Exclusive Interview with Eve Harlow from Heroes Reborn

Eve Harlow was born in Moscow, Russia before moving to Israel and then Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her theater actress mother was supportive of her dream to become an actress and her family has continued to back her along the way.

Eve is best known for her role in the film Juno and the TV shows The 100 and now Heroes Reborn.

Keep reading to read our lunchtime interview with her!

Hi! How are you?

“I’m good! Just let me step out of the restaurant.”

What were you having for lunch?

“Fresh. I’m vegan so it’s one of the only vegan places in Toronto. It’s pretty awesome.” 

I’m not vegan so I’m not jealous. (Laughs).

“Ohh! This stuff is so good, though! For real! I’ve brought most of the rest of the cast here as well, actually. I’m just like, ‘Come on, guys, give it a shot.’ “

Well, I will try to make this quick so you can get back to eating.

“(laughs).”

Did you watch the original series?

“Actually, I didn’t. We didn’t have cable when I was a kid, but, everybody I knew watched it. So I was very much aware of the fact that Heroes was a huge show and like, ‘Save the cheerleader, save the world.’ Everybody knew that tagline, you know?”

Did you watch it once you got cast? 

“I did. Yeah. I mean, you kind of have to, you know. To get an idea, and especially since, I don’t know if I’m – anyway, later in the show – it’s like in the next episode, but – basically, you find out that I know who Noah Bennett is. So it was important for me to know who he was, and also out of respect for the people I was working with. Jack is one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met, and I think when you’re working with someone, it’s just I like to get to know what they do. I was also, like, Henry Zabrowski, who plays Quentin, he has a podcast so, you know, I listened to it. Just because I like to be familiar with my castmates’ work.”

Who was your favorite character when you finally did watch?

“I know it may sound funny, but I really like Sylar. I think that – and I find that in a lot of stuff that I watch, I’m very much drawn to the villain. A well-played and well-written villain. I don’t know why! (laughs). Maybe it’s just the dark side of me that’s drawn to it. I find they’re complex and they always seem so evil, but there’s always an underlying issue that kinda explains everything. Sylar has his mommy issues. Magneto in X-Men also had has his mommy issues. It all kinda boils down to mommy issues (laughs), I’m telling you!”

Well, my favorite was Elle Bishop and she kinda had some daddy issues. (chuckles) 

“Yeah! I’m telling you. Daddy issues and mommy issues, it all boils down to it.”

If you could have any of the powers, which would you want? 

“Oh man. You can’t do this to me! I don’t – Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been asked this question so many times and I think that it’s – I think that with every power, there’s something inconvenient that comes with it. Everything has its Achilles heel, you know? It’s kinda like ‘The grass is always greener”? So it’s like, instead of that power, you’d want another one, and then someone comes along and defeats you.  I don’t know.”

So none of them?

“Yeah, I-I think I’m ok with being human.”

Ok! Well, good. Last week’s episode…ok, if I wasn’t hooked the first episode, I definitely got hooked last week. I was not expecting Taylor to be Erica’s daughter. 

“Yep. (laughs) Surprise!!!” 

The plot thickens…

“Yeah! Mommy issues. Yeah…there it is.”

I looooove your costuming. 

“Oh, thank you! Yeah, it’s…I never wear heels in real life and in this show it’s all heels and at one point I was running and the director’s like, ‘Ok, that was great, but can we do it again and run less girly?’ I was like, ‘Have you ever run in heels? Do you know how hard this is?’ And hey, we did it again and we didn’t do another take so I guess I got it.”

I guess so! Yeah, I don’t wear heels, either, and I was watching you and saw your picture on twitter of the heels you were practicing in. 

“It was my homework. That is legitimately what I did. They gave me – wardrobe gave me a couple different pairs of heels and said ‘Go, wear them, practice in them at home,’ and I did. I didn’t fall on my face, so that was an exciting time in life for me. (laughs).” 

Awesome! Well, my 8-year-old daughter is amazing at running in heels so I guess she might have a future in the business! 

“Yeah, there you go! (laughs) She has, like, way of a head start on me.” 

Should we expect more double-crossing from your character? Like in the first episode?

“Yeah, that was a big surprise, I know. I think…oh god…I don’t know…I think what you should expect is just a very big transformation in the character. I feel that’s the most I can say without giving anything away.”

Okay.

“I really love playing Taylor, because of that exact reason. It’s just such a huge, interesting character arc that happens.” 

She’s almost the complete opposite of Maya [Vie, character from The 100], that you played last.

“Yes. (laughs) It’s so funny when you look at those two characters, they are exact opposites. It’s honestly so exciting to go from The 100 where I played this really vulnerable, terrified character who, you know, eventually gains her strength to something like this that’s, from the get go, so badass and has, seemingly, just a very hard outer shell that nothing can penetrate. It’s exciting. You know? It’s really exciting not to be typecast and to be able to challenge myself to go from one extreme to the next.”

Yes. That is exciting. Well, and they’re not really opposites just in that. With Maya, everyone was suspicious of her at first. With Taylor, not so much. And as it turns out, Maya’s trustworthy and, Taylor, not so much.

“No, exactly. (laughs) Yeah, just, again, that’s what makes this exciting and challenging. I like exploring the characters and new ways of approaching a part and that’s exactly what this part and this show have allowed me to do.”

Definitely. That’s awesome! 

“Expect a lot more surprises is all I can say.”

Okay. I will definitely do that! I talked to Kiki [Sukezane, who plays Miko Otono] earlier in the week and she had a very interesting story for how she got her role. How did you come to be cast?

“My audition isn’t as interesting as Kiki’s. I put myself on tape first and a month and a half passed, and I hadn’t heard anything back, so it was up on my Vimeo account and I deleted it. Literally the day that I deleted it from my Vimeo account, my manager e-mailed me and was like, ‘Where’s that Heroes audition?’ I was like, ‘Aw, shit!’ So I looked at my stuff on the computer, send it to him, and at 4pm he sends me an e-mail saying, ‘You have a screen test tomorrow morning.’ And I was like, ‘What the f-ck?!’ I go into, like, panic mode because I was, like – this is actually really funny, but I have a really bad memory. So I had forgotten all the lines and I had to bring it up again. And, ok, this is another thing. I don’t have a driver’s license. So I take the bus in L.A. and it’s insane. Everybody who lives there would be like, ‘It’s impossible.’

So my manager’s like, ‘Look, can you please just take an Uber or take a cab. I’ll pay for it. Please just do not bus there.’ And I was like, ‘Ok, don’t worry. I’ll take an Uber. Don’t worry about it.’ Then I was like, ‘No, screw that. I’m gonna do this my way.’ So I took a bus there. Show up. ‘Hi guys, it’s me.’ Turns out there was every big wig – Peter Elkoff, Tim Kring, James Middleton – all the producers and creators of the show were sitting there and I’m all like ‘Hi guys,’ do my thing, leave, and then that evening I found out that I got it. Which is pretty exciting. I did it my way. I took the bus. (chuckles)”

Wow. 

“Yeah. I know that doesn’t sound very impressive, but legitimately, in L.A. it’s insane. It takes like an hour and a half to get anywhere.”

I was gonna ask how long it took you to get there.

“An hour and a half.” 

Why don’t you have a license? 

“I just never got it. (laughs) I was always ok with biking. I’ve always lived in very walkable cities. You know, I don’t know. It’s never been an issue and all of a sudden when I was gonna move to L.A., everyone was like, ‘Are you insane? You have to get your license!’ and when I got there I understood why. But, I don’t know. I don’t like – cars scare me. I feel like I’m in control when I’m on a bike. I’m not responsible for anyone else’s life or… Anyway, in a car, it’s big and I just never got it. Maybe one day in the future. It’s on my bucket list. That’s all I can say. I’ll get there one day.” 

There you go! Well, I do have one very specific question that’s from The 100 and I’m not supposed to tell you who asked it. How did you keep Maya’s incredible crush on Monty from Jasper the entire time that you were working together?

“Wait…how did I keep my big crush on Monty from Jasper?”

Yeah. 

“I mean, it was hard, yo, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. (laughs) But think about it. Monty’s kinda irresistible, you know? It’s that hair, yo. The perfect hair, and he plays guitar. Swoon.”

I know! 

“I just, I got major skillz. (laughs) Who asked me that? Devon [Bostick, who plays Jasper on The 100]?”

No! Chris [Larkin, who plays Monty on The 100].

 

“Chris is one of my best friends. I love him. He’s like, such a good guy. I can’t say enough about what a good friend and actor and person he is, so…oh no! Now the internet will know! (laughs)”

What are the differences between filming in Vancouver and filming in Toronto?

“It’s actually really interesting. I lived in Vancouver for most of my life and then I moved to Toronto. So when I booked The 100 it was a lot of flying back and forth to Vancouver and it didn’t really feel – like, my mom and my younger sister live there so it didn’t feel like I was out-of-place or anything. Then I moved to L.A. and this is the first thing I’ve booked and they’re like, ‘Oh and you have to relocate back to Toronto for five months.’ Which is hilarious because I had just moved from Toronto.

I don’t think there has been any difference. I feel very much at home in both cities. I’ve been very lucky. The cast on both the projects were amazing. The Heroes cast, I can’t say enough – again, Jack [Coleman, who plays Noah Bennett] is just fantastic. Henry [Zebrowski, who plays Quentin Frady] is hilarious. Danika [Yarosh, who plays Malina] is just the coolest 16-year-old girl – well, she’s 17 now. And then, like, Kiki…just, all of these people are my friends now. I got into a biking accident while we were filming and I actually broke my collarbone. So for a good chunk of the show, I was filming with a broken collarbone. (chuckles) But when that happened, Rya [Kihlstedt] – who plays my mom on the show – and Robbie [Kay] – who plays Tommy – they came to the emergency room with me. It was…awesome. It was great. Yeah. It’s been a – I can’t say enough about how good of an experience this has been. Livin’ the dream!”

How is living in L.A. going since you’re not really there?

“L.A. was great, but I was only there for two months before I booked this job. (chuckles) It was fantastic, but I was there for literally two months and then it was like, ‘Ok, back to Toronto.’ So…”

Do you have any ideas what’s next for you?

“There are a couple of projects that I’m on hold for right now. But everything’s always up in the air. It’s exciting and there are always more projects. I love my job. I love this industry. Everything’s just really exciting right now.”

How did you get into it [acting]?

“Honestly, it’s like, ‘Ever since I was a kid,’ or whatever, but it’s true. Ever since I was a kid, I had this thing for loving performing and loving being in front of people. I was born in Moscow, lived in Israel. And moving here, I was very much like, the typical loner in elementary school, in high school I was bullied and stuff, so my only, kind of, getting away from that was getting away from it through books and movies. I found a huge comfort in both of those mediums. Like books and film. Eventually I was like, ‘I wanna be able to effect people in the way that I’m being effected by these.’

So I’ve always been like, ‘I’m Edward! No one gets me. I’m alone!’ But there was a comfort in that, that somebody else out there felt the same thing. I know they’re fictional characters, but when you’re so alone, it’s really nice to have something like that. I want to provide that for people. I want to show people the parts of humanity that they don’t necessarily see. I wanna make people understand each other more.

My mom actually was an actress in the Moscow theater. She gave up all her dreams in order to move to Israel and then to Canada for her kids. So she’s always very encouraging of it. Both my sisters and my mom were very supportive of what I wanted to do. I started taking acting classes when I was a teenager. Then when I was seventeen, I got an agent. And, you now, the rest is history. I just kinda started auditioning for things and booking stuff, which is awesome.”

That is awesome! You know what you want, you go for it, and it happens!

“Yeah. And I couldn’t have done it without my mom or my sisters’ support. They’re my everything!”

Well, that was my last question. Is there anything else you wanted to add before we wrap up?

“I don’t know! Don’t ask me that! (chuckles) No, but really, I know the premiere was a little bit confusing but really, like last night made things clearer and it really just keeps getting clearer and clearer, so keep watching everyone!”

 

You heard her! Keep watching! There’s a new episode on tonight at 8/7pm on NBC.