Kring, Oka talk Heroes

Series creator Tim Kring and Masi Oka talk about their Emmy nods, season two, and the upcoming DVD release of Heroes.
Even though Heroes is in its between-season break, the show has no problem staying in the spotlight during the long summer television drought. The breakthrough hit was one of the main focuses of last week's Comic-Con, trickling cast additions have kept the show in the headlines over the past few months, and the anticipated season one DVD is due out later this month.


NBC Universal hosted a lighthearted conference call with series creator Tim Kring and actor Masi Oka. Both were on hand to talk about the upcoming DVD and the show's Emmy nominations, which include a supporting actor nod for Oka as well as one of the top prizes, Outstanding Drama Series.

The first questions asked Oka about his character, the time-traveling and teleporting Hiro Nakamura. One of Hiro's trademarks is the grimace he makes when trying to activate his power.

"It's become such an iconic gesture that we continue to do it," said Oka. "There's more of it now." Though he once said it would give him a brain aneurysm to repeat the act over and over again, the "constipated look" will return in season two, but with slightly less tension as Hiro learns to master his power.

The idea for Hiro came to Kring when he was looking for a way to lighten the script for the pilot. In fact, Hiro didn't even exist in the first draft. Kring decided that he needed a character who relished his powers and embraced them in a very enthusiastic way, as compared with the other, more reluctant heroes.

"Hiro embodied the everyman," said Oka, commenting on his thoughts when he first read the script. "And how we all dreamed as a kid of being a superhero."

The subject then turned toward George Takei, the Star Trek icon who plays Hiro's dad. Oka praised working with the veteran actor, and even launched into his Takei impression that Takei told TV.com about a month and a half ago. Kring also said that viewers can look for "another face that will have a very similar impact to George Takei for the real genre fans," but is holding out on the surprise cast addition.

Both were very honored and surprised to see Heroes nominated for so many Emmy Awards. "We're up against very stiff competition, like The Sopranos. It feels like that's the one to beat," said Kring. "This is a show that many viewers dismissed early on as a fantasy show, or a genre show, or a sci-fi show, and those kinds of shows aren't always associated with critical acclaim or awards. For a show like ours, I think it's very important [to be nominated] because it stamps the show with a certain mark of quality that will attract more viewers."

Oka said that he and Zachary Quinto, who plays the head-carving villain Sylar on Heroes, had planned to hang out and stay awake all night in order to watch the Emmy nominations live at 5:30 a.m. Unlike Kring, who talked himself out of thinking Heroes may get an Emmy nomination, Oka had a good feeling the show would be nominated.

"We were going to stay up all night, but we fell asleep," said Oka. "But we had a really nice wake-up call."

Kring does feel a bit of pressure to keep up the success of the show, but not because he's trying to outdo season one. "It's not pressure to top it, it's pressure to keep it going," said Kring. "This particular show has become a show that is defined by its ability to defy expectations... That's the difficult part, constantly trying to stay one step ahead of people's expectations."

The two then plugged the DVD release, which is set for August 28. The seven-disc set will include the uncut pilot that was shown at 2006's Comic-Con, episode commentary, and 50 deleted scenes. There will also be an HD-DVD release, with interactive games and more.


Talk then turned to a touchy subject--the season two villains. Even with the media's pressure, Kring didn't want to give anything away about the big bad guys that will be appearing. "The audience can expect to see him [the new villain alluded to toward the end of season one] in the first run of episodes," said Kring--implying that the new bad guy will show up in the first 11 episodes--but couldn't divulge any further. "We literally haven't cast the character yet." (For fans keeping a timeline at home, Heroes is currently filming its fifth episode of the second season.)

Now that viewers are more familiar with the characters, season two won't have the same storyline-crowded episodes as season one. "We can afford to concentrate on fewer storylines per episode," said Kring, "so some characters will be left out of particular episodes."

Finally, the two were asked about something no one was ready to talk about--a Heroes movie. "There has been no real discussion about it," said Kring.