Masi Oka

MASI OKA

Date of Birth: December 27, 1974

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Masi Oka got his acting break with his role as Hiro Nakamura on the hit TV series Heroes.

Masi moved to Queens, New York when he was six, and at age 12, he was on the cover of Time magazine, titled "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids," for having an IQ of 180-plus. He led a relatively normal life, graduating from Brown University with a degree in mathematics and computer science and a minor in theater arts.

After graduation, Masi landed his first job for one of Hollywood's biggest producers, George Lucas, working in visual effects. His first major project was co-developing a computer program to generate water effects, which was used in A Perfect Storm and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

Although acting wasn't something Masi considered a first priority, the bug definitely bit him. He received parts in TV and small films, which eventually led to several guest spots and a recurring role as Franklyn on the TV show Scrubs.

Working on Heroes not only has him playing a character who has the power to alter the space-time continuum and manipulate time, he also translates the show's scripts from English to Japanese. His portrayal has earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination in 2007. Not one to let his roots escape him, he continued to work as a research and development technical director while working on Heroes.

When Heroes came to an end in 2010, Masi immediately landed a role as Max Bergman on the action series Hawaii Five-0 and appeared in more than 130 episodes. Also on television, he briefly reprised his character of Hiro Nakamura on the sole season of Heroes Reborn from 2015 to 2016.

During hiatus from his television work, he joined the cast of the biographical drama Jobs (2013), which starred Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs. He also played Toshi in the horror film The Meg (2018), starring Jason Statham.

Filmography:

Get Smart (2008)
The Promotion (2008)
Balls of Fury (2007)
One Sung Hero (2006)
God Wears My Underwear (2005)
Chester's Big Night (2004)
Along Came Polly (2004)
Uh Oh! (2003)