Looking Into the Heroes Future with James Kyson Lee

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by Reg Seeton

For the past four seasons, actor James Kyson Lee has been a fan favorite as Ando Masahashi, one half of the Heroes duo with Masi Oka's time traveling Hiro Nakamura whose fate has been called into question for several months. Now into the fourth season of Heroes, Volume 5 entitled "Redemption", Kyson Lee is hard at work despite no official word from NBC that Heroes will be around for Season 5, Volume 6. After receiving his own laser blasting powers, Kyson Lee and Ando went into business with Hiro for the "Dial a Hero" service that eventually resulted in Ando falling head over heals in love with Hiro's sister Kimiko after Hiro messed with time. Now engaged to Kimiko, James Kyson Lee as Ando is out to protect Hiro after learning his best friend has a fatal illness. After rescuing Mohinder Suresh from an asylum, Hiro blinked all three into HRG's apartment, which is where we last saw James Kyson Lee and his Heroes cast mates.

Ahead of the January 18 episode of Heroes on NBC at 9pm, "Pass/Fail", we caught up with James Kyson Lee for an exclusive Heroes chat about the past, present and future of Heroes and where Ando, Heroes, and Kimiko could possibly go in the future, including talk of a movie version of Heroes along with several other possible avenues in a new era of Heroes.

THE DEADBOLT: So whose power is stronger, Ando's or Jay Leno's?

JAMES KYSON LEE [Laughs] Boy, I don't know. The whole shakedown has been pretty interesting to track. I guess it depends on the situation. I'm not trying to host a talk show so ...

THE DEADBOLT: [Laughs] Good answer. What's the destiny of Season 5, have you heard yet?

KYSON LEE We probably won't find out for another month or so, but my instinct is that we'll be back. The way we wrap up this season, I still feel we have a few more seasons to go in terms of storytelling. So this volume, as it closes, will open up some new doors and sequay into the new volume, Volume 6, which, as of now, may be titled "A Brave New World".

THE DEADBOLT: How do you think Ando is just coming into his own as a well rounded character after four seasons?

KYSON LEE I definitely think he is finding his own footing. Last season the writers gave him a power. It started with a flash-forward with Ando blasting Hiro into the future. We saw him progressively get to the point of him learning and acquiring his power. And Hiro turning into a ten year-old and losing his power, Ando has had to take the lead and take charge a little bit. I feel like this season he's matured a little bit more. Maybe it's being engaged to Kimiko in the sense of there's a maturity to his character.

When Hiro first reappears and his brain is all scrambled and he's talking to me in these decoded messages, pop culture references, I have to play Sherlock Homes for a couple of weeks to try and figure it out and put the pieces together. So at this point I feel like I'm sort of the brother that's looking out for him because I don't know capable he is, both physically and psychologically. I was able to unscramble his brain temporarily last week using my lightning power and using the electro-shock therapy, but I don't know how that affected Hiro's tumor. It could have helped it or made it a little bit worse, but we'll find out.

THE DEADBOLT: There's been so much talk about the possible death of Hiro. How would Ando work as a complete character without Hiro?

KYSON LEE Well, we are sort of the dynamic duo, so I definitely want him around. He is going to be the best man at my wedding. Someone's got to look out for the ring, right? [Laughs]. So we want to see these guys together. You can tell the show definitely picked up a new sense of energy when they brought them back together in the last couple of weeks. I feel like they bring the fun to the show. So I'm going to do whatever I can to try and help him out. The next episod "Pass/Fail"(January 18) is very interesting because Hiro's actually going to be on trial for his crimes against humanity. The gods weren't so pleased to try to mess with the Space Time Continuum and mess around with history. So I'm going to have to do my best impression of Atticus Finch to see if I can get him out of his jam.

THE DEADBOLT: With the wedding, is there a sense that Hiro will still be alive through family?

KYSON LEE Well, we'll see if the wedding will happen next season or perhaps in the future. Or maybe we'll see Ando and Kimiko have a baby and they'll have powers as well and we could generate sort of a super family. It would be fun to be a Fantastic Four, you know? I've always thought the wedding would be a funny event to bring back some of the characters we've had in the past as guests. It would be a nice reunion episode. There have been characters here and there that people haven't seen for awhile and they weren't sort of wrapped up. In the episode tonight, you're going to see a couple of surprise cameos by some unexpected characters.

THE DEADBOLT: In the first season, Ando was thrust into Hiro's journey, but how do you view Ando now in relation to Hiro's destiny?

KYSON LEE I feel they're family now with both of his parents passing away. Kimiko is the only family he's got. This season was really about becoming partners in crime. With the whole "Dial a Hero" service, I see them as sort of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and they develop their own powers and identities so to speak. But working together, they are able to be very productive just because I think our powers compliment one another in some sense. I shoot lasers out of my hands and he travels back in time and you're able to utilize it in different contexts for different purposes. Hopefully we'll keep the "Dial a Hero" going, I think it's a good way to continue our adventures.

THE DEADBOLT: How has the destiny aspect of Heroes impacted your view of the cause and effect of daily life?

KYSON LEE That's been one of the big themes on the show. When you have a power that you can go into a time, should you mess with history? What happens when you use that for your own good? There's a moral conflict that they're faced with. I think Hiro's antics might have caught up with him and that's part of what we're presenting in the next couple of episodes. What are the consequences of him trying to mess around with the Space Time Continuum?

In terms of destiny, I think everybody sort of figures it out as they're on the journey and the constant process. I think part of it is learning to accept responsibility once you're given an ability and try to use it for something good.

THE DEADBOLT: If Heroes is meant to die, which it obviously is sometime in the future, could there still be a future?

KYSON LEE I definitely think so. Tim Kring has created a very interesting world that no matter how the world or how the series ends, the franchise itself could carry on in many different forms. We may see a happy ending where people who have special abilities are co-existing and functioning in society openly. Also, I guess different spin-offs. Our storyline wouldn't make a lot of sense if you go that route. Some people have talked about a feature film version of Heroes. I can see that being very exciting, also animated series or feature. Because the show has so many connections now with new technology since we've embraced that platform, I feel like the lifespan of the show could continue for a very long time.

THE DEADBOLT: When you're walking around in daily life now, do you see the world more in comic book terms?

KYSON LEE [Laughs] I'm a lot more aware of that world than I ever was before. Granted I'd never been to Comic Con before I started the show but it's come to the forefront of so many forms of entertainment now, not only movies but also video games. So many graphic novels are being integrated into movies and TV shows and I feel we've been one of the benchmarks in embracing new technology and being a show for the new generation. The fact that so many people watch our show in so many platforms - computers, iPods, on their phones, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, DVD, Tivo - the audience is larger than ever, but we've scattered across so many platforms. So the traditional Nielsen Ratings are not going to be applicable to shows like ours. Rather, you have to learn how to connect with the fans in different forms of media and we've fully embraced that.

THE DEADBOLT: So what do you make of the recent news about Spider-Man and the planned reboot?

KYSON LEE Well, it's a way for the studio to again extend the lifespan of the franchise. Obviously people and actors get older and they're constantly looking to start anew just like Star Trek was rebooted this past year and the movie was fantastic. It's very doable and I think it depends on how they do the casting. It all goes back to storytelling. If you have a commitment to wanting to tell a good story with good characters, I think that's the thing people are going to latch onto.

Avatar is a great example where James Cameron had to spend ten years developing the technology to even make the film. But all of the CGI and the 3-D technology would have been irrelevant if we weren't attracted to the story and the characters. The fact that he's created a brand new world, a whole planet and a society, that people were able to submerge themselves in - I was just in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show and the big thing this year was the 3-D high-definition technology. Basically, they want to bring the Avatar experience into your living room. People in 3-D used to be things popping out at you and now the whole thing is going to bring you into their world, enveloping you and submerging you into whatever experience they've created. So it's fascinating how fast technology is changing. A few years down the line, I won't be surprised if we're able to experience Heroes in 3-D.