Super Hiro turns sex symbol
January 31, 2007
:: Masi Oka scores big on comic relief in Heroes. ::
HE is the Japanese nerd personified, what with his dorky glasses and chubby face.
But Masi Oka of the breakout TV drama "Heroes" has swiftly won over America and become everyone's favourite 'super Hiro'.
He plays Hiro Nakamura, a lovable Japanese office geek who discovers he has the power to bend time, and embarks on a journey to 'save the cheerleader, save the world'.
Some fans even consider him a - gasp! - sex symbol.
In Los Angeles, women have gone up to him to hug and kiss him before quickly running away.
One fan was so stunned to see him, he dropped both his jaw and his handphone.
Masi, 33, told Undergroundonline.com: 'I thought it was a cool thing because I had the power of a hot woman at that moment. I had that (same) effect on a guy.'
Seems like he is embracing fame with as much enthusiasm as his alter ego Hiro, who makes it his own mission to do good with his newfound powers.
To think that this time last year, he was merely a struggling unknown actor.
Born Masayori Oka in Tokyo, he moved to Los Angeles with his mother at age 6.
In 1997, he graduated with a degree in maths and computer science from Brown University and joined George Lucas' San Francisco-based special effects studio, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
Not content with merely writing programmes for Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars: Episode II and Pirates Of The Caribbean, Masi moved back to Los Angeles to try acting and persuaded his employer to let him work from there.
After guest- starring in TV serials like Gilmore Girls and Scrubs, and movies Along Came Polly and Austin Powers In Goldmember, he finally snagged the one breakout role that would bring him super fame.
'Hiro gets to live out his dream of being a superhero. I get to live out my dream of being on a successful show,' he told USA Today.
'I knew he was comic relief, and I have a blast playing him. It's so much fun.
'I hope it shows.'
Definitely. From the childlike way he scrunches his face to focus on bending time to the triumphant way he throws his hands into the air and screams 'yatta' (Japanese for 'I did it') whenever he succeeds, Masi is, well, a blast.
A recent report on MSNBC.com said: 'Masi Oka is so cool, he should get an award just for being Masi Oka.'
STARSTRUCK
Still, he could not help feeling 'starstruck' at the recent Golden Globe Awards, where he rubbed shoulders with A-list Hollywood actors.
Masi, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for a TV series, told Chicago Sun-Times: 'To have Tom Hanks coming up to you going, 'We love your show' and Steven Spielberg saying, 'We love your show'... that's surreal.'
Back on the Heroes set, Masi helps to translate and improvise on the Japanese script, as his character speaks only some English.
You can expect comic boo-boos, like when he says 'very big win by a mudslide' instead of 'landslide'.
So, what else is lined up for Masi, who speaks fluent English, Japanese and Spanish?
Two movies - 21 and Balls Of Fury - are in the pipeline and he hopes to do some directing work in the future, starting with an episode of Heroes in the third or fourth season, he said.
He told Wired News he would get his ILM pals to help and joked: 'I'd make use of my employee discount - buy two effects and get one free'.
Heroes premieres over Star World (StarHub Ch 18) tomorrow at 9pm.
Revisit:
Milo's photo spread in Flaunt magazine and Heroes Straightens Up Its Gay Character...
Since February 4, 2006