With the greatly anticipated return of Heroes coming January 22nd, Oka took part in a conference call with the press this week, which IGN participated in. Asked what the theme for the second half of the season will be for Heroes, Oka noted, "We have our catch phrase, 'Are you on the list?' The first half was definitely about the discovery and now the second half is more about the realization of it, and then the growth with the powers." When it comes to balancing all the different characters, Oka said he felt it would be, "The same in terms of distribution. You start to see a lot of crossovers and a lot of the characters intertwining," and promised there were, "Some wonderful, wonderful twists coming up."
Hiro had a tragic love story with the ill-fated Charlie, which Oka said he really enjoyed playing. Asked if he there might be another love interest in Hiro's future, Oka replied, "Yes. Let's put it this way; I've heard from [Executive Producer Tim Kring] that somewhere down the line, I'm not gonna say when, they'll be another love interest for Hiro. From what I understand it's gonna be a new character, but who knows? You never know what's going to happen." Oka also observed that, "There's something about not seeing as many romantic stories with Asian Americans on screen, so be able to help that and make that a realization would be a lot of fun."
It was previously announced that we will be meeting Hiro's father soon, and that he will be played by none other than Star Trek's legendary George Takei. "We will see him in episode 14 and 15 I think," said Oka, explaining that for Hiro and his father, "The relationship is kind of complex, but simple… There you go for an oxymoron. Without saying too much, you'll find that his father has a lot of expectations for his son. Hiro is his only son, who he expected to be his heir to his company, so because of that, there's some expectations and he kind of views Hiro's journey to be very childish and he wants him to grow up. Hiro's always seen his father as an intimidating figure and someone he has to live up to, and he possibly sometimes limited who Hiro is as a person, because of the expectations his father always had on him. We'll see a little bit of that conflict and the reason why his dad came to find Hiro in America."
I asked Oka how Takei was to work with, and Oka enthusiastically noted that, "He was great. When we were not shooting, he would tell these wonderful stories." Oka broke into a very good Takei impression, saying, "Back in those days, we had… camels walking," before noting how fun it was to hear Takei's "wonderful voice." Oka then said, "When action is called, he turns into this menacing, mean guy. And it was quite intimidating to see him work. But he was a wonderful person to work with and hopefully he'll come back. I'd love to see more of him."
One of the most discussed moments so far on Heroes was when we saw Hiro appear from the future, as a much more self-confident, serious character, complete with a pony tail and a sword strapped to his back. "From what I understand, we will see Future Hiro again in that form, I think sometime this season," Oka revealed. "That's the plan, but there's nothing concrete. That's the rumor going around, but that could change at the drop of a hat."
As for more on what's to come, Oka said, "Hiro's power, as it's described, is attached to his emotional state. We'll learn later on what that means. We see Hiro kind of lose control of his powers and lose his powers. The next seven episodes is definitely focused about Hiro and his quest for his sword, which he believes will let him focus his power and get back the control over his powers. We'll see some very interesting kind of new effects because of his lack of control of his powers and emotions, because Charlie has definitely devastated him and given him a realization of reality into his adventure. He's definitely come to the realization that he can't change the past. Fate is fate, and he can't change that. The same with destiny. Hiro's still on his journey, but he's gone through a lot of tragedy and obstacles, so it's going to be hard for him to balance that."
Asked directly if the sword itself turns out to have any powers or helps Hiro with his abilities, Oka replied, "There is an answer for that. It's part of the plotline. Unfortunately I can't talk about that. But it will be answered." Already a noted actor and special effects designer, Oka revealed another skill, when he added, "I would also like to see the sword fighting thing a little bit more developed. As they talk more about the quest for the sword, I think they're gonna utilize that a little more, and I'm hoping I'll be able to retrain a lot of my Kendo skills and use them on the show."
Another episode showed a tantalizing image of Hiro facing a dinosaur, in a painting done by Isaac, who can see the future. On the subject of the dinosaur Oka was both direct and coy. "I will say it straight up; the answer will be given in episode 12. The first episode that comes back, you'll see the dinosaur in play," Oka revealed. "Our show has always realized Isaac's paintings. So we know it comes to fruition in one form or another. And all I can say is, I do work for Industrial Light and Magic and we worked on a great show called Jurassic Park. So what does that mean? …I don't know."
Oka noted that the writers on Heroes are very open minded about collaborating, so the actors can speak up about the characters if they have a suggestion, and that even the prop people are known to throw in ideas sometimes. Oka said he personally doesn't like to know too much usually about what's to come on the show, but revealed, "I've actually gotten some little tidbits about how season 2 is gonna start. When I heard, I was like, 'Oh my god. That is absolutely unbelievable!' I was like a kid in a candy store when I heard what was going to happen. I'm already excited."
Asked what it's like to be recognized now, Oka responded that, "It's a great thing to have fans come up to you and say we love show. I'm getting a lot of, "What's gonna happen next?' It's great to feel their passion for the show, as we have for the show as well. There was a guy walking by with a cell phone and he noticed me and kind of 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." Oka also noted he had girls coming up to him, hugging him, kissing him, and saying "I love you" and then running away, and joked, "I'm like, 'Where are you going? Don't run away!'" Oka was grateful for opportunities his success has given him, such as a recent encounter with a very famous director; "The other day I was fortunate to meet Mr. Spielberg, and the comments he had about our show and the passion he had was an amazing thing."
As for his recent Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Oka said, "It's absolutely wonderful. I'm actually really happy for the show. I'm really happy the show got nominated. That's the biggest win. It's a tribute to everyone's work. I didn't even wake up at 5:30 [when the nominations were announced]. I didn't want to think about it. I woke up and I had 18 messages and realized, 'Whoa, something good happened.'" When he actually heard the news, "I literally just broke down in tears of joy," Oka revealed. "Emotions were overwhelming. To be honest, I would probably have the same reaction if it was just our show that got nominated."
Because of the nature of the show, many of the cast members on Heroes still don't have much direct connection or screen time with one another. Oka said he's eager to work with all of his cast mates eventually. "It's kind of cool, because anytime you get to work with another member of the cast, it's magic," he observed. "Because you realize this might be the last time, so let's make the most out of it. So you rehearse and you rehearse the scene to death and discover new moments. It's good that it comes in doses, because you make the most of it. Everyone brings not only their A game, but their A++ game, as Michael Scott would say on The Office."
Heroes has been an unexpected mainstream success this season, and I wondered if Oka expected it to strike such a cord with people. "To be honest, I was pretty surprised," he replied. "Tim Kring created an amazing world with these brilliant characters, with such depth. I knew we were making something special, but I didn't know if it was gonna hit with the mainstream. You never know. There were attempts with shows like this last year, and it didn't go as well. We know we had the genre audience after Comic-Con, but when the audience reacted as they have, giving us such support, it was a wonderful surprise, and we're so grateful."
As for why Hiro has become such a fan favorite, Oka noted, "I really enjoy playing the character, and maybe my enthusiasm and passion and love for the character hopefully comes across. He's also a kid you root for. He's the only one who actually enjoys his power. Rarely in a pilot do you a see a character who's vindicated from the get go, and so enthusiastic about his power. Especially in drama, you see so many people down and so heavy and so 'woe is me' And so much in pain. For me it was refreshing to see a character that's completely the opposite of that and so full of hope and joy and to be able to play that."
Right now, there isn't a specific reason given for why the characters on Heroes have developed their powers. As to whether we might eventually discover an explanation, Oka said, "I believe that will be the case. Tim Kring has talked about more of an origins episode. But right at the current time, we're just asking everyone to take a leap of faith and not question where they come from. That will be answered at some point in the future, but that's not what the show is about right now, but rather what people are gonna do with their powers and the journey they are taking to save the world." Oka did mention though that he takes pride in the fact that the show is good about answering questions, and joked that the writers have to actually be held back in terms of answering a lot of questions too quickly.
It's also been announced that former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston will be joining the cast of Heroes in a recurring role. While Oka said he hasn't worked with Eccleston personally, he did note that his character is, "Gonna be Peter Petrelli's mentor. His name is Claude and he will have the ability of invisibility. He's gonna be kind of Peter's Yoda."
Before Heroes, Oka had a recurring role on Scrubs, and that show's creator, Bill Lawrence, has spoken recently about bringing Oka back, possibly with a nod towards his current role. "We're in talks right now," Oka said of a possible Scrubs appearance. "We're going to try to make it happen. Originally we were going to try to do it before the break ends. But the problem is, they've already written all the episodes. And they said, 'Well, we'd like to put you in a bigger part, but if you're crunched for time (no pun intended), we can stick you in as a cameo.' And we all agreed it would be funnier if we do something bigger. So we mutually agreed to try to something this year, 2007, try and make it happen, so it's not just like a one off thing."
Asked how he's still working with ILM, despite starring in a hit series, Oka replied, "It's becoming increasingly more difficult. I still work for them maybe one day a week, but unfortunately I can't develop anything new for them because they're on a time restrictive schedule and of course Heroes is on a time restrictive schedule, and of course Heroes is now my priority. Given the production demands and the time demands, it'd hard for me to develop new stuff. However, when they have questions or need kind of a consultation for the future, that's something I can help out with."
Heroes returns with new episodes beginning January 22nd at 9:00pm ET/PT on NBC
