Masi Oka

Masi Oka

Actor
|

Life Story

Masayori "Masi" Oka is a Japanese American actor, producer and digital effects artist. He became widely known for his role on NBC's Heroes as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS' Hawaii Five-0 as Doctor Max Bergman. Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. His parents divorced when he was one month old; he was raised in a single parent family and has never met his father. He was six years old when his mother and he moved to Los Angeles from Japan. 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". Though he was not featured in the article itself, he was acquainted with the photographer who conducted the shoot. His IQ has been reported at over 180.

 
Family

No info available

Trivia

Graduated in 1997 from Brown University with degrees in mathematics and computer science and a minor in theatre arts.
He has a 180-plus IQ.
Name is pronounced as "mah-see".
When he was 12, he was on the cover of the August 31, 1987 issue of Time magazine titled "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids".
In an interview with TV Guide's Michael Ausiello, he said that as of November 2006, he still works one or two days a week as a CGI artist for George Lucas's special effects company Industrial Light & Magic (at which Oka worked on the effects for such films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), War of the Worlds (2005), the three most recent Star Wars movies, and The Perfect Storm (2000)). He also still drives his old car, a 2000 Honda Accord.
One of his hobbies is Kendo (Japanese sword fighting).
At age six, he moved to Los Angeles, California, USA, where he still resides.
Graduated from Harvard-Westlake School (1992).
His character on Heroes (2006), Hiro, is Tyra Banks's favorite character on her favorite show.
Has studied under booking coach Amy Lyndon.
Arrived in Singapore to promote Season 2 of Heroes (2006), as part of the World Tour [31 August 2007]. [August 2007]

 

Personal Quotes 

You know, I've actually been very good about not going on the Internet, I only look at things that my publicist and my friends send me, although I did see this one thing that my publicist sent me, I went online and it said, "oh my god, Hiro Nakamura, I love him so much. I want to make him my pet. I want to lock him up, talk to him, kiss him, I want to make him literally my pet." You know what, as long as they feed me, I'm all for it.
(How becoming famous affected how people treat him) They treat me nicer. They don't say, "Yo, Asian dude." They say, "Hi Masi. We love your show."
(on being out in public): It is a great thing to have fans come up to you and say, 'Oh my God. We love your show. What is going to happen now?' Especially with the hiatus. It is pretty cool to go out, meet your fans and feel their passion for the show as we have for the show, as well. There was a guy walking by with a cell phone, he noticed me and turned his head and opened his mouth and dropped his cell phone, which I thought was a cool thing, because I had the power of a hot woman at that moment. I have had girls come up, hug me and kiss me and run away. I am like, 'Wow, don't run away.' It has been surreal. Last year at this time, I could be walking in to a Starbucks and people wouldn't look at me. Now I have to be well-groomed because people want to take pictures.
On why his mother chooses to stay in Japan rather than accompany him to the Emmy Awards: My mom is actually very superstitious. She tells me every time she's in Japan, she gets good news, like 'I got nominated for a Golden Globe,' or 'I got nominated for an Emmy.' Anytime she's in the states, she gets bad news, like, 'I want to be an actor.'

 
 
Filmography

Signup for Newsletter

Signup for the latest news about Movies & Events and exclusive offers.

Don't worry, we won't spam you. You will be able to unsubscribe with a single mouse click.
Subscribe for Our Whatsapp Updates

Which update you want to receive?