Masi Oka doesn't find stardom a chick magnet

By ROB OWEN
Friday, October 20, 2006
As the 24-year-old, "Star Trek"-loving Japanese office drone who's been endowed with the power to teleport, Hiro Nakamura immediately became the breakout character on NBC's "Heroes" (9 p.m., EDT/PDT, Monday).

For actor Masi Oka, Hiro is his biggest role yet. He's appeared in movies ("Along Came Polly") and on TV (most notably as the doormat lab tech, Franklyn, in six episodes of "Scrubs"), but never quite to the acclaim he's getting in "Heroes."

Like Hiro, 31-year-old Oka is a fan of science fiction and fantasy, but he's also had experience working behind the scenes on special effects-filled blockbusters, including the most recent "Star Wars" trilogy and the first two "Pirates of Caribbean" movies. After studying computer science and math at Brown University, Oka graduated and went to work for a little company called Industrial Light & Magic.

Q: What kind of work did you do for ILM?

A: I'm always the hired gun who's brought in to fight fires. I do research and development on the technology and work with how to do a certain special effect. In "Star Wars: Episode II," when Jango Fett is chasing Obi Wan Kenobi through an asteroid field, they needed a big asteroid to shatter into a million pieces, and I had to figure out how to do the fracturing, write the code and show an artist how to use it.

Q: Do you miss that work?

A: I'm still consulting with ILM. I can't bring my laptop to the set anymore because my workload as a series regular is more, but I do telecommute. ...I think it's great using both sides of the brain.

Q: You were born in Japan and speak fluent Japanese. What brought you to L.A. at age 6?

A: I was raised by a single mother and she felt the Japanese education system, albeit wonderful, keeps you in a certain range. You have to be better than this level but below this level. She saw I was quote-unquote "gifted and talented" in science in particular, and she wanted to come to America, where she felt that would be nurtured, rather than stay in Japan where they'd be satisfied if I was above the mean.

Q: Your character is not the typical breakout star of a TV show. Why do you think Hiro appeals to viewers so much?

A: Anyone's guess is as good as mine, but if I take a more subjective view of it, I think it's because he really enjoys (his power). He's very pure; he's a kid in wide-eyed wonder. Rarely do you get to see the underdog character vindicated in the first episode, which is kind of scary because it means things could go downhill from there. The passion and optimism and enthusiasm he has is often missing in this world where people are so cynical about everything. It's the same reason I love America Ferrera on "Ugly Betty." She's the underdog, but she faces life with such a positive attitude.

Q: There's been some chatter that some of the "Heroes" characters will turn out to be villains. But there's no way Hiro can be a bad guy, is there?

A: I would be shocked and I would be devastated as a fan of the show. If Hiro becomes a bad guy, I would totally fight (such scripts).

Q: Has playing Hiro changed the way people react to you in public?

A: So far it seems like the target demo (that finds Hiro appealing) is women 50 and over and 13 and under. I think I'm starting to narrow that. The other day, ("Heroes" actor) Milo (Ventimiglia) and I were grabbing some drinks with his agent's girlfriend for her birthday and at the bar these three cute girls come up to me and said, "Can we take our picture with you?" And then they said, "You're my boyfriend's favorite character!" So this is my life. Nothing has changed, except people want to take their picture with me now, so I feel like Goofy from Disneyland. But I think it's funny.

(Rob Owen can be reached at rowen(at)post-gazette.com)