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Exclusive Interview: Masi Oka The star of NBC's 'Heroes' dishes on Season 3!By Robert Falconer | Tuesday, September 30, 2008
After a second season that both fans and critics acknowledged could have been better, NBC and producer
Tim Kring have high hopes for the third year of
Heroes, the groundbreaking series that sprang onto the scene to much acclaim back in 2006.
They're not the only ones. The cast, too, is filled with anticipation about this new season, none more than Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated actor
Masi Oka, who plays Hiro Nakamura, the Japanese nonconformist computer/anime geek whose ability to pierce the space-time continuum and manipulate time has empowered him with foresight into a dangerous future—and what he must do to change it.
Oka is characteristically optimistic about this season, certain that the writers have listened to fans and learned to sidestep the pitfalls leveled at Season 2's storyline. "...I think the writers took those words to heart and delivered something that the fans wanted," he says.
With numerous guest starring roles to his credit on such shows as
Without a Trace,
Will & Grace and
The Gilmore Girls, along with recurring roles on
Scrubs and
Luis, Oka has been around the Hollywood machine long enough to know that ups and downs are de rigueur in the business. Moreover, the 33 year-old actor also co-starred in the recent
Get Smart feature; has a background in improvisation; and continues to provide ILM with groundbreaking effects technology for more than 30 films thanks to degrees in mathematics and computer science from Brown University. His multidisciplinary passion for the industry probably goes a long way towards explaining his balanced outlook on life, and the gracious way in which he comports himself when answering repetitive questions from not only journalists, but the show's fiercely loyal viewers.
Last Friday, CinemaSpy sat down for a conference interview with Oka in which the actor talked about what's coming up for Heroes third season, his thoughts on Hiro's development, and other assorted topics...
A brief excerpt:
...Question: Is it hard to keep the balance of the sort of happy, naïve, enthusiastic person we met the beginning with the weight of the experience and the tragedy he’s had, and make it seem like he’s growing without making him grow too tragic?
Masi Oka: Oh absolutely. I think that’s an important balance to have and the writers, you know, are very conscious of that. But that’s what makes Hiro great, you know, is his enthusiasm. He’s not—he’s (only) discovered his power so it’s a little bit different.
One thing we know about Hiro is that he’s always going to be very pure. No matter what it is, he’s going to do what he feels is right in terms of saving the world. So his naiveté might have gone away because of all the tragedy he’s experienced, but his purity and his sense of morality will always stay the same.
So that’s something we’ll see, and his childlike sensibility. So he’ll always be—there will always be some sort of wonderment. You know, we’ll see him as he goes through various locations and he’ll find some like wonderful discovery at—wherever he goes.
Also, the writers have actually come up with a very creative way of finding that rediscovering of the power and we’ll see that later on in the season. So I think—it’s definitely a difficult balance. You know, you got (sight)—Hiro’s storyline; Hiro and Ando have always been kind of like the comedic relief. And we want to makes sure we have some sort of that entertainment on the fun side, the light side of saving the world to balance kind of the dark tones of the rest of the storyline.
