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Just returned to her L.A. home from a day of voter registration in Missouri, Bell cut into a rare day off, "just hanging, running errands," to talk.
On the phone, she comes across as a friendly Midwesterner (she's from just outside of Detroit) without the false front of so many actresses.
DVDs have become so important to the industry that actors actively promote them.
"It is definitely built into the shooting schedule as far as getting DVD extras," she said, "because the DVD has become such a different experience especially on [producer Judd Apatow's] movies, where you get the 'Unrated,' so we definitely do takes where you can swear as much as you want."
So it's sort of like when the porn films shoot the cable version. Except in reverse?
"Yeah, exactly."
Since comedies from the Apatow empire tend to benefit from a lot of improvisation, Bell said the "Sarah" script changed "a ton" from the time she first read it.
"I would venture to say it changed about 50 percent," she said. The plot and characters "were created by Jason [Segel] and the majority of the scenes were in there, but the way they allowed us to work - there was a long rehearsal process where we were allowed to ad-lib through all of the scenes and think up scenes on our own that would be good for characters."
And after a lot of drama, Bell enjoyed the comedy.
"It's always been my dream to become a stand-up comic," she said, "but I just don't think that I have the balls to do it. To sit down and try to write a stand-up routine would scare the bejesus out of me. I'd rather make a very long public speech. So being able to work in a comedy with all these people I admire so much and attempt to keep up with their improv skills was really thrilling."
What about writing a comedy screenplay?
"There's a sense of permanence that comes with writing," she said. "I feel like I could go into a room and, fingers-crossed, make some people laugh, have some good zingers, but to be able to put them on paper just gives me so much anxiety."
"Writers would probably say the same thing about what you do," I responded.
"I know," she said. "It's so weird the things that are in your comfort zone and being a writer is the hardest job to me. You're putting jokes on paper and 100 people are reading them and going, 'That's not funny.' That sense of judgment, I'd be crying every day. I'm sensitive."
"You seem tough in your roles."
"That's all an act."
But that sensitivity doesn't mean Bell isn't getting a charge out of her sparks-flying "Heroes" role as Elle Bishop.
"I was really pleased with what they wrote this year," she said. "It was cool to be incorporated into the previous lives of the heroes. They wrote a lot of flashbacks and it made me feel like a more important character. It was interesting how much depth they gave Elle this season and I was so grateful for it."
And your superpower?
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