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© (c) 2007 NBC
Masi Oka in HEROES
Television:
Exclusive interview: HEROES STAR MASI OKA LOOKS TO THE FUTURE
The time traveling swordsman wants to write more and says George Takei will be back
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
Published 4/2/2007
When we last saw Hiro Nakamura he was in a future timeline where a blast had destroyed New York City, the very blast that he was trying to prevent in the past. This time however he was able to take his best friend Ando to the future with him. But what does the future hold for the man behind Hiro, Masi Oka? iF Magazine tagged along for a ride through the time stream back to HEROES beginnings and forward to what we can expect next from this talented young actor.
iF MAGAZINE: How has the whirlwind surrounding HEROES been since you are at the center of the storm?
MASI OKA: It’s been wonderful. I never expected our show to go this far. When we were making the pilot we knew we were making something extraordinary, but it was a genre show so I wasn’t certain that the mainstream would react the way they have and it has been an absolute blessing.
iF: You’ve had Christopher Eccelston and George Takei on your show, any other Sci Fi guest stars that you have coming up?
OKA: Stan Lee came on; we had some great flashback sequences that explained a lot of stuff. There’s a future episode coming up that’s been really fun as well. So we’ve had a past episode and we have a future episode that’ll explain a lot.
iF: Is the future episode one of the ones that Tim Kring mentioned would answer time travel paradoxes?
OKA: Probably. Yeah.
iF: What has been the best thing so far for you to do with Hiro?
OKA: I would have to say, that so far playing future Hiro was great and I’ve been doing some sword retraining because that is going to become an overly important part of future Hiro’s character. I’ve been asked to do that, and so I’m doing sword re-training. Other than that, I loved having a love interest with Charlie and that was very sweet and very tragic. I’ve gotten to play a lot oc comedic moments and it’s been really cool.
iF: I think the writers have hit a real stride with Hiro as a character.
OKA: Yeah, I’m very fortunate that they like the character.
iF: Besides what we’ve seen already, will we be seeing more of George Takei?
OKA: Definitely. The writers are big fans of his and they’re Trekkies as well, so that’s an extra incentive for them to bring him back. I think he had fun and would like to come back.
iF: How far in advance do all of the actors know what is coming up?
OKA: We have some idea, but we don’t want to know too much, because we’re fans of the show as well. You get a general sense of what’s going to happen here and there, which is kind of nice. If we want to find things out, the writers are pretty cool about it, and most of the time they can’t wait to tell us. They’ll come up and say, “ we just wrote this awesome story for you, it’s unbelievable.” They used to not tell you, but now they’re pretty open.
iF: So you have no fear of being killed off, because you’ve already come back to the past from the future right?
OKA: It’s defiantly a possible future. So we don’t know what might happen. Anything can change.
iF: In terms of Season two, and even into season three, the writers have a general idea of where they’re going, but the further you go do you get input into your characters?
OKA: I’m sure we could, but I love the fact that we get surprised every time the writers come up with something. With some of the dialogue they are certainly collaborative and it will change later. We’ll discuss maybe saying something instead of what they have and they’ll agree, or they’ll want to keep it because of something coming up. As a writer myself, I have a lot of respect for the writing process; I know when they chose the word “waffle” that there were fifteen people spending three hours whether it would be “waffle” or “pancake.” Their writing inspires you to be creative and come up with more things to join in on the collaboration. In terms of where the storyline goes, people might pitch stuff to them, but regardless the writers always seem to be able to surprise us in a good way. They always come up with things that we wouldn’t have thought of.
iF: If you did have your choice where would you want Hiro to wind up?
OKA: I’ve heard a little bit about what’s going to happen in season 2 and its brilliant so I would not try to answer that.
iF: Have you seen any of the prototype toys that Tim says they are working on?
OKA: I haven’t seen any toys yet. I’ve heard rumors of random kinds of toys, but we’re not part of that.
iF: Do you have a replica of the sword to keep like the writers do?
OKA: I don’t have a replica of the sword. I’m supposed to get a prop to practice with that I can keep. That was a writer’s thing; it was a gift that Michael Green and Brian Fuller got all of the writers. Basically, they are very sharp paper cutters.
iF: Now that the show has been on for awhile, what sort of fan things do you get from the fan community?
OKA: We don’t necessarily get to see our fan mail. It goes to production and someone keeps it there and we don’t see any of it. Definitely, when we go out to events the fans are there and they take pictures and we autograph whatever. It’s just great to be in contact with the fans, they’re the reason we make the show. The biggest compliment was getting the People’s Choice Award for best new drama. That’s a huge thing for us, and it was a great honor.
iF: It’s especially nice to see a genre show doing so well in its first season.
OKA: Genre fans are so passionate and at the same time can be very finicky, so we are just happy that we’ve been able to keep the level of quality to keep them watching and interested.
Reader Comments
SPC Morgan, a Hrio Fan from Iraq sez....
iF, I was glad to read this interview. Ive been watching Heroes for some time now. At first, my thoughts were kinda bland on the story line, but when they brought in Hiro, my whole aspect changed because they brought in more diverse cultures as well as different ethnicities rather than just stciking to America. A reason why I enjoyed X-Men as well. I can honestly say im a big fan of the character Hiro mostly, and I am a Trekkie at heart. So kep it up iF, your awesome.
8/1/2007 1:24:11 AM
Isaac The Hiro Fan from Stockton sez....
iF you guys are the best, thanks for the Masi interview... I love Heroes...
4/4/2007 2:06:18 PM
