PRIME TIME: MASI OKA TALKS "HEROES" AND "GET SMART" By: Lana K. Wilson--Combs BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.-- Fans of the hit NBC television series "Heroes," which stars Emmy-nominated actor Masi Oka (pictured), will have to wait until Sept. 22 for the exciting return of the show. N2Entertainment.net caught up with the very personable Oka at the Four Seasons Hotel. And while the 33-year-old actor who plays the time-traveler, Hiro Nakamura on "Heroes," couldn't reveal too much about the upcoming third season, we did manage to get him to open up just a bit. Oka was actually in town to promote the new movie, "Get Smart" which opened June 20 and stars Steve Carell, Dwayne Johnson and Anne Hathaway. "Get Smart" debuted at number one at the box office and raked in $39 million. The actor has come a long way since he landed his first job at George Lucas's motion picture visual special effects company Industrial Light & Magic. Oka's special effects skills--and notably a computer program he co-created to generate water--was used behind-the-scenes in the movie "A Perfect Storm." Other films he worked on included: "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," "War of the Worlds," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and the "Star Wars trilogy." Oka also made appearances on the TV shows "Scrubs," "Dharma & Greg," "Gilmore Girls," and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" before becoming adored worldwide as the teleporting computer wiz on "Heroes." Whether he's in front of the camera or behind it, Oka has definitely become one to watch. Here's what our "Heroes" and "Get Smart" star shared with us. Q. You have changed the image of the Japanese actor because usually, the image is stoic? Do you think you've accomplished this because you are funny? A. I don't know. Everyone who knows me in real life knows that I'm not that funny in real life. (Laughter). So I'm glad I could act that way on screen and show otherwise. It's not intentional but I've grown up loving comedy and all these comedic greats. In America especially, they don't have as many Asian-American roles and I think comedy is a great equalizer. With comedy there is a built-in comedic distance where you laugh with the characters, laugh with the situations versus when it's a drama. It's kind of hard because you are asking someone to empathize with you immediately. When the audience sees someone who doesn't look like them immediately, it's hard for them to delve into that person. So, for us, it's kind of easy to delve into the comedy side because there's not as much quote, unquote prejudice and there is that built-in comedic distance that we're allowed to utilize. If we can change images, that's fantastic. That's not particularly my intention. I'm just blessed to be working and have fun and I love comedy so I guess yay!! (Lots of laughter). Q. What was it like to go back to "Heroes" after the writer's strike? A. It's been great. It's fantastic to see all the crew. It's going back to a family, to have that great repertory of people who are on the same wavelength. The writer's strike hit a lot of the crew members hard and they had nothing really to gain from a strike. It was just great to see all of them back working and it was great to retain everybody too because we thought we would lose a lot of people. That's been the great thing; to see all my crew members, my cast mates, all my brothers and sisters. It's great to be back and work as a family again. Q. Is there going to be an actor's strike or not? A. Oh, Jesus! Wow. I'm just hoping Terrence (Stamp--his co-star in "Get Smart") can introduce me to his agent in London. I'll have to work overseas for a while. Q. Are you shooting "Heroes" now? A. Yes, season three. We're already shooting. We're going from May to March, twenty-five episodes straight. Q. Can you tease me a little about the upcoming season of "Heroes?" A. Oh, I can't say much. (He laughs). It's going to be more exciting than last season. A lot of the characters from last season will return. But the big news is that Hiro has an arch-nemesis named Daphne. She's amazingly fast, a real speedster. The writers of the show were thinking that if Batman has his Joker, Hiro gets Daphne. There's going to be so much action in the first show. Viewers will also get all their questions answered in the first show like who shot Nathan Petrelli. Q. "Get Smart" is the first major movie you've done since your "Heroes" break. What sort of offers were you getting and why did you choose this one? Q. I was in a very fortunate position to have a couple of offers but this was just a great film. I personally never saw the original series but it had great talent attached already. Steve Carell was one of my big idols growing up and Alan Arkin. Having grown up in the Second City family, these guys were the people I worshiped and I knew I really wanted to work with them. For me, it was a pretty easy choice. If I could only do one, this was the one I really wanted to do. I was just very fortunate that the producers gave us an opportunity to work. Q. You could only do one on your hiatus? A. Yeah, because of scheduling conflicts, nothing just seemed to work out. "Heroes" was running long as well so even doing "Get Smart" was a big scheduling nightmare. And thanks to our producers and the producer of "Get Smart," we were able to work it out. Q. Your participation on "Heroes" requires you to maintain a certain amount of secrecy. Can you contrast what that's like compared with being on a project like "Get Smart?" A.The challenges, of course, are you read a script and you really want to share it with everyone because it's such an exciting project and story. You want to tell the world but, at the same time, I don't think they really want to know. You tell the fans, "Well, I could tell you everything but it's just going to ruin it." With these movie things, I don't remember what we shot because it was like a year and a half ago. Fortunately, my memory is already gone. So when they ask me what it was about, it's like "Uh, I don't remember." So naturally, my memory fades and I don't know. I forgot the question already. (Laughter). It's my short term memory. I don't know. But, this was a great project and we had lots of great fun times. Q. What was it like working with Steve Carell in "Get Smart?" A. Amazing. Most comedic stars, when they are in a film, they want all the laughs and it should be about them but Steve is one of the most generous people I've ever worked with. He's all about the funny but also making everyone else funny as well. And that's something I really admired. I learned so much from him especially in the way he improvs and the way he works with everyone. I think that's a testimony to not only Steve's talent but his character as an actor. I hope everyone gets an opportunity to work with a great comedic star like him because not all comedic stars are that generous. Q. Are there any type of roles that you would like to play that you've never gotten to maybe like a villain? A. Humm, a villain. There are definitely a couple of things. And we're, fortunately in a kind of development stage with them for this season of "Heroes" so I can't really talk about it right now. Sorry. Q. Are there any plans to spin off your character and your "Get Smart" co-star Nate Torrence's character into several projects? A. Well, Nate and I finished shooting a full-length DVD feature. It's parallel content and for those who know the Tom Stoppard reference if "Get Smart" the film is "Hamlet," we did the equivalent of what would be Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Parallel content, same timeline. It's titled "Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd out of Control." It comes out July 1. Q. Was it scheduled the same time while "Get Smart" was filming? A. Originally, it was supposed to be all improvised. While we were shooting like behind-the-scenes they were going to shoot DVD footage of us goofing off and really do a 'meanwhile, back in the green room is da, da, da.' But it's a really smart business plan and an industry first. Q. Who else is in it? A. Patrick (Warburton) is in it. Terry Crews is in it. There are a lot more cameos from the original film that we're not allowed to talk about. They are top secret. Q. Both you and Nate have lots of cool gadgets in the feature film. Are there any cool gadgetry in the DVD? A. Oh yeah. There will be a lot of gadgets. We're gadget people. Q. How long do you see yourself on "Heroes"? A. I hope until I'm old and gray. It's a smartly written show that people have tapped into and responded to it in a big way. I'm so thrilled to be a part of it. Editor's Note: Masi Oka stars in the NBC drama "Heroes" which returns with new episodes beginning Sept. 22 at 9-10 P.M./E.T. Check your local listings as dates and time are subject to change. And be sure to catch Oka in the new, comedy movie, "Get Smart" which is currently in theatres.