Masi Oka
| Masi Oka | |
|---|---|
| |
| About | |
| Also known as | Masayori Oka |
| Character | Hiro Nakamura |
| Date of birth | 27 December 1974 |
| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Gender |  |
| IMDb profile | |
Masayori "Masi" Oka is the Japanese-American television and film actor who plays the character Hiro Nakamura. Masi Oka also helps write Hiro's blog.
About
Masi was born in Tokyo, Japan, but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 6 years old. He has an I.Q. of over 180, and is gifted with many artistic talents.
Along with standard elementary school, he attended Saturday school in L.A. where he learned English, U.S. history, etc. He graduated in 1997 from Brown University with a major in Computer Science and Mathematics and a minor in Theatre Arts.
Masi spent a number of years working for visual effects studios, most notably George Lucas's "Industrial Light & Magic." During this time he worked on such popular films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, War of the Worlds and Star Wars (Episodes I - III). He has indicated that he worked in programming the tools that the artists use in CGI special effects.
Masi has acted in a number of popular television series and films such as Without a Trace, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Reno 911!, Robot Chicken, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Get Smart, Fired Up!, Hawaii Five-0, and Mozart in the Jungle. He also wrote the short film Chester's Big Night.
Productions in which Masi has appeared alongside other Heroes cast members include Fired Up! with Nick D'Agosto and Janel Parrish, Robot Chicken with Seth Green and Breckin Meyer, Austin Powers in Goldmember with Greg Grunberg, Seth Green, and Dan Warner, Less Than Perfect with Eric Roberts, Scrubs with Adam Harrington, Along Came Polly with Missi Pyle, Balls of Fury with Marisa Tayui and Darryl Chan, Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control with Jayma Mays, and Gilmore Girls with Karl T. Wright.
Notes
- For his work on Heroes, Masi won a "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series" Saturn Award in 2006. Among other awards, he was nominated for an Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" and a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television" in 2007. His character, Hiro Nakamura, was nominated as the "Favorite TV Character (Viewer's Choice)" by the Spaceys Awards in 2007. Masi won the "Best Actor in a TV Drama" Diversity Award in 2009.
- The "Rate Your Doc" site about Masi's Scrubs character "Franklin" makes many references to Heroes.
- On January 29, 2007, Masi appeared on an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in which he spoofed Heroes.
- On May 15, 2007, Masi appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to present a top ten list entitled "Top Ten Surprises In The Heroes Season Finale".
- Masi mainly use the name "Franklin", This is his character name in Scrubs, and his name when he's an extra in The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
Trivia
- Masi appeared on the cover of the August 31, 1987, edition of Time magazine, next to the caption "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids!" Though he was not mentioned in the article, he knew the photographer, which was how he got in the shot.
- He and fellow cast member Milo Ventimiglia enjoy going to New York Rangers games. Both are die-hard fans.
- In an interview, Jason La Padura said that Masi Oka was one of the easiest actors to cast for Heroes.
- Masi Oka told Boston Herald that he is personally trained in Kendo, a type of Japanese sword fighting.
- Masi told SFX that he often translates his own scripts, "making sure I use the correct colloquialisms, whatever is appropriate for the time. I study the Japanese media and use a language that would be correct for Hiro."
- Masi is reported to have an IQ of 180.
- On November 1, 2007, Masi Oka was named the global ambassador for One Laptop per Child, a non-profit organization which "provides children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express". Of interest, a child in Bhutan uses the XO laptop (The Last Shangri-La), which is the laptop given by OLPC to children in developing countries.
External Links
- TV.com Biography
- Masi Oka on Wikipedia
- WMMR Radio Interview - Begins at 01:34:14, duration 10 minutes
- Interview with Masi Oka at NBC.com
- Interview with Masi Oka about his work on Star Wars, 1/19/07
- Interview with Masi Oka at Pixelsurgeon.com, February 2007
- Interview with Masi Oka at iF Magazine, 4/2/07
- Article about Masi Oka's Heroes experience at The Detroit News, 4/23/07
- CBR Interview with Masi Oka during filing of Landslide, 5/14/07
- NBC Taste Test
- Interview with Masi Oka at comic-con.org, 05/07
- Masi Oka on Entertainment Weekly's 100 List
- Interview with Masi Oka at TV Guide, 6/19/07
- Interview with Masi Oka at TV Guide, 7/30/07
- Interview with Masi Oka at UnderGroundOnline, 8/7/07
- Interview with Masi Oka and Tim Kring at Newsarama.com, 8/10/07: Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3
- Interview with Masi Oka at Superhero Hype!, 8/14/07
- Interview with Masi Oka in SFX Collection, 8/15/07
- Masi Oka on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 8/17/07
- Interview with Masi Oka in 10/07 edition of FHM, 8/24/07
- Interview with Masi Oka, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Ali Larter, and Greg Grunberg during the Heroes World Tour, 8/30/07
- Interview with Masi Oka at GeekMonthly.com, 9/11/07
- Interview with Masi Oka at Radar Online, 9/28/07
- Interview with Masi Oka at The OWI, 11/27/07
- Interview with Masi Oka at Comic Book Resources, 9/29/08
- Masi Oka talks about Orientation
- Interview with Masi Oka at LA Times, 11/21/15
