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Masi Oka
Masi Oka by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg
Oka at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con
Born (1974-12-27) December 27, 1974 (age 50)
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Education Brown University (BS)
Occupation
  • Actor
  • producer
  • digital effects artist
Years active 1998–present
Japanese name
Kanji 岡 政偉
Kana おか まさより

Masayori "Masi" Oka (岡 政偉, Oka Masayori, December 27, 1974) is a Japanese-American actor, producer, and digital effects artist. He is well-known for his roles as Hiro Nakamura in the TV show Heroes and as Doctor Max Bergman in Hawaii Five-0. For his role in Heroes, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Early life

Masi Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, on December 27, 1974. His parents divorced when he was very young, and he was raised by his mother. When he was six years old, he and his mother moved from Japan to Los Angeles, USA.

When he was eight, Masi appeared on a CBS-TV game show called Child's Play. Later, at age 12, he was featured on the cover of Time magazine. This was for an article about talented Asian-American children.

Masi was also very good at math. In 1988, he placed fourth in a big math competition in California. He was one of four students to represent California in the national MATHCOUNTS competition.

Education and first job

Masi Oka went to Brown University. He studied computer science and mathematics and also took theater arts classes. He graduated in 1997.

After college, Masi got his first job at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). This is a famous company that creates visual effects for movies. It was started by George Lucas, who created Star Wars. Masi hoped to win an Oscar one day for his technical work in films. He worked on the Star Wars prequel movies, helping to create their special effects.

Career

Masi Oka actor
Oka in 2007

Starting acting (2000–2005)

Masi Oka started trying out for acting roles in 2000. He earned his Screen Actors Guild card, which allowed him to work in professional films. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting more seriously.

During this time, Masi got several small roles in movies and TV shows. He appeared in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and an episode of the sitcom Yes, Dear. He also had a recurring role as Franklyn on the NBC comedy Scrubs. He even appeared in a commercial for the PlayStation 2 video game Shinobi.

Becoming famous with Heroes (2006–2010)

In 2006, Masi Oka got a big role as Hiro Nakamura in the NBC TV series Heroes. His character, Hiro, could manipulate time and space. Masi even translated his own lines from English to Japanese for the show.

Heroes became a huge hit, and Masi's performance as Hiro made him very popular. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Primetime Emmy Award for his acting. He was also named the "Coolest Geek" at the Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards in 2007. He even presented an award with his Heroes co-star Hayden Panettiere at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

Even while working on Heroes, Masi continued to work part-time at ILM. He helped create special effects by writing computer programs. He also appeared in the movie Get Smart as a character named Bruce.

Hawaii Five-0 and other projects (2010–present)

Masi Oka joined the cast of CBS's Hawaii Five-0 in 2010. This show was a remake of an older series. He played the character of Dr. Max Bergman, a coroner. He became a main cast member in the second season.

In 2015, Masi returned to his famous role as Hiro Nakamura in the miniseries Heroes Reborn.

Masi has also used his digital effects skills in the world of video games. He started a video game development studio called Mobius Digital. He was a producer for their critically acclaimed game Outer Wilds.

Personal life

Masi Oka is very good at languages. He can speak Japanese, English, and Spanish fluently. He even worked as a translator at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

When he was younger, Masi played chess. He also collects manga, which are Japanese comic books. He helped produce the 2017 American movie Death Note, which was based on a famous manga series.

Masi Oka has a black belt in kendō, which is a Japanese martial art similar to fencing.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Japanese Pedestrian
2003 Uh-Oh! Asian Man
2003 Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde Congressional Intern Uncredited
2004 Along Came Polly Wonsuk
2005 Proud Family Movie, TheThe Proud Family Movie Japanese Kid/Announcer Voice only
2005 Noroi: The Curse Self
2005 House of the Dead 2 Stanley Tong
2006 One Sung Hero KJ Short film
2007 Balls of Fury Feng's men's room attendant
2008 Get Smart Bruce
2008 Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control Direct-to-video
2008 Promotion, TheThe Promotion Loan Officer
2009 Fired Up Eagle Mascot
2010 Searching for Sonny Sonny Bosco
2011 Friends with Benefits Darin Arturo Morena
2013 Jobs Ken Tanaka
2017 Death Note Detective Sasaki Also producer
2018 The Meg Toshi
2019 Spies in Disguise Katsu Kimura Voice role
2022 Bullet Train Conductor

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Dharma & Greg Nien-Jin Episode: "The End of the Innocence: Part 2"
2001 Citizen Baines Staffer Dan Episode: "The Whole Thump-Thump-Thump"
2001 Gilmore Girls Philosophy Student Episode: "The Road Trip to Harvard"
2002 Yes, Dear Talking Rock Episode: "Dances with Couch"
2002 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Male Council Member Episode: "The Whole Ball of Wax"
2002 She Spies Guy Episode: "Fondles"
2002–2003 Jamie Kennedy Experiment, TheThe Jamie Kennedy Experiment Various 4 episodes
2002–2004 Scrubs Franklyn 5 episodes
2003 On the Spot Japanese Tourist Episode: "Little Brenda Dynamite"
2003 Luis Deng Wu 9 episodes
2004 Still Standing Ronald Episode: "Still Bill's Dad"
2004 All of Us Edwin Episode: "Home for Christmas?"
2005 Less Than Perfect Hideki Episode: "I Just Don't Like Here"
2005 Reno 911! Translator
2005 Joey Arthur
2005 God Wears My Underwear Brother Eo Voice only
2005 Punk'd Translator Season 5
2006 Reba IRS Agent Phung Episode: "Don't Mess with Taxes"
2006 Without a Trace Wei Fan Episode: "Check Your Head"
2006 Loop, TheThe Loop Wang Episode: "The Year of the Dog"
2006 Sarah Silverman Program, TheThe Sarah Silverman Program Clerk Episode: "Batteries"
2006–2010 Heroes Hiro Nakamura 66 episodes
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television (2006)
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2006)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2007)
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2007)
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television (2007)
2007 Jane Doe: Ties That Bind Agent Osaka Television film
2007 Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Himself Episode: "The Harriet Dinner"; uncredited
2007–2008 Reno 911! Foreign Tourist, Japanese Translator 3 episodes
2007 Robot Chicken Japanese Mr. Rogers / Chachi Voice only
2008 Discovery Atlas Narrator Episode: "Japan Revealed"
2010–2017; 2019 Hawaii Five-0 Doctor Max Bergman Recurring (Season 1);
Main (Seasons 2–7);
97 episodes;
Guest (Season 10)
2015 Heroes Reborn Hiro Nakamura 3 episodes
2018 Mozart in the Jungle Fukumoto 4 episodes
2021 Star Wars: Visions Ethan (voice) Short film: "The Ninth Jedi": English language dub
2023 Blue Eye Samurai Ringo /Muñones Voice only

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Cars Mater-National Championship Koji Voice role
2007 Driver '76 Jimmy Yip Voice role
2019 Outer Wilds Producer

Audiobook

Year Title Role
2013 World War Z Kondo Tatsumi

Digital effects artist

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 Mission to Mars Technical support: ILM
Perfect Storm, TheThe 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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Masi Oka para niños

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