By Joseph McCabe
Vivacious, tenacious, flirtatious, curvaceous? A lot of adjectives can be used to describe Ali Larter. Most of them, oddly enough, ending in ?ous.? Go figure.

One thing that won?t leave you puzzled, though, is the reason for Larter?s success?as FEARnet found out when we speak with her the night of her new film Resident Evil: Extinction?s world premiere in Las Vegas. For, in person, Larter projects the same combination of grace and steel that characterizes her role (or roles) on Heroes, as struggling single mom Nicky and her deadly super-powered dual-personality Jessica. The same combo can also be found in her Extinction role. Larter plays the appropriately named redhead Claire Redfield, the de facto leader of the few humans who?ve survived a deadly global plague, trekking across a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland.

Our first question for Larter may mark us as hardcore geeks, but what the hell. Somebody had to ask it. And the blonde bombshell herself didn?t seem to mind.

?If the characters you play in Heroes and Extinction were to fight,? we said, ?who would win??

?The thing is,? says a deadpan Larter, sweetly playing along, ?Jessica has superhuman strength. So, in the end, as soon as you start pitting a true kind of power against a mortal, there?s gonna be a problem.?

?Thanks for clearing that up,? we say. She nods us a ?no problem.?

Moving on to more mundane matters, Larter explains what drew her to the world of Resident Evil. ?I?ve never played the games, and I hadn?t really seen the movies, ?she says. ?I flipped through and saw them on television, [but] the script was really kind of my first introduction to it?

?The first thing that came across was how cool I thought it was to take place in the desert. Because it is a post-apocalyptic world, and I knew that they were gonna be shooting in the desert. I think that it?s really important for these kinds of movies to really have as much realism as possible. One of the things I didn?t realize was it was gonna be a hundred-and-eighteen degrees. The other side of that, too, is that we were sweating, and the trueness that comes out is on screen. That?s something you can?t pay for, or you can?t make up. When we did some of the scenes on a stage, and we put glycerin on our heads and we had a fan or an air conditioner on high, you?re like, ?There?s just an element missing.? So that was something I responded to. And I thought that it was cool that Paul Anderson referenced Mad Max, I thought it was cool that there was The Birds reference. And it was a kind of character that I hadn?t played before, so I thought it was cool.?

So what exactly did Claire offer Larter?

?A lot of characters that I played? I?d just finished shooting the pilot for Heroes, where I get a chance to indulge in the emotional side of myself, and I really love doing that. I didn?t have a chance to do that much before in my career, and I loved the relationship with my son, and the different scenes and things that I get to work on, on the show. In contrast to that, what I love about playing Claire is that there?s no room for that. There?s no time for emotions to get in the way. It?s a do or die world, you know? You allow yourself to indulge in any kind of emotional tendencies and someone?s gonna die. So for me I had to totally shut off some things within myself and find different ways to communicate things to people. And I thought it was interesting how she dealt with different people, took on the mother role with some of the kids, took on the leadership role for the people that needed hope, inspired people who were in despair. I loved the way that she took on different relationships with different people in the convoy.?

Having little Resident Evil exposure prior to taking the role, Larter says she relied on writer-producer Paul W.S. Anderson to bring her up to speed.

?Paul Anderson filled me in, about the T-Virus and Raccoon City and everything with her brother, and that was really the end-all. You?ll see a picture, the reference that that?s what she?s doing, that?s what keeps her holding on?the great hope that her brother?s still alive.?

Since (spoiler alert!) Claire survives her ordeals in Extinction, there?s a chance we may see Larter return to the role in yet another Resident Evil sequel. Though Larter quickly points out that that?s ?in the hands of the producers.?

?I love playing Claire Redfield,? she says, ?and if they feel that there?s a story to tell with the character that I play, I?d love to see it. Let?s see the options. Let?s see what kind of script they come up with. Let?s see what kind of director would be interested in it. And if all the elements are right? ?I?d love to get out that bottle of dye and put on my chamos,? laughs Larter.

Although she?s starred in both the Final Destination and Resident Evil film series, Larter admits she?s not a big fan of most scary movies. ?Really, I don?t like being scared. My sisters chased me around when I was a little girl, and then hopped out of rooms. I get freaked out really easily, and I don?t like doing that. The other side is there?s a little bit of a rush that I?m starting to enjoy a little bit? Psychological stuff freaks me out. That?s kind of where I fall.?

She may not watch many fright flicks, but Larter adores genre fans, and she?s quick to credit them for the success of both Heroes and Resident Evil: ?Yeah, I love them, and I really believe that. I think that the appeal of our show, and the appeal of this movie? it?s the guys and the girls who get on there at night and blog about our characters and their points of view on it. I think life is tough, I think life just keeps getting tougher, and I think that there?s something really great about the entertainment value that comes from videogames, that comes from Resident Evil, that comes from allowing people to indulge in fantasy?that allows people to take on different roles, to do that. What I love most about Comic-Con is that people get to get dressed up in [costumes.] I don?t know?I just think that life is hard. It?s like, entertainment?s entertainment. There?s room for Into the Wild and there?s room for Resident Evil, and both serve amazing purposes in the entertainment industry.?

Heroes has Larter on a pretty busy schedule these days. So the Extinction premiere affords her a little time to relax with family.

?Tomorrow I?m off,? she says, ?but?not. Everything?s ?kind of.? Because, the last three and a half weeks, I?ve had so much with the world tour, with the show, with Resident Evil, Cosmo. I did some stuff with Dove and their ?Real Woman? campaign, Cosmo came out. I?ve just been, like, ?Go!? It?s been this storm of it all, so I?m just kind of?in it right now. I look forward to my family being here, drinking a little champagne, having a dance with my dad, you know? Having a great dinner tomorrow night, and then back into it. No rest.?

Speaking of Heroes, how is the second season of the surprise superhero hit shaping up?

?Great! We can?t say anything and I know nothing. I don?t know the next episode. People want to know where it?s going? I don?t even know. Last year we had a better idea, and this year it?s really top secret. I think that they?re doing that to make sure that there?s still a surprise for the audience.?

We ask Larter if her castmates envy her opportunity to play two distinct personalities on the show.

?No,? she laughs. ?I think everyone on the show loves the character that they play. I did a scene last week where I got to work with three other actors?two that I hadn?t worked with before, and we just had a giggle in the room. When the original cast, when some of us, are together, there?s like a fairy dust that?s sprinkled. There?s a little bit of magic in the air. We all really love each other and we all really respect each other, and that shows in the work and it shows in the scenes. And I think there?s still so far for all of us to go.?

So what?s next for Larter? More movie roles?

?I have about three or four things that I?m looking at for my hiatus,? she says, ?and we?ll see what happens. It?s still a little bit early to be locking it. But there?s things that I?ve read, that I want to be a part of. We?ll see what happens and we?ll see if it works out with the show. Look, if we run over, I can?t do one. So for me? I?ve been in this business for a while, guys, and I love the character that I play, I love the show. And if I get to do movies while I?m on it, fantastic. If I don?t, I love being part of the world that they?ve created. Life is just good.?