The character of Maya - portrayed by Dania Ramirez - played a deadly role on the second season premiere of Heroes.

How does the actress feel about joining the show? And just what the heck is her super power on it? Ramirez answered these questions and more in a recent interview with TV Guide.

TVGuide.com: You're in this not-100-percent enviable position of having to join a hit show in its second season. That has to be a little daunting, right?
Dania Ramirez: Honestly, I didn't even stop to think about it. They called my manager and were interested in me testing for the show. At the time I knew about Heroes, of course, but I hadn't really watched all the episodes. So I told my best friend, and she was like, "Oh my god, it's the best show ever! You have to get on it." I watched a couple of episodes and told my manager, "I have to be on this show."

By Episode 8, I couldn't stop watching. My dog would look at me like, "Please walk me" and I'd be like, "OK, in one more hour." They never opened the role to anyone else. I went in, I tested and a week later, I was at work! And honestly, until this day, it hasn't even hit me yet.

TVGuide.com: Do you think that your turn in X-Men 3 as another empowered mutant, Callisto, placed you in the Heroes producers' minds?
Ramirez: Honestly, from what I've heard from the producers, it was my role [as Blanca] on The Sopranos. They saw my first episode of The Sopranos, called the casting director and asked her who I was and to find out about me. And then when they were together thinking of new characters for Season 2, Tim Kring wanted to create a Latina character and one of the producers was like, "Maybe we should think of this girl." And that's how it all happened.

TVGuide.com: I saw the season premiere, but help me out here: What exactly is Maya's power?
Ramirez: You'll find out in Episode 2.

TVGuide.com: What, she like kills people by making them bleed through their eyes?
Ramirez: Well, it's a little more complicated than that. It's more about how Maya feels too much. If you put her in a situation where she's feeling fear or feeling vulnerableÂ… well, you don't want to make her upset, basically. In Episode 2, you'll see how I do it.

In Episode 1, you only saw the effect, the aftermath, of me having [used my power]. It was more about understanding that this is something that she can't control. She's essentially a good person but something has happened to her. As the episodes go along, you will see how it all happens and the importance of my brother (Shalim Ortiz).

Follow our link to read the full interview with Ramirez.

Masi Oka isn't the only Heroes star to pose for a series of humorous, provocative pictures.

In the most recent issue of Best Life Magazine, Milo Ventimiglia talks about his upcoming movie and fashion sense... before striking a few sexy poses.

First, the actor talks about Pathology, a hospital thriller in which he plays an intern caught up in a game of "sex, drugs, and murder."

To prepare for the role, Ventimiglia hung out with morticians and murder victims at the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. And you thought life on Heroes was dark and gloomy.

"It was a life-changing experience," Milo said of his time spent with the deceased. "I'll probably be doing the speed limit from now on."

In other news, the actor also commented on his wardrobe choices. Safety plays a role in that department, too, it sounds like.

"I know what I like, and I only invest in items I'll still be able to wear in five or 10 years."

Masi Oka is hilarious.

The Heroes actor was recently featured in the magazine Geek Monthly - and he takes pride in being labeled a geek or a nerd.

"A geek is someone who is passionate about something," he said in a long interview that you can read now. "It can be about anything. It can be about musicals. It can be about computers. It can be about our show. And you can be passionate about more than one thing. I would rather be passionate about something than apathetic about everything. To be Geek is to be human."

So profound.

Meanwhile, check out the following Masi Oka photos from the article. We dare you not to laugh as you look at each one...

It's been quite the week at Heroes Fanatic. That's what a season premiere will do.

Here are the latest articles and features on the site:

• The ninth Heroes Caption Contest has been receiving numerous entries. There's still time to submit your best caption if you haven't already. We'll announce the winner next week.

• We've posted a slew of photos from the season premiere and other recent events. Go vote on your favorites.

• Our staff has compiled its Round Table discussion of "Four Months Later," the Heroes season two premiere. Check it out now. And remember to post your thoughts in our Forums.

Thanks for reading. Let us know what else you'd like to see on the site. And don't forget to come back every day for the most detailed news, pics, music and Heroes spoilers on the Web.

Can't get enough of Heroes? Here's your chance to see how the cast interacts when the cameras aren't rolling.

The NBC cameras, that is.

Adrian Pasdar has been videotaping random "snapshots into the life of what we do when we're not filming," as he puts it - and has posted a lot of the footage on YouTube under the name "Buckshotwon."

The videos range from simple (such as Hayden Panettiere shopping for shoes in Paris) to stylized (Milo Ventimiglia and Jack Coleman doing an improv Pellegrino commercial during an airport layover).

"There's a cute one of Hayden at the Georges V Paris playing hide and seek with the camera," Pasdar said to TV Guide says of a piece filmed during the Heroes World Tour.

He also pointed to a shot through the sunroof of a limo featuring Ali Larter (seen below). No surprise that anything starring this beauty would be considered a favorite.

"My stuff's really silly," said Greg Grunberg of the videos featuring him. "That's a side of me people don't really see on the show."

Check out these behind-the-scenes looks at our Heroes video archive. Vote on your favorites today.

The last video clip we gave you of "Lizards," the second episode of season two, was scarcely a Heroes spoiler. It was simply NBC's commercial for the show.

Below, however, are actual scenes from the episode. Looks like Hiro and Kensei bond a bit more, while Mohinder and the mysterious guy from The Company also get to know each other. Take a look...

Here is a recently interview with Greg Grunberg. Who knew Matt Parkman was such a practical joker...

You arrived on the Heroes set this morning at 5:45am. How long is a typical shoot day?
It depends on how much stuff I have, but they usually cram all of my stuff in one day. If you check the call sheet, #5 is all over the call sheet. So it's a big day for me. I have three or four scenes today. Twelve to thirteen hours. That's usually what it is, about a thirteen hour day.

With all that togetherness, who is the biggest prankster in the cast?
Definitely me. I literally prepare way too much at home, so I can mess around with the lines when I get here. I love to just totally f-ck around and have a great time and when they yell action, you bring it. This is the only way I work. I can't work any other way.

How do the other actors react to your on set antics? Do they join in?
If people want to see what we do between takes and between scenes. They can go to YouTube. Adrian Pasdar takes his little camera and we have been shooting these mini movies that are hilarious. 15 second, 30 second, a minute and a half little things. If you do a search for 'buckshotwon' on YouTube you'll see all of them.

Hayden, Sendhil, me... We've done all these little movies. That's what we do. It's fun.

Click here to read the full interview.

Welcome to the Heroes Round Table.

While fans of the show gather in the

Which will happen first: Claire joins the cheerleading team or Peter gets his memory back?
Timex: Claire's definitely joining the cheerleading team next episode. I mean, we've gone an entire episode without seeing her in a cheerleading outfit. That's terrible! As for Peter, I'm pretty sure since he had the Haitian's necklace around him - therefore, the Haitian wiped his memory for good.

A. Hiro: Gimme a "C"... gimme an "L"... gimme an "A"... gimme an "I think Claire joins the cheerleading squad next week."

Mr. Sulu: I think we closed the door on Claire joining the cheerleading team with the season premiere. In fact, I doubt we'll see many more shots of her in school. Obviously her father's efforts to "be normal" are going to be in vain and that means no cheerleading. Besides, robots cheerlead, not aliens (honestly, robots and aliens? that's the best they could come up with? And who hits on a girl by asking if they're a robot or an alien?)

After the season premiere of Heroes, one thing is abundantly clear:

Dania Ramirez will be running a lot.

She also has a scary super power.

As far as the former fact is concerned, however, the actress who plays Maya is lucky she works out regularly with well-known celebrity trainer, Ramona Braganza.

Braganza's roster of celebrity clients includes Jessica Alba - and he has the Heroes star on a cardio and strength training regimen for an hour and a half three times a week. These exercsies focus on the lower body: abs, glutes and legs.

As you can tell by the picture seen here, the workouts are paying off. Quite well.

No, the actor that portrays Ando is not referring to the video game "Halo." Nor is he talking about the symbol that appears over the heads of angels.

Instead, James Kyson Lee is denying reports that Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia are a couple.

"The rumor is not true," Lee told People magazine at Tuesday's Lift Up America Meet Me in Miami premiere in Hollywood. "Let's just end it there."

Regarding the romance talk between the 18-year old and 30-year old actors:

"I think we were just surprised because they're 12 years apart – for people to even conceive that. I know there have been a lot of jokes, Hayden turning 18 and whatnot. At some point, you just have to let it go, and respect their privacy."