Way back in February, when University City's Leonard Roberts landed a role in a new NBC drama called "Heroes," his friends and family were excited for him.

Finally, in September, the show premi?red and quickly became a sensation, setting the Internet abuzz, drawing 13 million viewers a week and earning a full-season pickup after just two outings.

Now, what Roberts' friends and family want to know is this: Where is he?

"They've been watching to see me," Roberts said last week from his home in Los Angeles. "They call and say, 'We didn't see you again.' But it's the best testament that they also say now it's their favorite show."

The game of "where's Leonard?" is almost over. Roberts, playing D.L. Hawkins, a prison inmate and husband of Niki Sanders (Ali Larter), makes his first, brief appearance tonight when he [spoiler highlight to read] turns up at Niki's house on the run.[end spoiler] Oct. 30, he says, "is my first big episode."

"Heroes" is the story of ordinary people who begin to discover that they possess special powers. Eventually, they'll be called on to put their powers to work to save the world.

Hawkins has powers, too, Roberts is pleased to report, although he's necessarily cagey about his story line except to say that he interacts a lot with young Noah Gray-Cabey as his son Micah.

"My power is [spoiler highlight to read] phasing," Roberts says. "That means I can manipulate matter, organic and inorganic."

In other words, walls can't stop him, and prison bars can't hold him.[end spoiler]

Aha. So then he's evil?

"It's complicated," Roberts says. "I don't know if I'd really say he's evil. It's all about perception. Anything's possible."