Takei Is Fascinated By 'Heroes' and Villains

George Takei (Sulu) said that he is learning about his Heroes character, Mr. Nakamura, script by script, just like the audience is.

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Takei said that when he first appeared on the hit NBC show, he was given only a few pages and believed himself to be playing only a wealthy businessman and concerned father. "Then, the next script came and I discovered that I was the guy who gave Baby Claire to HRG. Really, I know as much about this show and my character as the fans watching the show do."

Takei was given no backstory, so it came as a surprise when he filmed the episode that aired last Monday in which he taught Hiro to swordfight. "I've discovered that I have had powers and that some of my colleagues I fought with for good," he explained. "I have this line where I say, 'The Nakamura family has always fought for good and tried to be the wind behind the course of history to direct it toward good,'" but he did not expect his son Hiro to be one of the powerful ones.

The quality of the role was what attracted Takei to the role, since he believes "villians can be just as interesting" to play...I find evil absolutely fascinating." The actor shares a birthday with Adolf Hitler but says he has always fancied himself "a good guy." He joked that because the Heroes cast and crew consider everyone else working on the project family, he cannot divulge any secrets from the show, even to someone else he works with like Howard Stern, on whose radio show Takei is an announcer.

Takei said that he is excited about the upcoming eleventh Star Trek feature film, noting that because of prominent fans from J.J. Abrams to Bill Gates, the franchise is still quite healthy. He is also enthusiastic about fan series like Star Trek: New Voyages, on which he has appeared, saying, "These people didn’t want to see Star Trek fade away."

In terms of parallels between Star Trek and Heroes, "Again, there's diversity in the community...the other diversity that Heroes explores is the dark mixed with the light, the positive, and how we struggle with the unique gifts that we're given. In many ways there are echoes of Star Trek, but this is much more complex." Though he remains best known for Star Trek, "when it was on in first run, we were cellar dwellers and it's such a pleasure to be on the highest rated new TV series this season."

For more, including a brief discussion of Takei's political career, his relationship with William Shatner (Captain Kirk) and his upcoming Ninja Cheerleaders, the full interview is here.

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