On October 18th, Masi Oka will guest star on the new hit series Hawaii Five-O. Many will recognize Oka as Hiro Nakamura, the regular part he played on the hit show Heroes, as well as from his film work and guest appearances in shows like Without a Trace, Still Standing, Yes, Dear, Scrubs, Joey, Reba, The Loop, All of Us, Will & Grace and The Gilmore Girls.
ComicsOnline had the opportunity to participate in a conference call interview with Oka as he discussed his upcoming appearance as Max Bergman, a socially awkward, piano playing, genius who’s the Honolulu County Medical Examiner.
Oka describes the character as being short on social skills and sort of “off in his own world”. Bergman has a piano in his office at the morgue, and he plays it when he needs to think. Oka described him as a “tactile thinker” who is also a bit of a “mad professor”.
According to Masi Oka he’s filmed two episodes of HawaiiFive-O so far but there’s talk about many more.
When asked how he liked working with the cast and crew, Oka responded that he knew a majority of the crew from other projects he’s worked on, and that everyone was warm and extremely welcoming. Oka quips that “Scott (Caan) and Alex (O'Loughlin) banter in the same “odd-couple” manner off camera.” as they do on camera.
Life on the set is wonderful according to Oka, and not just because they’re filming in paradise. He credits theproduction company with the incredible quality of the show, providing a real piano and building an entire morgue set. He admits he did think he was “being Punked” when the catering service provided Spam Sushi, until he found out that it was a crew favorite.
The episode of Hawaii Five-O guest-starring Masi Oka is titled “Nalowale” and is set to air Monday, October 18th (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
