Dana Davis’ Heroic New Role

As a fan of the short-lived series The Nine, I was thrilled to hear that Dana Davis, who played forgetful teen Felicia Jones, had landed a role on Heroes. She joins the cast tonight as Monica Dawson, a post-Katrina New Orleanian who’s just discovered her powers.

First off, I can’t believe that on The Nine, your dad, the bank manager,   was the inside man!

Yes. It was going great places and no one ever got to see it!

But you got to join Heroes, which is great. What’s Monica’s backstory?

Her mom died in the Katrina flood, and she had to drop out of school, so she’s working at the Burger Bonanza to support her alien grandmother and her little brother. That’s where her connection comes into the cast; she’s now taking care of Micah. She’s sort of had to give up a lot to help her family out. When we first meet her she’s discovering her powers for the first time.

How does the discovery of her gift affect her?

She’s a girl that’s been given a bad hand in life and her powers sort of give her a new chance, so she’s excited by it. A lot of the Heroes feel burdened by their powers. Monica uses hers to change her life and to help the people around her. She becomes a light in the show.

Do you have any favorite powers from characters that already exist?

Hiro’s power because I’ve always wanted to travel back in time. That would be so awesome to do.

Have you and Hayden Panettiere become friends?

I’ve met her and we hung out briefly, just with the rest of the cast. She’s a really sweet girl. The whole cast is really down to earth.  

There were no secret initiations by the Heroes cast?

Going in, I felt like I was a senior in high school switching schools and I thought, “This is going to suck!” But everyone’s been so good about making me feel welcome. It was just that instantaneous chemistry of joining the family right away.

What else are you working on?

I have a feature film called Prom Night, though it’s not coming out until next year. It’s a horror movie starring Brittany Snow and me. It’s prom night, and there’s death and destruction. You can’t get much better than that.

Heroes airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBC.