Have you spotted adverts for the DVD and Blu-ray release of Heroes, season 3 (compare prices for the DVD here) yet? For the uninitiated, this epic series is about ordinary people with extraordinary gifts; their destiny is to save the world. In season 3, some of those breath-taking abilities are in the hands of the wrong people. In the run-up to the DVD release, I got an exclusive one-on-one with Heroes' Masi Oka, who plays geeky Hiro on the show...

 
Season 3 of Heroes is out on DVD here in the UK, and you're into the fourth season in the US. What's your favourite season so far and why?
I’ve always thought the first season was the magical one. We were truly the underdog; no one expected us to be the hit that year. Everything was new and exciting, we didn’t know each other and we realised we had struck lightning in a bottle.

We still love to work but there is something exciting about when it aired the first day and the buzz that it had and how excited everybody was about the show. I think that’s the most memorable season, and for me because it was my first series I think you always remember your first time.

As you said the first season was a massive phenomenon, but not just in the US either. How surprised were you all by how quickly the world took to it?
Absolutely surprised. But even when we were making the pilot, we had a sense that we were making something special because the writers had created this extraordinary world and all these fantastic characters.

I never would've guessed it would reach this far beyond the US mainstream but the characters are very international so we were definitely targeting the international audience, but we are very lucky to have the support - and grateful.

You're a Japanese American; how diverse are available roles for actors from certain ethnic backgrounds in Hollywood?
It’s very difficult because other ethnic roles tend to be scarce, and it begins with the writers; they have to write it. I think things have definitely changed. In Asian American roles, we are the only minority group where there are less male roles so already we’re fighting an uphill battle just because of our ethnicity. I have found that in many ways you have to try and create roles for yourself.

I think that times are changing - people are open to a more diverse casting and once you’ve actually established yourself as an actor, people see as you outside of ‘oh, he’s just an Asian actor or an American actor or an African American actor’. They see you as just an actor or a human being.

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