Timeout With Heroes' Masi

Actor Masi Oka chats about season three of Heroes, his new nemesis, and going to the bathroom with fans watching.
Claire Bennett (Hayden Panettiere) may be Heroes' cheerleader in front of the camera, but behind the scenes, no Heroes cast member does a better job of cheerleading for the show than Masi Oka. The Japanese-born actor has become one of the main faces of the drama and a fan favorite as time- and space-bending Hiro Nakamura.


Hiro Nakamura looking dapper.
Masi Oka took time out of his busy shooting schedule--episode 12 is currently being filmed--to discuss Heroes with the media this morning, and TV.com was there. Despite being bogged down with a bit of a cold, Masi was the usual Masi: well spoken, intelligent, cracking jokes (some good, some bad by his own admission), excitedly teasing season three, and always happy to answer questions from the press.

In fact, he even had a positive attitude when those questions dealt with the critical backlash for last week's premiere after an extremely positive reaction from fans at Comic-Con. Oka isn't bothered by what critics say and has high hopes for season three, which he said is a product of fan feedback. "[The fans] wanted more story, faster pace, a lot more action, and more focus on the original characters," he said. "We feel that we delivered based on what the fans wanted."

Oka then discussed his new nemesis, speedster Daphne (played by Friday Night Lights' Brea Grant). He likened their relationship to the greatest cat-and-mouse-chase duo of all time: Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. "Except she says a lot more than 'Meep Meep!'" Oka said that Wile E. Coyote antics will be part of their dynamic, minus the ACME gadgets, and that Hiro will "fall on his face a lot."

Speaking of Hiro's rivals, the seemingly invincible Adam Monroe (David Anders) will do battle with Hiro again this season, admitted Masi. Anders returns to Heroes in episode four (October 6), but Masi would not say when he'll go face-to-face with Hiro. As for killing Adam, Masi thinks it can be done, and the spinal cord is the key.


Hiro and the speedy Daphne.
Masi also said that there will be much more than just a Hiro-versus-Adam throw-down this season. Sylar will be in the mix, of course, and there will be some big-time battles between characters that fans would never expect.

Perhaps the biggest scoop of the phone call dealt with Hiro's family. Fans can expect to meet Hiro's mother for the first time this season, but that's the only secret that the actor would let out. As for Hiro's sister, Masi explained that she's probably too busy running the family's company to show up this season.

Last week's episode no doubt shocked many when Hiro jumped to the future and saw his good buddy Ando kill future Hiro with a Street Fighter-like fireball, but don't expect Ando to turn into a supervillain. Masi explained that Ando and Hiro will get back to palling around soon, and that the Heroes writers made that scene ambiguous to explore the darker side of the characters. "We want to put seeds of doubt in every relationship," he said. "Shake up the status quo." Well it certainly caught us off guard!

Hiro has had a love interest in each season so far, but Masi doesn't have hopes for a babe in season three. In fact, Masi seems legitimately broken up over the death of Charlie, the red-headed waitress from season one that Hiro courted. We liked her too, Masi. However, he did admit that "this is Heroes, after all," and that anything can happen.

On the personal side, Masi loves 30 Rock and The Office, enjoys the stunt work on Heroes (particularly when he can pretend to be in Mary Poppins while suspended in a harness), and gets a bit uncomfortable when fans follow him into restrooms ("It's not like my urine can stop time," he jokes).