Playing a superhero was an acting challenge for me. It was fun.

In ‘Star Wars: Episode II,’ when Jango Fett is chasing Obi Wan Kenobi through an asteroid field, they needed a big asteroid to shatter into a million pieces, and I had to figure out how to do the fracturing, write the code, and show an artist how to use it.

I was raised by a single mother, and she felt the Japanese education system, albeit wonderful, keeps you in a certain range. You have to be better than this level but below this level.

Being a geek is a great thing. I think we’re all geeks. Being a geek means you’re passionate about something and that defines your uniqueness. I would rather be passionate about something than be apathetic about everything.

When you’re making an adaptation, you have to make content for the fans; otherwise, you’ll get something that won’t even be accepted by the mainstream. You want to make something that the fans will approve and the mainstream will enjoy.

If you look at Japanese drama, I think there is definitely a treasure trove of it, but I just don’t think that people know about it. It’s got to be pitched and presented better.

I just love comedy, and I honestly believe that laughter transcends everything. If everyone laughed together, laughed more, it would unite the world in peace.

I’m a real dumb-dumb in real life. I’m just book smart. But definitely not street smart. The other day I lost my jacket in a cab. And I’ll forget things every time I leave the house.

I love strategy and RPG games.

I wasn’t the best UI programmer, but I know to use the interface and that stuff. It’s definitely given me a leg up in terms of being able to talk to the people in the games industry.

I’m not American. I still have my Japanese citizenship.

At its core, ‘Heroes‘ is an ensemble character drama with genre elements.

I think it enriches you as a scientist to be able to see things in an artistic perspective and as an artist to see things in a scientific perspective.

I still have a Japanese passport. I haven‘t become an American citizen, and I am worried about getting deported every day.

I grew up on anime and manga. That’s part of who I am.

I got to college and saw all of my friends going to these other schools and thought, ‘You know, college is just a blank slate.’ And I had an opportunity to go to different schools, but I chose Brown because it was unique and allowed you to be yourself as an individual and like I said, it’s a blank slate.

I played piano back in my elementary school days and I sang a cappella back in college.

I love both acting and programming equally. I think it enriches me and enhances me as an artist.

Coming from a programming background, I have a good sense of what’s feasible and what’s not feasible in a game.

Even as we get older, we get in these routines – and routines are nice and comfortable – but I think that it’s important to live life to its fullest and try different things. Because you never know what you’re going to learn. You might not like it, you might like it.

I was born in Japan and moved to L.A. when I was six, and I grew up with Japanese culture. I was reading manga, and I read ‘Death Note‘ in real time in Japanese.

Anonymity breeds irresponsibility.

I am a geek. I am an otaku.

My house is like a manga library in many ways, and it’s great because I get to call it research.

The key to digital effects is to do things that are visually accurate but done cheaply and approximated.

Virtual environments are anonymous, and I’m concerned that people – mainly younger folks who grow up this way – will see social relationships as part of a game.

Even people that are evil believe what they’re doing is good. I don’t agree with those people, but it’s about understanding that there are those kinds of points of view.

One of the reasons I took up acting was to learn to be more human, to get in touch with human emotions.

I am also about trusting maggot instincts. If I get played or taken advantage of? So be it. That’s a life lesson. I would rather have believed in someone and get hurt than live life with distrust. I always go into a relationship with trust.

Will Smith is just an all-around amazing talent and really funny.