Masi Oka
| Masi Oka | |
|---|---|
 Oka at the Heroes roadshow in Singapore, August 2007 |
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| Born | Masayori Oka December 27, 1974 Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Actor/Digital effects artist |
| Years active | 1998—present |
Masayori "Masi" Oka (岡 政偉 (Oka Masayori); born December 27, 1974) is a Japanese-American actor and digital effects artist.
He has performed in numerous feature films and TV series, most prominently as Hiro Nakamura in the NBC TV series Heroes from 2006 until its cancellation in May 2010. He resides in Los Angeles, California.
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[edit] Early life
Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka.[1] His parents divorced when he was one month old; he was raised in a single parent family and has never met his father.[2] He was six years old when his mother and he moved to Los Angeles from Japan.[3]At age eight, he appeared on the CBS-TV game show Child's Play. In 1987, a twelve-year-old Oka was featured on the cover of Time titled "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids".[4] Though he was not featured in the article itself, he was acquainted with the photographer who conducted the shoot.[5] His IQ has been reported at 180.[6]
He attended elementary school at The Mirman School and graduated high school from Harvard-Westlake School in 1992. After he graduated, he worked on the 1992 Summer Olympics as an English, Spanish, and Japanese translator.[7]He graduated from Brown University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and mathematics. While at Brown, he also served as the musical director of The Bear Necessities, an all-male a cappella group. Oka described the group as a "brothership."[8]
Oka landed his first job after graduation at Industrial Light & Magic, George Lucas's motion picture visual special effects company, with the hope of one day earning an Oscar for technical work on a motion picture.[9] Oka was also featured in the San Francisco Chronicle with ILM co-worker Anthony Shafer in a pre-dot-com article where he echoed his desire to meld acting and technology.[10] He worked on the Star Wars prequel trilogy.[5]
[edit] Acting career
Oka first tried his hand at acting in 2000. He earned a Screen Actors Guild card by appearing in industry films, then moved to Los Angeles.[11] ILM stipulated in his contract that he could work at its Los Angeles branch, but would have to return to their Marin County location if he did not get cast for a recurring role that season. Oka did get cast for a pilot. Although the show was not picked up, it did satisfy the contract's requirements and he was allowed to stay in Los Angeles. He decided to continue pursuing acting. He landed several guest spots and then a recurring role as Franklyn on the ABC comedy Scrubs. He was also featured in a North American commercial for Sega's 2002 PlayStation 2 video game, Shinobi, with the catch phrase 'Shinobi's back!' in front of Sega's 1987 Shinobi arcade cabinet. Oka guest starred in the Yes, Dear episode "Dances with Couch", aired April 8, 2002.
Oka also has a 20-second spot in Austin Powers in Goldmember where he had to say "It looks like Godzilla, but due to international copyright laws, it's not".
In 2006, Oka was cast for the role of Hiro Nakamura in Heroes. Oka translates his dialogue from the show's scripts from English to Japanese;[12] English subtitles accompany his Japanese dialogue on the show. Additionally, Oka's real voice is closer to that of "Future Hiro" than the higher-pitched voice he uses as "Present Hiro" as heard during his appearances on Heroes.
His portrayal of the role earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination that year in the "Best Supporting Actor on a TV Series" category and an Emmy Award nomination for best supporting actor in a drama series, the only actor on Heroes to be nominated for both awards.[13] In addition to his work on the show, he continues to work at ILM up to three days a week as a Research and Development Technical Director, writing programs that create special effects.[9] He played the role of Bruce in the big screen version of Get Smart.
He recently played a real estate broker who is trying to sell to Seann William Scott's character in Steve Conrad's The Promotion.
He was named the "Coolest Geek" at the Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards on June 13, 2007.[14] In 2007, he presented an award with Heroes co-star Hayden Panettiere on the 20th annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.
Oka plays the American-born coroner Max Bergman in CBS' Hawaii Five-0 reboot.[15] He joined the series' main cast in season 2.
Oka recently made an appearance in the current film Friends with Benefits.
[edit] Interests
Oka is fluent in Japanese, English and Spanish. His hobbies include kendo[16] where he carries the rank of shodan,[17] playing video games, watching and writing romantic comedies, playing the piano, beatboxing, and singing. He avidly collects manga; his current favorites include Eyeshield 21, One Piece and PLUTO, and he professes to be a big fan of Naoki Urasawa's other works.[18] In 1988, he placed fourth in the California state MATHCOUNTS competition, and was one of the four students to represent the state of California in the national competition.[19] He has been a guild leader for Dawn of Valor in World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG video game.[20]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Dharma & Greg | Nien-Jen | Television series Guest appearance |
| Citizen Baines | Staffer Dan | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| Gilmore Girls | Philosophy Student | Television series Guest appearance |
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| 2002 | Yes, Dear | Talking Rock | Television series Guest appearance |
| Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Male Council Member | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| Austin Powers in Goldmember | Japanese Pedestrian | ||
| She Spies | Guy | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| 2002–2003 | The Jamie Kennedy Experiment | Various | Television series 4 episodes |
| 2002–2004 | Scrubs | Franklyn | Television series 5 episodes |
| 2003 | On the Spot | Japanese Tourist | Television series Guest appearance |
| Uh-Oh! | Asian Man | ||
| Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde | Congressional Intern | Uncredited | |
| Luis | Deng Wu | Television series | |
| 2004 | Along Came Polly | Wonsuk | |
| Still Standing | Ronald | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| All of Us | Edwin | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| 2005 | Less Than Perfect | Hideki | Television series Guest appearance |
| Reno 911! | Translator | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| The Proud Family Movie | Japanese Kid/Announcer | Television film Voice only |
|
| House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim | Stanley Tong | Television film | |
| Joey | Arthur | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| God Wears My Underwear | Brother Eo | Voice only | |
| Punk'd | Translator | Television series Guest appearance |
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| 2006 | One Sung Hero | KJ | Short film |
| Reba | IRS Agent Phung | Television series Guest appearance |
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| Without a Trace | Wei Fan | Television series Guest appearance |
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| The Loop | Wang | Television series Guest appearance |
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| The Sarah Silverman Program | Clerk | Television series | |
| 2006–2010 | Heroes | Hiro Nakamura | Television series 66 episodes |
| 2007 | Balls of Fury | Jeff, Feng's mens room attendant | |
| Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip | Himself | Television series Guest appearance |
|
| Reno 911! | Foreign Tourist | Television series Guest appearance |
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| Robot Chicken | Japanese Mr. Rogers/ Chachi | Television series Voice only Guest appearance |
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| Jane Doe: Ties That Bind | Agent Osaka | Television film | |
| 2008 | Get Smart | Bruce | |
| Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control | Bruce | ||
| The Promotion | Loan Officer | ||
| 2009 | Fired Up | Eagle Mascot | |
| 2010 | Searching for Sonny | Sonny Bosco | |
| 2010–2012 | Hawaii Five-0 | Max Bergman | Television series 18 episodes |
| 2011 | Friends with Benefits | Darin Arturo Morena |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Mighty Joe Young | CG technical assistant: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) |
| 1999 | Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace | visual effects production and technical support: ILM |
| 2000 | The Perfect Storm | digital artist: ILM |
| 2002 | Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones | digital effects artist: ILM |
| 2003 | Hulk | technical director: ILM |
| Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | CG artist: ILM | |
| 2005 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | digital artist: ILM |
| War of the Worlds | digital artist: ILM | |
| 2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | digital artist: ILM |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Discovery Atlas | Episode "Japan Revealed" |
[edit] References
- ^ "Masi Oka 1974-". Biography Today (Omnigraphics, Inc.) 17 (1): 99. 2007. ISSN 1058-2347.
- ^ Tavis Smiley (2007-04-27). "Masi Oka". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200704/20070427_oka.html. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ Biography Today, p.100
- ^ Asian-American Whiz Kids. Time. 1987-08-31. http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19870831,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
- ^ a b ""Heroes" Star: Former "Whiz Kid"". TMZ.com. 2006-11-27. http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/27/heroes-star-former-whiz-kid/. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
- ^ Biography Today, p.101
- ^ Biography Today, p.101
- ^ Rapkin, Mickey (2008). Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory, p.11. Penguin Group, London. ISBN 159240376X, 9781592403769
- ^ a b Shen, Maxine (2006-10-15). "Heroes". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20070224190904/http://www.nypost.com/seven/10152006/tv/heroes_tv_maxine_shen.htm?page=0. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
- ^ Raine, George (1998-06-07). "Now Hiring". sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1998/06/07/BUSINESS9847.dtl. Retrieved 1998-06-07.
- ^ Gaudiosi, John (2006-10-25). "Masi Oka: Coder, Actor, Hero". Wired. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,71984-0.html. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
- ^ Keveney, Bill (2006-11-09). "'Heroes' star Masi Oka living the dream". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-11-19-hiro-main_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
- ^ Kuhn, Sarah (2007-02-09). "Airborne at Last!". Back Stage. http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/features/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003544143. Retrieved 2007-03-12.[dead link]
- ^ Casey, Jordan; "Spike TV Holds First Annual Guys Choice Awards Show"; allheadlinenews.com; June 11, 2007.
- ^ "Heroes' Masi Oka to Play Hawaii Five-0 Coroner". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Masi-Oka--Hawaii-Five0-1021822.aspx. Retrieved August 12 , 2010.
- ^ Greg David (2007-01-18). "There goes my Hiro". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 2007-02-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20070216184327/http://entertainment1.sympatico.msn.ca/There+goes+my+Hiro/TV_Guide/Interviews/Features/Articles/190107_masiheroes_greg.htm?isfa=1. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
- ^ Heroes Season 1 dvd, stunt special feature
- ^ SFX Collection - Special Edition #31: Total Anime, page 15 (UK-based sci-fi magazine)
- ^ "Masi Oka (star of Heroes) on cover of Time in 1987". 2006-11-21. http://www.elegantprofiles.com/blog/?p=4. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ "Dark Horse Comics: Exclusive Interview with Felicia Day!". 2010-04-21. http://www.facebook.com/notes/dark-horse-comics/exclusive-interview-with-felicia-day/389591754100. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Masi Oka |
- Masi Oka at the Internet Movie Database
- Daily Telegraph Article
- NY Times Article
- Brown University "From Special Effects to Acting, CS Alum Masi Oka is One of the 'Heroes'"
- Brown Daily Herald by Alissa Cerny 9/18/06 "Brown alum snags big role in NBC series 'Heroes'"
- Time magazine cover - August 31, 1987 (Masi Oka is to the farthest left)
- Video of Masi Oka discussing his role on the hit TV series, Heroes, plus making special effects for the movie, Star Wars.
- Nichi Bei Times Interview
- San Francisco Chronicle Article
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- 1974 births
- Actors from New York City
- American film actors
- American kendoka
- American television actors
- American actors of Japanese descent
- Brown University alumni
- American people of Japanese descent
- Living people
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Japanese emigrants to the United States
- Actors from California
- People from Tokyo
- Special effects people
