TV Guide has interviewed Madeline about her role on “Heroes” and here’s what she had to say!

With Claire at the carnival on Heroes, have we seen the last of Gretchen? — Justin
ADAM: Nope. Madeline Zima tells me she will definitely be back. But Zima was very tight-lipped about how Claire Bear’s little field trip will turn out. The future doesn’t seem rosy. “I think [Gretchen] knows it’s a mistake,” Zima said of Claire’s decision to stay behind with Samuel and his band of carnies. “She’s only doing it because she knows Claire can’t physically get hurt. That’s the way she rationalizes it. The best and most pure act of love is just letting someone go and letting them do what they feel they must.”

Prepare to be jealous, Hayden Panettiere fans: One of the cheerleader’s Heroes co-stars was at the other end of quite a steamy makeout scene recently, and she doesn’t mind talking all about it! “Everyone loved that!” Madeline Zima, who plays Gretchen, dished to OK!. “It’s so funny because I live the most non-scandalous life and I always tend to get these scandalous scenes! It’s bizarre.”

Madeline’s not shy about revealing exactly what anyone with a crush on Hayden wants to know — was she a good kisser?

“Oh yes, of course,” Madeline revealed at Thursday night’s BAFTA/L.A. Britannia Awards in L.A. ” She’s got great lips!”

Such an intense scene must require a lot of preparation, and OK! wanted to know if the twosome put in some extra “rehearsal time.”

“No, I don’t even think you can do that,” admits Madeline. “Unless you’re already in a relationship with somebody that you’re working with, you can’t be, like, ‘Hey, let’s go practice,’ because it seems, like, creepy,” she explains. “So we didn’t do that, we just trusted that we both could do it and that we’d done it before so hopefully we could kiss.”

From OK! Magazine

Hayden Panettiere, who was awarded the Style Icon honors at the Hollywood Style Awards on Sunday night, admitted on the red carpet that the kiss she recently got from co-star Madeline Zima was all her idea.

She even admits that she persuaded the writers to include the lesbian tongue wrestling action. “I kinda threw it out there. The writers put you in relationships and I was like, ‘Can I just be with a girl or something? Let’s do that.’ So they took it and ran with it.”

425.heroes.Panettiere.Zima.lc.100609 Madeline Zima, the talented young actress who gets to bestow the honors on Hayden’s cheerleader’s lips, talked to the Dish Rag about wanting to have the power to fly, learning the “Heroes” lore, and the truth about her sexually and morally ambiguous character that even Claire’s father is growing suspicious of.

“I watched everything. I feel like the fans are so hardcore for that show, that unless you watch, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” she admits.

Sounds like her character, Gretchen Berg, is gonna be around for a while. But Madeline’s bright red lips (was that on purpose?) are sealed on Gretchen’s secrets. If there are any.

Off-camera, she admitted she would not mind a repeat of that kiss. For now, watch the show tonight to see the girls’ first encounter of the experimental lesbian kind.

Hmmm. Do you think her character is a goodie or a baddie?

From the Los Angeles Times

Kissing Hayden Panettiere on Heroes didn’t come as a complete shock to Madeline Zima.

“I had an inkling,” Zima told us yesterday at Hollywood Life’s Hollywood Style Awards at the Armand Hammer Museum in L.A. “I did always play my character a little bit with some kind of secret—whether it was that or something else still remains to be seen.”

So what was it like locking lips with Claire-Bear on the episode airing tonight? Mostly business as usual…

“It’s always awkward, no matter if it’s a boy, a girl or whatever,” Zima said. “It’s just an awkward thing to kiss somebody in front of other people.”

While it took a few takes, Zima said they didn’t rehearse the scene beforehand.

“You don’t practice,” she said, laughing, “That’s like sexual harassment, I think.”

Zima said she doesn’t know if that’s the last girl-on-girl smooching we’ll be seeing between the starlets. But she’s definitely open for more. “That would be great.”

From E! Online

The Art of Elysium – a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging actors, artists and musicians to share their time and talent with children who are battling serious medical conditions – has announced their next annual event: The Art of Elysium GENESIS.

A celebration of emerging talent, Genesis will bring together artists, creative thinkers, and social leaders in support of this wonderful organization. This event will allow for a new generation to come together and celebrate individuality and the arts while supporting The Art of Elysium’s programs and mission. The evening will include specialty cocktails by Death & Co., “Coffee Bar” provided by Coffee Bean, custom “Jean Bar” provided by Current Elliott, an art exhibition by Last Legion Games, and special musical performance by Fight from Above, sponsored by Rogue Pictures.

Among the guests expected to attend the event are Sophia Bush, Beth Riesgraf (Leverage), Edi Gathegi (Twilight: New Moon), Madeline Zima (Heroes), Bonnie Somerville (The Ugly Truth), Jaime Ray Newman (Eastwick) and many more.

The event will take place on October 10 at HD BUTTERCUP at 3225 Helms Avenue, LA.

Since its inception, The Art of Elysium has provided artistic workshops in the following disciplines: acting, art, comedy, fashion, music, radio, songwriting and creative writing and their results have been astounding; producing a mutual exchange of hope and appreciation between both children in need, as well as, the artists themselves.

The Art of Elysium holds their annual HEAVEN gala on the eve of the Golden Globes in Los Angeles, CA and is supported by corporate sponsors that have included Cartier, Vogue, Ford and Relativity Media. The 2009 gala was their biggest success to date and raised over $1,000,000 for the organization, as well as, receiving more than 197,500,000 media impressions in major publications throughout the world. Guests included Sting, Golden Globe nominee Marisa Tomei, Kirsten Dunst, Eva Mendes and Tobey Maguire among others. In addition to HEAVEN, The Art of Elysium hosted its first annual PARADIS at the Cannes Film Festival this past May sponsored again by Cartier & Relativity Media as well as Soho House and Grey Goose. The event was incredibly well attended by industry insiders as well as by Cannes jury member Robin Wright Penn and festival darling Quentin Tarantino.

From Look to the Stars

Helping the invincible Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) in the daily shenanigans of college life is Californication’s Madeline Zima, who joins the cast of “Heroes” as Gretchen. Zima will be part of a multi-episode arc as Claire’s friend and confident. The young and talented actress took some time of her busy schedule to talk to us NextOnHeroes.com about her work on the NBC sci-fi drama.

Most people remember Madeline as 6-year-old Grace Sheffield in the popular sitcom “The Nanny,” and most recently in the Showtime’s dramedy “Californication” as Mia Cross. However, she is no stranger to other genres. “I love the Matrix and anything that has to do with the powers of the mind. Also anything about comic books, everyone loves superheroes,” Madeline told us about her taste in science fiction. She proudly owns all three season of the show, “Everyone I knew told me to watch the first season of the show so I bought the DVDs. Later, I also got the second season. The third was a gift for being on the show. I’ve watched every episode. I’m a fan girl now.”

Like other experienced actresses, Madeline has a very positive attitude about auditioning for roles, “I just go in there and have a good time.” However, getting the part of Gretchen wasn’t easy. She confessed to us she was unsure at first, “I didn’t think I was going to get the job because the other girl, who went in before me, was in there for a really long time. There was only two of us up for that part.” Ultimately, to her surprise she was asked to audition for a second time and she was given the role, “The next time, I had to read with Hayden. She had a very specific view of the kind of person her character wants to be friends with. It was all taken into account.”

In addition to her new role in “Heroes,” Madeline is a regular cast member of David Duchovny’s “Californcation” where she plays an ambitious and scheming teenager. However, playing multiple characters is no simple task. Madeline has to juggle two almost opposite identities: Californication’s vixen Mia Cross, and Heroes’ off-beat roommate, Gretchen Berg. “I had one week where I did one character and then the other. It was weird twitching gears.” We asked what the seductive Mia would think of Gretchen, and she replied, “I don’t think Mia would hang out with Gretchen. Mia likes to hang out with people that are superficial and she likes to use them. Gretchen isn’t like that at all.” About the differences and similarities of her current shows, she answered, “I think they are night and day different. One is a half hour comedy and the other is an hour drama, action sci-fi show. They are both heightened sense of realities, but one has people flying and having superpowers.

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