Find out how your favorite TV Heroes became stars!
By Wyatt Elling
The stars of your favorite TV shows used to be aspiring actors just like you, and you might be surprised to find out how they got the roles that made them famous. There are many ways to get discovered.
Here's a look at how five stars of NBC's Heroes came from completely different backgrounds and wound up on the hit show.
Masi Oka: Masi Oka plays the time-travelling Hiro on Heroes. Oka's parents were divorced when he was one, and his mother moved him to Los Angeles from Japan at age six. His first appearance in the media was on the cover of Time Magazine as an "Asian Whiz Kid." Masi showed early signs of high intelligence, and became a child prodigy with an I.Q. of 180. He graduated from Brown University with degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics.
He soon landed a job programming digital effects for Industrial Light and Magic. He worked on the Star Wars prequels, and co-developed a computer program to animate water that was later used heavily in The Pirates of the Caribbean. He decided he really wanted to become an actor, and convinced ILM to let him move to L.A. for pilot season. He was cast in a pilot that wasn't picked up, but it was enough for ILM to let him stay. He appeared in guest roles on many shows including Scrubs and Without a Trace. He was eventually cast as Hiro on Heroes. He still works at ILM three days a week as a Research and Development Director, and translates his English dialogue on Heroes into Japanese.
Masi used his previous experience and contacts in the entertainment industry to make the transition into acting.
Noah Gray-Cabey: Noah Gray-Cabey plays the super-intelligent technopath Mich Sanders on Heroes. Noah is also a child prodigy and started a successful career as a pianist at 18 months old. He began touring the world with the New England Symphonic Orchestra, and played solos at many large venues. He continued on to Australia, where he became the youngest soloist in history to play with the orchestra in the Sydney Opera House.
He made his television debut in 2001, showcasing his musical talents on programs like The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. His musical talents earned him international recognition and the attention of the entertainment industry. He eventually started appearing on scripted dramas like Grey's Anatomy and landed a role in the feature film Lady in the Water. He currently appears as child prodigy Micah Sanders on Heroes.
Noah used his natural gift for music to get notoriety on television. His various television appearances helped him start a career as an actor.
Hayden Panettiere: Hayden Panettiere plays Claire Bennet on Heroes. Hayden is the daughter of a former soap-opera star and a fire-fighter. She began her acting career at just 11 months old appearing in Playskool commercials. She continued to work as a child actress, appearing in the daytime dramas One Life to Live and Guiding Light.
Hayden Panettiere has had a diverse career. She has starred in major motion pictures like Ice Princess and Bring it On: All or Nothing. She has had starring roles on television shows like Commander in Chief, Law & Order: SVU, and Malcolm in the Middle. She voiced the character of Dot in the animated film A Bug's Life, and voiced a main character in the popular Kingdom Hearts video game. After getting cast in Heroes as indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet her career hasn't slowed down. She currently represents Neutrogena hair products as a model and is working on her first music album.
Hayden used her family history and industry contacts to start a career as a child actress. With her experience in daytime dramas, voice-acting and acting she was able to become a major television star in no time.
Santiago Cabrera: Santiago Cabrera plays the painter Isaac Mendez on Heroes. Santiago is Chilean, but grew up in Toronto, London, Madrid and Romania before his family returned to Chile. He stayed in London to attend school, and showed great promise as a soccer player, advancing to the semi-professional circuit. His high school drama teacher encouraged him to try acting, however, and Santiago decided to attend acting school for three years.
When he graduated Santiago started appearing in small roles on British TV series. He also tried a role in Shakespeare's Othello in the prestigious Northampton Royal Theatre company. After attracting international attention with a cross-over role in Britney Murphy's Love and Other Disasters, Santiago was cast as Isaac Mendez on Heroes. He speaks English, Spanish, French, and Italian, and is a skilled tennis and hockey player, and semi-professional scuba diver.
Santiago used his natural abilities as an international athlete and his language skills to develop his acting persona.
Ali Larter: Ali Larter plays the super-b ex-stripper Niki Sanders on Heroes. Ali was born in New Jersey and is the daughter of a trucking executive. Her entertainment career began when she was just fourteen years old and signed a Contract with Ford Models. She traveled the world for years as a model, and settled in Japan for a year when she was seventeen. After that she moved to L.A., she began taking acting classes on the advice of friend Amy Smart (Scrubs, Crank).
Ali's career really took off when she took part in a hoax put together by Esquire Magazine. She pretended to be fictional model Allegra Coleman who Esquire claimed to be the next hot thing. Supposedly Allegra had dated David Schwimmer (Friends) and Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill), but she didn't actually exist. After offers poured in from agencies looking to represent the fictional Allegra, Ali Larter's acting career took off. She started acting in teen movies like Varsity Blues and Final Destination. After many movies Ali decided to try out television and was cast as Niki Sanders on Heroes.
Ali Larter began as a model, and made the leap into acting by taking part in a national modeling prank on the cover of Esquire Magazine. The publicity was able to help launch her acting career.
Japanese computer programmers, Chilean soccer players, fake models, video game voice-artists, and prodigies; what do they all have in common? They followed their dreams and became some of the biggest television Heroes.
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