Masi Oka

PHOTO GALLERY
Date of Birth : Dec 27th 1974

Smart, sweet and adorable, Oka was bound for greatness from an early age. Of course, when he appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of “Those Asian-American Whiz Kids” at age 12, a successful performing career probably didn’t seem like his destiny. Although he always harbored acting ambitions, he graduated from Brown University as a computer-science major and quickly found work as a special-effects wizard at George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic. While it must have been a thrill for the self-declared geek to work on the second Star Wars trilogy, Oka longed to be on camera. In the early ’00s, he began landing bit movie parts and sitcom guest spots, even a recurring role as a lab technician on Scrubs. But nothing prepared him for his breakthrough role as Hiro, a space-bending, time-traveling master on Heroes. While the sci-fi series was a veritable smash, Oka was the show’s breakout star, earning a Golden Globe nod for his work. Tapping into his real-life smarts (he reportedly has an IQ of 180) and initially speaking only in Japanese, Oka was convincing both as a nerdy office worker and as an English-speaking, sword-wielding warrior. And yet despite his overnight fame, Oka remained grounded off screen, continuing to drive a modest car (a 2000 Honda Accord) and consulting for ILM a few days a week.