed my life completely and sent me on a path that I might not otherwise have been on. But at the same time, I’m very interested in forward momentum, I’m very interested in diversity, I’m very interested in expanding people’s expectations of me and defying people’s expectations of me. And I don’t know that going back to such a definitively iconic character would necessarily do that.”
Another part that Quinto took up in his time since ‘Heroes’ ended was in a supporting role during the first two seasons of the FX anthology series ‘American Horror Story’. Quinto made several appearances in season one and then took on a lead role in season two titled ‘Asylum’ but he was absent during season three last year (American Horror Story: Coven) and it appears he won’t be around for the new season either.
‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’ will take place in a carnival in 1952 and while much of the cast from the first three seasons including Jessica Lange and Evan Peters will return for the new seasons, Quinto doesn’t expect to make an appearance this year.
“I’m not involved in American Horror Story: Freak Show,” Quinto confirmed. “And I’m pretty sure that my schedule would prevent me from getting involved at this point, because I know they’re well into shooting the season.”
The only returning role Quinto knows for sure he will be doing at some point in the future is playing Spock again for the third ‘Star Trek’ movie, but even that film is still up in the air until a final script has been returned to the studio for approval. In the mean time, Quinto will keep busy with his new reality show on Starz titled ‘The Chair’ where two rookie filmmakers take the same script and make their own version of the movie. The winner will be chosen by fan votes and the director will receive $250,000 as a grand prize.
‘The Chair’ debuts on September 6 on Starz
