Celeb Row

Don’t get him wrong, Masi Oka loves the fact that playing Hiro Nakamura on Heroes has made him famous. But it does have one serious downside: no more pick-up games. “I’m way too recognized. Everybody will pick on me,” he says. That kind of sucks, because he used to enjoy surprising people with his game (despite standing only 5-6 1/2, he’s got some skills). Born in Japan and raised in L.A., Oka, 33, is a diehard Lakers fan. So bring on the courtside seats.

A lot of NBA players are huge Heroes fans. Have you ever encountered any of the players?
I had the opportunity to see a Knicks-Rockets game from courtside. I was on the floor and I remember they were shooting around in warm-up and Shane Battier looked at me and said, “Oh dude, it’s Hiro.”

So you like to watch basketball?
I grew up on the Showtime era, watching Worthy, Scott, Kareem and Magic. Been there for the worst, been there for the good.

What is that move from the cheap seats to courtside like for you?
It is amazing to be part of that experience—even in the cheap seats. Definitely when you’re on the floor, you’re there with the players and you sense so much. I love it when everybody is silent and then the crowd erupts. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in the cheap seats or courtside. You feel that tension.

How hard is it to keep Heroes plots and storylines a secret?
We’ve found a way to kind of massage it. The hardest part is when people get drunk and they try to harass you with booze and try to get you drunk so you’ll spill the beans. I’ll ask them, “Do you really want to know?” Most of them don’t really want to know. They want to be surprised. I think we’ve found an art of teasing people. Putting small clues, so people want to see it but they don’t get the answer until they actually watch the show.

What’s the most outrageous thing you got to do in the movie Get Smart?
Being able to improvise with Steve Carell and Alan Arkin, the two great improvisers of our time. Alan founded Second City, where I studied improv. On the close-ups, I was able to make them laugh at my improv. I gave myself a mini fist-pump.

Do you have a burning desire to dunk?
My friends and I would take kiddie baskets and bring them down as much as possible so we could dunk. Or take a trampoline and jump up. There’s something great about that feeling, that human dream of wanting to fly. When you’re limited physically, I think you have to work a lot harder. You become the underdog because size is such an advantage in this sport. You have to compensate. That’s why I respect a lot of the underdogs.

So, no pick-up, but do you still play hoops?
Sometimes I’ll play with my friends and some of my crewmembers. They’re like, “Masi, who needs to guard him?” Then I find a way to get around them. People don’t know my ballhandling skills.

Maybe you should try the NBA Entertainment League?
I need to build up my stamina.

From the Sept/Oct 2008 issue