LOS ANGELES — Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor Masi Oka, star of NBC’s hit ensemble drama series “Heroes” will serve as global ambassador for One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a non-profit organization launched in 2005 with a mission of providing a means for learning, self-expression and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. In his role as OLPC ambassador, Oka will appear in public service announcements – both online and on television – to promote the importance of empowering children with learning tools and Internet connectivity.

Masi’s lifelong interest in technology and learning was established long before he accepted the lead role as “Heroes’” “Hiro Nakamura” and the OLPC “ambassadorship.” After moving to the U.S. from Japan at the age of 6, Masi went on to graduate from Brown University with degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Theatre Arts minor. Oka pursued an acting career while taking his first job at George Lucas’ Oscar-winning special effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Today, despite his successful career as an actor, he continues to provide ILM with technology for groundbreaking effects for more than 30 films.

Season two is going to begin with two parallel timelines going on," Oka said in an interview at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 17. "One starting four months after the explosion and another—mainly Hiro's storyline—starting 400 years in the past. And we'll see how they kind of affect each other."

At the end of the hit show's first season, Oka's character found himself transported back in time to 16th-century Japan. According to Oka, Hiro will spend at least eight episodes there before returning to the present. There, he will encounter some of the characters from the stories of his childhood, including the legendary samurai Takezo Kensei, who will be played by David Anders (Sark from ABC's Alias). The show is currently finishing the third episode of the upcoming season.

"There's a princess," Oka said. "Princess Iako, played by [Japanese pop star] Eriko Tamura, who's going to be in that world, as well as David Anders, who plays Takezo Kensei. That was Hiro's childhood hero that he's always heard about these stories. But David Anders, last time we checked, he was Caucasian. So there's a mystery there."

This morning, Masi Oka, who plays Hiro Nakamura on the hit NBC show "Heroes," stopped by for an interview with Meredith, David, Al and Campbell. WATCH VIDEO

I caught up with him for a few minutes before his appearance, and we chatted about his recent fame, Robin Williams, and his upcoming college reunion. Here's some of our conversation (edited for content):

Q: So you've got your 10-year college reunion coming up at Brown University. What will you say to people who come up to you and ask what you've been up to lately?

Masi Oka: Oh, I'll just tell them I've been living the life. Living my dream.

Q: You won't say something like, "Oh, I've been doing some acting" or "I'm on a TV show"?

MO: No, I'll just say I've been living my dream. If they don't know who I am at this point, then I haven't been doing my job.

Q: So how are your degrees in mathematics and computer science working out for you?

MO: Well they were great initially, because they got me my first job, working at Industrial Light and Magic. I was a programmer, programming effects and creating programs to create effects.

Q: So how did you make the transition from programming to acting?

MO: After my first big show, which was The Perfect Storm, I just decided I'd like to try something different. I had no family obligations at the time, so I just decided to give acting a try.

Q: What was your first acting job?

MO: It was for a show called "Straight White Male" on the FX channel. It was a pilot but it never made it to air.

Q: You've had a lot of recurring roles and guest appearances on some TV shows. What were your favorites to work on?

MO: I loved working on "Scrubs." I just love that show, and everyone was so great to work with. I also really liked working on "Reno 911!" It's a pure improv show, and it was really fun to do 30 minutes of improv -- though it ends up being more like 45 seconds of actual air time.

Q: Have you met anyone cool or had any noteworthy experiences since "Heroes" became such a hit?

MO: Everything's been so surreal. The Golden Globes were just amazing, seeing all these people that you idolize. At the People's Choice Awards, in front of me was Robin Williams. So he sees me and says, "Oh yeah, you're that guy from 'Heroes.' You're the math and computer science whiz kid from M.I.T." I kind of said, "Close, I went to Brown." Then I turned to my friends and said, "Oh my God, Robin Williams knows who I am." And my friends said to me, "He's still talking to you!" He told me he's a big fan of the show.

Right now, I'm getting to work with one of my idols, Steve Carell, on a movie [a remake of the 1960s TV show "Get Smart"].

It's also weird when people like Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg know who you are.

LOS ANGELES -- He's one of the breakout stars of this television season. But before his Golden Globe-nominated turn as Hiro Nakamura, the tech geek turned rudimental superhero on ''Heroes,'' Masi Oka almost gave up acting.
Five years of bit parts on comedies like ''Reba'' and ''Reno 911!,'' and a recurring stint on ''Scrubs,'' proved limiting.

''I realized there weren't characters being created for my type because Hollywood tends to have a narrow vision with regards to Asian Americans, or Asians in general,'' says the 32-year-old Tokyo-born actor. He finally decided the solution was to start shopping his own scripts.

''I figured if no one is going to create stuff for me, I need to create stuff, at least for other Asian actors.''

Then he got the pilot script for ''Heroes.''

''They were looking for someone who was fluent in Japanese, who had a comedic background and who had American television experience,'' he says, on break at a restaurant near the Sunset Gower Studios. ''It was like a destiny.''

The fate of his bespectacled, cherub-faced time traveler will be revealed when the NBC freshman hit returns for its final five episodes of the season at 9 p.m. Monday. Fans finally will learn if Hiro can, to borrow from his now-popular catch phrase, ''Save the cheerleader, save the world!''

''Everything's going to be great, that's all I can say,'' Oka says, carefully slurping spaghetti noodles. He can't muss his navy gi and hakama, the uniform he wears in a kendo (Japanese fencing) scene with George Takei (of ''Star Trek'' fame) who guest stars as Hiro's father, Kaito Nakamura.

''We just got the season finale script and a lot of questions get answered, a lot of loose ends get tied up,'' he says.

Of course, he adds, some new questions are raised as a setup for season two.

Hiro has become one of the most popular characters on the show, which pulls in an average 14.6 million weekly viewers. And on the show's active Web site, Hiro's blog generates hundreds of fan comments each week -- a response that doesn't surprise series creator-executive producer Tim Kring.

''Hiro was really the only character from the beginning who embraced his powers with a certain amount of enthusiasm and zeal, and I think that's what set him apart early on,'' says Kring, who hired Oka for the series having never spoken a word of English to him.

''He was cast completely in Japanese, so I never even spoke to him until we brought him to the network,'' he reveals. ''It was almost like experiencing an actor in a silent movie. You key into different kinds of facial expressions and the energy of the character; you're experiencing him on a whole other kind of level.''

Oka wasn't so sure that audiences would go for a character whose lines are all subtitled.

''I thought it was inconceivable,'' he says. ''I was just very fortunate to have the audience embrace him with such enthusiasm."

It's Hiro's enthusiastic optimism and childlike fervor Oka likes most.

''He's wide-eyed. He's an adventurer,'' says Oka. ''He's someone who was stuck in the monotony of being a cubicle office worker thinking there's got to be more to life, and he never gave up on that dream. I'm fortunate to live variously through Hiro and live out my dream.''

This isn't Oka's first time in the spotlight. He landed on the cover of Time magazine at the age of 12 for being an Asian whiz kid. With an IQ of 180, he majored in mathematics and computer science at Brown University, where he also minored in theater.

''It was just me trying to break out of my own comfort zone,'' he says about his turn to performing. ''It was a great way for me to learn about human nature, learn more about myself. ... And I love the idea of using both sides of the brain.''

After graduation, he went to work as a digital special-effects artist at George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic studio.

''I got kind of burnt out after my first big project, 'The Perfect Storm,' '' says Oka, ''and I was thinking, I've got to give acting a try while I'm only responsible for myself. If it doesn't work out, I could always tell my grandchildren that grandpa gave it the old acting try, and look at me now, I'm a couch potato.''

That he'll be vegging out any time soon seems unlikely. In between 13-plus hour days on ''Heroes'' and moonlighting for ILM as a consultant, Oka still finds time to write. His favorite genre? Romantic comedies.

''Love and laughter are two themes that are universal,'' says Oka, an admitted romantic who's looking for his soul mate. ''I'm ready for a meaningful relationship versus the not-so-meaningful relationships I've had in the past.''

Perhaps time will be on his side.

A heinous crime took place on Jan. 15 in Beverly Hills. Masi Oka, who plays the adorable and earnest Hiro Nakamura on NBC’s new hit “Heroes,” did not take home a Golden Globe. Instead, the award for “Actor in a Supporting Role — Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie” went to Jeremy Irons for his portrayal of an aging Robert Dudley in the HBO mini-series, “Elizabeth I.”

Can you find the jillion things wrong with this picture? Yeah, yeah Jeremy Irons can act — usually. (Let’s not forget his role in “Dungeons & Dragons,” the movie.) But taking a part in this year’s “Lord of the Rings”-wannabe stinker “Eragon” should have disqualified Irons from any award nomination for the next 10 years.

Still, it’s Golden Globe organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, that bears the most guilt — placing Irons and his frou-frou historical cable drama of limited appeal in the same race as a graphic novel-styled series about a bunch of regular Joes who suddenly discover they have superpowers. In a just world, “Heroes’” Hiro would be competing with “My Name is Earl,” not the Earl of Leicester.

Up against such a weighty adversary, Oka and his brilliantly crafted Hiro never stood a chance. Awards generally default to the hoity-toity intellectual choice. Heaven forfend the audience doesn’t think the judges are all smart and stuff.

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