Leonard Roberts Exposes Ali Larter for Mistreatment on the Set of Heroes

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If you ever wondered what happened to “Drumline” actor Leonard Roberts, an essay he recently penned for Variety.com sheds a disturbing light on his disappearance from the big and small screen. In the piece, Roberts detailed his time working on the set of the critically acclaimed NBC show Heroes, and his contentious relationship with his co-star Ali Larter in which he wrote he “couldn’t help wondering whether race was a factor.”

Roberts noted his character, D.L. Hawkins, was described as “a white man’s nightmare” in an early draft of the show’s pilot. But his account of the micro-aggressions, mistreatment, and systematic racism he experienced on set — much of which was a result of the dynamic with his on-screen wife Niki Sanders (played by Larter) sounds like a Black man’s nightmare.

“The script suggested D.L. and Niki had a volatile relationship — and it wasn’t long before art was imitating life, with me on the receiving end of pushback from my co-star regarding the playing of a particularly tense scene,” Roberts wrote of his character’s debut in episode 6 of the show’s first season. “Coming from theater, I was familiar with passions running high in the process of bringing characters to life, so I later gave her a bottle of wine with a note affirming what I believed to be mutual respect and a shared commitment to doing exceptional work. Neither the gift nor the note was ever acknowledged.”

Another incident involved the show’s director Greg Beeman asking Larter to lower the straps of her top so that only her bare shoulders were seen above the sheet covering her while sitting next to Roberts whose shirt was off.

“My co-star refused Beeman’s request, and I was instantly aware of the tension on the set,” said Roberts. “I remember instinctively checking to make sure both my hands were visible to everyone who was there, as not to have my intentions or actions misconstrued. Despite Beeman’s clear description of what he was looking for visually, my co-star insisted she was, indeed, being asked to remove her top completely, and rehearsal was cut. She then demanded a meeting with Beeman and the producers who were on set and proceeded to have an intense and loud conversation in which she expressed she had never been so disrespected — as an actress, a woman or a human being.”

Roberts was only on the hit show for one season, which was its first, until his character was killed off from the show. When being fired, Roberts said show creator Tim Kring told him that because of Larter, “he just couldn’t make my remaining on the show work story-wise.” In the same breath, Executive Producer Dennis Hammer reportedly told him, “Don’t think of this as a situation where the Black man loses and the white woman wins.”

Pointing out that he’d never been involved in conversations around character development (and how Black actors on the show were sidelined in cast photos), Roberts wrote, “And that was the first time my race was ever acknowledged while I was a part of the show: not for any creative contribution I could make, but for what I believed was the fear of me becoming litigious.”

Larter has since responded to Roberts claims saying, “I am deeply saddened to hear about Leonard Roberts’ experience on Heroes and I am heartbroken reading his perception of our relationship, which absolutely doesn’t match my memory nor experience on the show. I respect Leonard as an artist and I applaud him or anyone using their voice and platform. I am truly sorry for any role I may have played in his painful experience during that time and I wish him and his family the very best.”