SCI FI PI

James Kyson Lee plays Ando on Heroes. Ando's the 'sensible one' who gets dragged all over the planet by his crazy friend Hiro, who's developed the nasty habit of bending the space-time continuum and teleporting himself, not just to different spots on the planet, but at different times. A hard act to follow, to say the least! The 'Tokyo Two' have amassed a legion of loyal fans, and give Heroes a wonderful streak of humour and whimsy to what can be, at times, rather dark viewing.

James took time out of a busy schedule that sees him not only shooting Heroes but a slew of new movies to talk to SCI FI PI. Read on to hear him spill all about how he reached Hero-status and how he now does three times the work of any other actor on the show.



That's James on the far right, as Ando. Contemplating burglary to help save the world. As you do.


Hi there James! How are you?

I'm doing fantastic, than you for asking!

As a cast member of the biggest show in the world, one would assume things were going well.

Yeah thanks, yeah. The show's luckily had a great response not only in the US but all over the world. So we're very thankful.

Have you bought a house yet?

A condo. Yes I did!

Awesome.

Where are you from, Australia?

Yep.

Awesome. I'll be going there in a week. I'm looking forward to it. I've heard so many great things about Australia.

What is it about Australia that excites you the most?

Well I'm starting off in Melbourne, but I'm excited about Sydney, obviously, I'm definitely going to do some of the touristy stuff like the Opera House, but I'm also doing a three-day trip to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest there.

HOW TO GET A JOB ON HEROES, THE NERVE- WRACKING WAY

Cool! Let's take you back in time to when you weren't rich and famous. You famously had to audition five times for the role of Ando before you 'booked' it. What goes through your mind as your going through that process, say at audition number 3? Do you keep getting your hopes up?

It's an interesting process, because after the first two, they bring you in for, I guess roughly you'd call it a screen test. By that time they've narrowed it down to very few choices, but you still have to go through all these 'tests'. You have to go before all the studio executives, the first was Universal studios, and then you have to go in front of the network, which was NBC. It can be very nerve-wracking. Since for me it was my first time going through that experience, I didn't know what to expect. Sometimes the time outside the room was even harder than the time inside the room, because once you go in you just act and do your thing - I'm in my element. All the waiting - you just try to keep your mind from thinking too much. So I brought all these distractions like my iPod and a DVD player, to help stay as relaxed as possible. It's definitely a growing experience, I learned a lot from it.

So now you're on the show you feel you've earned your spot.

Absolutely.

SPEAKING JAPANESE MEANS THREE TIMES AS MUCH WORK

As you speak to me in your rich mellifluous American tones, I think most people are aware that you're not a native Japanese speaker or person. Although they may not be aware that you're a South Korean born Boston native. With your success on Heroes, it seems you're actually being typecast, not only as Japanese but a Japanese speaker. Is that too perverse to deal with, or are you just happy to get gigs?

It's interesting. I feel like Japan and I have this love affair going. I got to embrace it when I was in Japan last Summer shooting Shutter with your fellow Aussie mate, Richard Taylor. I had a fantastic time, it was my first time in the country and I really loved the culture and the food and everything about it. Strangely my father lived in the country for a few years as an electrical engineer before I was born, before he moved to New York City. He was fluent in Japanese and culturally influenced so even though I didn't grow up there, I feel there were strong influences from my father, his mannerisms and the way he behaved. When I went to Japan, there was a sense of familiarity.

Can you speak to him in Japanese now?

Konichiwa! It's a language I studied a little bit on college, and obviously when the show started NBC got a coach for me, so we talk almost every day. It's fun, it's fun for me. As an actor it's tough to act in a foreign language, you really want it to come from the heart. I really enjoy studying the language.



String. Not everyone's friend.


So, you do have to get it down for the lines, but you're not having chats with your dad after work.

Well, having grown up in New York, I grew up speaking Korean, which was all our native language. As an actor it's about not just memorising lines. It's a really an intricate process. Me and my coach worked out a system. First off, we only get the script in English, so then we do a skeletal translation, where first we discuss for hours, word by word, how and why we would speak it that way. Japanese is such an intricate language. How I would speak to Hiro is different to the way I would talk to his father or sister. And that's in addition to accents and intonations. and then there's grammar - it's almost the opposite of English. To integrate all those elements, it literally takes hours per page to get it to the place where you see it on screen.

If you're doing this on the usual network television shooting schedule you must be flat chat!

Absolutely! We get the script maybe 10 days before filming. New pages are coming in almost every day, constantly, so I try to get a jump start, but literally days before the shoot I'm singing and dreaming in Japanese. Studying six, seven, eight hours a day. But I also enjoy it. I think the fact that I was bilingual to start with helped my brain. Funny, when I'm rehearsing my scenes at home, I'll rehearse in English, then Korean, then Japanese, just to kind of change it up, and play with different dynamics.

DR WATSON, I PRESUME?

Ando has become one of the fan faves, possibly because he doesn't have a super power. Do you think that's the key to his (and your) success?

Yeah. I feel like it's important to have some mortals on the show to balance the supernatural elements. Even though our show is not about people putting on costumes and flying around (even though we have characters that fly!) I think the appeal of the show is the interaction with the natural world. I think Ando's role is one that represents the viewer. He asks a lot of the questions that we would ask and he responds in the same we would. His heroicism lies in his loyalty and his friendship. He's on board, no matter what. It think that takes courage.

Would you categorise him as a Dr Watson to Hiro's Sherlock Holmes then?

Yes! I feel like he's Watson meets... Han Solo! (laughs) Because in some ways, Hiro has a lot of similarities with Luke Skywalker, with his relationship with his father, being burdened with this mission, and I feel like Ando is kind of happy go lucky, looking for the next adventure. He's a character who's allowed to have a lot of fun. The fact that he's crazy about the ladies, he always gets himself into trouble with the blondes - I always thought that was really funny.

DO IT FOR YOURSELF, NOT THE FAME

Traditionally, Asian cultures tend to frown on the kind of adventure that you've been on. You sold your car for $1800, bought a one way ticket to LA from Boston, and turned your back on your father's idea of what you should do with your life. Was your individualism something your family embraced or was it a case of 'you're absolutely nuts, if you're lucky we'll let you call us at Christmas time'?

Yeah. They thought I was out of my mind! I could have had a very good corporate job after college. They just really didn't understand. But you know what, I didn't expect them to. It was a personal journey I had to take. I think what really helped me was that I didn't move to LA to try to find Hollywood, per se. I was really coming out to discover myself. In the process, I found acting, which eventually led to my career. I came out without any expectations or false hope, without that pressure, it worked in my favour. I was having so much fun doing classes, I felt like for the first time in my life I was where I was supposed to be. It was an amazing feeling. I'd been in the business for two and a half years when Heroes started. I felt like a rookie that got drafted into the New York Yankees.


What did you do in LA before Heroes?

I worked in educational theatre. We would go around to different public schools and act for the kids, and I had a fantastic time! One, I was on stage, getting an education, I'd never acted on stage before, and two, I felt like it was fulfilling, doing something meaningful. It was a form of teaching, influencing children's lives. and you know? they're a very honest crowd. If you're good they'll let you know, if you're not they'll really let you know. I think that also helped me as well, working as an actor, rather than toil away in a restaurant or something.

FRENCH FANS ARE MORE FUN!

Have you had any 'slightly over the top' (ie completely bonkers) responses from fans?

Well, you know, I really love going to conventions. Our show premiered at Comic-Con, it was a huge boost to us because they have over a hundred thousand people attending. It's where a lot of the buzz for our kind of shows start. I've had many humourous instances where we have a lot of people at these kind of events asking for autographs and pictures and I'm happy to oblige. But I've gotten fan emails from all over, even Europe, I don't even know how they got my email address. There was one particular woman from France, very attractive lady, blonde. She sent some risque pictures and said "I'd like to be the blonde you're watching on your video iPod". Ooh la la, put France on my list!

There are worse things to happen. I guess if you had ended up as Hiro you'd be in Masi's (Oka) position of having people coming up to him with tales of how they can teleport!

(laughs heartily). Yeah! In the US, at Halloween, we saw people dressed up as the characters from Heroes. When you see that you know you're a part of something special.

As a mortal character, do you fear imminent death on the show?

You have to learn to enjoy it as you can, as you're subject to the writer's will, but I do have a feeling that Ando and Hiro add such a different dynamic to the show that hopefully we'll be around for a long time. I'm having a great time, it's not all about work, and having the opportunity to travel and see the world, especially to places like Australia, has been great for me. Also having the opportunity to work on other projects very different to Heroes has been great. I just finished work on Necrosis, a horror film where I play a character who starts off as likeable and light but ends up as self destructive and insane.



Phwaah!!! Was that you?!! Yes. I am ashamed. I did make that smell.


You are doing a lot of work now, with roles tending towards horror or Sci Fi. Is Sci Fi something that's just another gig, or is it something you really throw yourself into?

Sci Fi is a joy. It's a genre with such a loyal demographic. I enjoy any kind of acting, from comedy to drama, that's what so great about working on Heroes where we have so many elements.

Are there any Sci Fi shows that you grow up with that still stay with you?

Oh boy! Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, Quantum Leap, I was really into different kinds of Sci Fi.

Thank you James, and we look forward to seeing you out here!


James can be seen speaking Japanese in Heroes, premiering on SCI FI Thursday night 7.30pm, in a monster three-episode triple treat. Click here-o! for our Heroes Microsite, stuffed with cool things, including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.


If you'd like to meet James in person, he'll be visiting Melbourne Supanova, on March 20-30 and Brisbane Supanova, on April 5-6. For details click here .