Revenge of the Nerd

Leave it to Masi Oka to have perfect timing. At age 12, his cherubic face was plastered on the cover of Time magazine in an expose on "those Asian-American whiz kids." Oka, however, was never profiled in the story. His mother, he explains, knew the photographer shooting the cover, and they were looking for Asians who "looked smart." But fate can be funny. The child prodigy "model" did become an actual whiz kid (garnering a reported IQ of 180), graduated from Brown University with degrees in computer science and mathematics, took a job as a programmer for George Lucas' visual effect company, and then, an unexpected move, headed to Hollywood.

Twenty years after that first cover shoot, Oka is known to millions as lovable wide-eyed Hiro Nakamura from NBC's Monday night drama Heroes and has graced the covers of publications from WIRED to Entertainment Weekly. Season two of the hit series premiered last Monday and Oka, the first of the cast to be nominated for an Emmy, has been on a whirlwind promotional tour. He takes a break to talk to Radar about the big things: being a hero, being a nerd, and why, if you're a casting director looking for a guy to do a funny Asian accent, you best look elsewhere.

Radar: You're one of the most -- if not the most -- recognizable Asian-American actor in America now. But a year ago, barely anyone knew who you were. How do you feel about all this new attention?

Oka: Well it's great to portray Asian-Americans in a positive light in American media and to be one of the few. We went to Japan [as part of the Heroes world tour] and the press out there would ask me, "How do you feel about being the most famous Japanese guy in America?" "How do you feel about representing Japanese culture on American television?" "How do you feel putting the weight of the whole country on your shoulder?" Then the next day the press wrote, "MASI OKA'S TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO JAPAN." I'm like, whoa, I'm not a war hero!

Also it's interesting, I thought they'd be calling me Masayori Oka, my full name, or Oka-san. Instead they would call me one name -- "Masioka" -- kind of like "Madonna."


Radar: You've been cast as part of the new "geek chic" trend in fall television. How does it feel?

Oka: To be a freak?



Radar: I was thinking more "geek."

Oka: I think it's great. My definition of a geek is someone who's passionate about something, whether music or science or grandfather clocks. To show what you're passionate about shows our individuality. And I'd rather be passionate about something than apathetic about everything. I say you're either a geek or a robot.



Radar: Do you think that, thanks to you, geeks around the world now have an easier time of getting laid?

Oka: I think I can probably help give people confidence and help them be more open about expressing who they are. But I'm bad with women.



Radar: Oh come on...

Oka: No, I'm pretty bad. But Heroes definitely helped me improve my social skills, and helped me not get rejected so much.



Radar: Your character in Heroes, Hiro Nakamura, is the comic relief of a mostly dark show. But he takes his superhero responsibilities seriously and has a clear vision of what's good and bad. Do you see morality in those black-and-white terms?

Oka: There are things that are black and white for me, but I'm always open to the possibility of looking at it from another person's point of view. What might be right for you may not be right for some. Oh God, I'm about to sing the Different Strokes song! [singing] A man is born, he's a man of means. What am I doing? I must be really tired.

But you know, it's the people who think differently that change the world. Even the villains, in their mind they were doing something right. In no way am I advocating Hitler, but he changed the world. For the worse, but in his mind he was changing it for the good. And I absolutely do not agree with what he did, but I'm open to the idea that there are thoughts out there like his.



Radar: Heroes was the breakout show last season. What do you think it is about Heroes that appeals to some many people from so many different countries?

Oka: I think that the message of hope is something that resonates with so many people. It's about ordinary people with extraordinary powers. Everyone is trying to escape their ordinary lives in some sense. In this world that's chaotic and unstable, we want to grasp on to some hope. And it's always great to know that there are these people out there trying to make a difference in the world.



Radar: What brought you into acting?

Oka: I wanted to try to be comfortable with who I am. I mean I grew up being your standard geek. I was into math and computer science, and I had friends who thought the same, looked the same, and started smelling the same. I thought, college is a place where I can learn, and not just get an academic education, but a social education. I wanted to learn more about the human condition and to learn more about myself. That's why I got into theater.



Radar: There's something I'm very curious about. I'm Taiwanese and was raised by a very traditional Asian mother. I was wondering what your mom thought of your career choice. How did she react when you told her you wanted to be an actor?

Oka: She was like, "Ummm ... okay whatever you want." She wasn't overjoyed, but luckily things worked out. My thing was as long as I didn't put any financial burden on my mother, I figure she'd be supportive of what I did. I always had a great job at ILM [George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic], which supported my acting career, and they were very patient with me while I was pursuing it as well. Which is what I came to L.A. for and I got relatively lucky in the first few years.



Radar: You mentioned luck a couple of times. How much of your success do you think comes from luck?

Oka: So many things! Right timing, right place. Like with Heroes. That was my last pilot season as an actor. I was ready to give-up acting, and instead work at creating roles for Asian-Americans. I wrote a script or two that I was going to pitch and I found a great mentor who said let's go ahead and start pitching it to other folks. Then the next thing you know, Heroes comes up.

Hiro was a character specifically for an actor who spoke fluent Japanese and had American television experience. It was definitely luck. I had no control over that and that the show would get picked up. All these great NBC shows are coming out now, and they don't have the same bang that Heroes did last year. There are a lot of things that play into [success], but there are a lot of things that can't be controlled.


Radar: So do you consider yourself fatalistic?

Oka: I do. I think there's definitely karma. You put something out there for a reason and it comes back. I mean is it destiny or a coincidence that the year I was ready to quit, the first thing that came to my doorstep was Heroes? I had a deal with ILM while I was in San Francisco that I'd only be down in L.A. for 6 months, and if I didn't get a role within that time, I'd go back up. That was a one in a million shot. I was very naïve. Anyone who is pursuing a career in the industry knows that it's about perseverance. Yet it kind of all worked out. When something just falls in your lap like that you just kind of have to wonder why certain things happened. Some things are too weird to be coincidence.



Radar: So you've had a lot of luck lately. But I'm sure everything didn't come easy. What sort of trials have you faced in your career?

Oka: Before, the biggest thing was breaking [Asian] stereotypes. They expect you to do accents. And I've gotten to the point that, if it's funny because it's Asian I won't do it. If it's funny because it's me, I will. People will put that in there just because the writing isn't funny; they figure they can give a character an Asian accent and it'll be funny. Then I'd protest and they'd say fine, don't do it. We won't hire you.

At the same time, I think it's ironic, because it's much easier to break into the industry as an Asian. When you're starting out, you have no credits. But TV and film roles are looking for diversity, because people can deny it but there's always affirmative action happening. They'll give the one-liner to an Asian or a Latino to satisfy their diversity quotient. They'll give those smaller things to beginning actors. It kind of disillusioned me, because once you get in you realize there's a ceiling to your career that you have no control over. That disillusioned me, but then Heroes completely changed my world.



Radar: You've said in previous interviews that your character in Heroes is very much an extension of who you are in many ways. What about him is like you?

Oka: The idea that he gets to live his dream right now as a superhero and I get to live my dream now as an actor. I still have to find my soul mate. But that's been a difficult wish to make come true.



Radar: But you must be getting a lot of attention from the female persuasion.

Oka: That's true, but I'm still on the search for The One.


Radar: What's your ideal girl?

Oka: Someone who's comfortable with herself, who's spontaneous, who's smart, and of course cute and loves to have fun. One quirky thing for me is someone who can sing. To find a girl who would be willing to harmonize with me would be very cool.



Radar: Speaking of love interests, you're having a Sweet Valley High–style romance novel created after your character's first love, Charlie. How does it make you feel to have everyone interested in your character's love life?

Oka: I never thought my character would be in a romance novel. Asian-Americans aren't typically viewed as romantic leads in the media, so I think it's great to know that people are interested. Although people are now getting interested in my own personal love life.



Radar: And what do you make of that?

Oka: It's awkward, but flattering. I'm like, why do you want to know about me? Trust me, Milo [Ventimiglia] has a more interesting love life. Even Zach [Quinto]. Like, why me?



Radar: Speaking of your Heroes costars, is there anything going on between you and Kristen Bell?

Oka: Me and Kristen? She's a great friend. I absolutely adore her. She's fantastic. But we'll leave it at that.



Radar: Can you at least give us any clues about what will happen to your character this season?

Oka: Well, he'll be in feudal Japan for a little bit. He meets his childhood hero and unfortunately gets disillusioned because it's someone completely different. So there's going to be a lot of him trying to right what's wrong. And with the space-time continuum, whenever you try to right something in the past, well, some things were meant to be and some things aren't.



Radar: That's a little fatalistic.

Oka: I know.

For more information on Heroes' Masi Oka, go to http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/cast/cast_hiro.shtml.

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