James Kyson Lee News

There's currently a rumor going around the internet (and our forums!) that the next volume of Heroes will be called "Redemption."  Recently, James Kyson Lee (Ando) confirmed that this is the working title to Ausiello Files.

James Kyson Lee also called this Monday's episode, "Cold Snap," which was written by the amazing Bryan Fuller, as a "monster" hour of TV.  Lee says that, "Ando learns a new trick with his mojo.  He will not just be a supercharger anymore. He will be something more from that point on. He is becoming a legitimate superhero this season. which is really fun for me to go from powerless sidekick to hero."

We're very excited.  Ando has always been one of our favorite characters and he deserves to have a little fun!

With Ando having acquired an ability at the conclusion of volume three, and with the character playing a prominent role in volume for of Heroes, BuddyTV asked James Kyson Lee for his take on Ando's shift from sidekick to a superhero?

Yeah, it's been an interesting arc, and I think it kind of started during “Villains” when he and Hiro sort of have an equal stake in what's going on, and I think slowly he sort of grows from sidekick to possible becoming partners. And then getting a power, which kind of shifted his skill. In that sense, since my buddy doesn't have his power, I sort of have to fill in.

I've got to try to take charge of whatever mission there is. So I think it's going to be an interesting season, and I think Ando's power is going to be explored a little more. Right now you've learned that he's Super Charger, but if you remember way back in the beginning of “Villains,” there's a future.

When my buddy went to the future, he saw my power used in a very different way. And we don't know if that's actually going to play out, but I think there's more to Ando's power than just the super charger.

Now that Hiro and Ando have dug up their long-time nemesis, Adam Monroe, what do future Heroes episodes have in store for this duo?

Kristin from E! Online went to the ideal sources for such a question: Masi Oka and James Kyson Lee. Here are highlights of what they had to say:

Is Ando really a villain? "If I zapped him, it's probably for a good reason. But we don't know if he's turned bad, or if I've turned bad, or if he's betrayed me," Lee said of the season premiere scene that saw Ando zapping Hiro to death. 

Could Hiro become a villain? We never thought it would be possible, but Masi Oka says Hiro Nakamura could one day become evil. "I don't know if it will happen, I don't know if it has happened, but I do think it needs to go there eventually."

How will Ando acquire his abilities? "We learn this season that in order for people to obtain abilities, there has to be a combination of factors - both physical and environmental elements," Lee said. "We think the eclipse might have to do with it. Maybe the formula we are trying to find is closely linked to it, and of course Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is trying to do experiments to find out, but he's not finding the answers either."

Among the complaints of many viewers during season two? We want more Ando and Hiro!

Fortunately, James Kyson Lee tells TV Guide that he and his on-screen best buddy will be reunited soon enough. Here's what else he shared with the magazine...

TVGuide.com: Congrats on becoming a regular cast member.
James Kyson Lee: Most people thought I was a regular last season, because I was in all but one of the episodes, more than anyone but Masi Oka and maybe Milo Ventimiglia. But I was a guest star. It doesn't mean anything really but a pay raise. You could still go at any moment.

TVGuide.com: The way Hiro is able to communicate with Ando through the scrolls in his ancient sword is really cool. There's no way for Ando to write back, is there?
Lee: No, because Hiro put the letters in there 400 years ago — even though it's kind of simultaneously. Last week I recruited some help to decode the secret scrolls; that's how I found out what exactly is taking place with my friend. I found someone who is an expert at decoding ancient writing. It has an Indiana Jones feel to it. It's almost like discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls — a major, major artifact.

TVGuide.com: We can expect Hiro and Ando to reunite sometime this season, can't we?
Lee: That's our destiny. There are more villains to tackle — Molly's bogeyman, the whole so-called Dirty Dozen — and we have to go after them. And that will be dangerous.

TVGuide.com: How do you think Ando has changed?
Lee: He's in a completely different place. He's a self-inspired warrior. After all, he decided to kill Sylar even though he doesn't have powers. You have to give him credit. He's naive, yet somehow heroic.

No, the actor that portrays Ando is not referring to the video game "Halo." Nor is he talking about the symbol that appears over the heads of angels.

Instead, James Kyson Lee is denying reports that Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia are a couple.

"The rumor is not true," Lee told People magazine at Tuesday's Lift Up America Meet Me in Miami premiere in Hollywood. "Let's just end it there."

Regarding the romance talk between the 18-year old and 30-year old actors:

"I think we were just surprised because they're 12 years apart – for people to even conceive that. I know there have been a lot of jokes, Hayden turning 18 and whatnot. At some point, you just have to let it go, and respect their privacy."

Over at HeroesWiki, Ryan Stewart has interviewed Jason Kyson Lee, the actor that portrays Ando on our favorite show.

Here are highlights from the discussion...

You're in a select little group of characters that don't have powers on Heroes. There's Ando, Mr. Bennet, and Mohinder. You guys are the three main ones that have no powers. I think it's fantastic that you represent the everyman, the viewer.
Yeah, it does balance out the show. I think you'd get a little too carried away if everyone and their dog [had powers]. The next thing you know, Mr. Muggles zaps little light bulbs from his eyes. You know what I mean? It would just be La La Land. I think that's part of the appeal of the show, that it is somewhat rooted it in reality in the sense that all of these circumstances and happenings and are still somewhat believable. We're able to latch on to these characters.

How do you relate to your character then?
[laughs] You know, it's funny. Someone from the Comic-Con asked what we bring from our real life. I guess my answer was I bring my enthusiasm for women. I don't know. [both laugh] But Ando's a character that went through quite a bit of character growth in Season One, starting out as sort of a reluctant participant, coming out to a foreign world, and really becoming a believer. I think towards the later [part] of the season, he really kind of swapped roles with Hiro at times and started spearheading.

There were times when Hiro was really down and Ando sort of became the encourager and the inspiration so that Hiro could do this. It got to the point where he went out to go face Sylar by himself because he thought Hiro wasn't going to do it. [laughs] You know, it's been a really fun transformation. I try to bring different aspects of myself to it, of course, incorporating all the imagination of our writers. But we'll see. I think it's going to be very interesting and we'll see how things progress.

How do you want Ando to grow in the next season?
I'd love to learn more about his background and his family. Also, it seems like Hiro and Ando have known each other since they were younger than maybe some people have realized. They could have been coworkers at work, but Hiro does mention the fact that Kensei is a childhood hero that they both grew up reading about. Of course, we have the comedic elements in the show, which I think just adds a different layer to the show entirely. And Ando and Hiro have this really great dynamic relationship. I'd love to be part of more action, you know?

Naturally, I'm an athletic guy and I love being active. So I'd love to see Ando incorporated in more of that and just maybe kind of go out there and fight. You know, when we had the future episode, Hiro got to do a lot of the battle stuff. I think it'd be fun to see Ando get in the mix on some of the action stuff.

Yeah, I agree with you, I think that would be very neat. You mentioned Ando's family. Is there any chance of seeing any other Masahashis in Season Two?
You know, I have no idea at this point. We only just finished episode six and a lot of things are still under wraps. But I'd love to see maybe a love interest in Japan, or, I don't know, I'd love to see the storylines being expanded more. But we'll see. With this show, you never know what's going to happen, man.

You mentioned that Ando went off to fight Sylar (Zachary Quinto) on his own. How'd you feel when you saw that storyline?
Yeah, at first I was really excited, and then I was like, "Oh, wait a minute. Could this be the end?"

And then that coupled with that picture of you dead and mangled!
Right, right! In the future—luckily it was a future that we avoided. [both laugh] I think Adrian said once that he thought he was coming on a show called Heroes, but he didn't realize it was called Survivor. I mean, any of us can go at any time, and I think that's what keeps the show exciting. They're able to bring in new characters and flush out new storylines.

So we hope that this is a long run... [laughs] but definitely, sometimes you get the script and you're like, "Oh my God, where is this headed?" But maybe that's part of the excitement. It's like one of those roller coaster rides where you have to have faith and just jump on.

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Get ready, Heroes fans in Canada. You're getting close to your only chance to meet a quartet of stars from your favorite show during their worldwide tour.

At noon on August 31, at Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square, the following four cast members will descend on hockey's homeland:

1. Zachary Quinto
2. James Kyson Lee
3. Noah Gray-Cabey
4. Dania Ramirez

These stars will greet fans and autograph copies of the Heroes: Season One DVD at the special event, hosted by ET Canada's Rick Campanelli.

Fans can submit questions for the actors at globaltv.com.

The spotlight will be on Quinto, who has signed on to play Spock in JJ Abrams' upcoming Star Trek XI.

Ramirez joins the cast this season as Maya Herrera, a woman plagued by a threatening ability that forced her and twin brother Alejandro to flee their homeland for America.

Here's most casting news from the set of Heroes, but this one involves a familiar face from season one:

James Kyson Lee has revealed that Ando Masahashi will become "a full-fledged regular" on the show in the new season.

As far as Lee concerned, Ando, who started off as the rather reckless and feckless pal of Hiro (Masi Oka) on the NBC hit, "has gone through one of the biggest growth transformations of all the characters. He started off thinking Hiro was living in a fantasyland, but slowly became a believer. Now he's started spearheading some of their actions. He's an important part of this mission, even though he doesn't have powers right now.

That's something people can latch onto — the idea of facing danger knowing you're mortal and don't have super abilities. Ando plays the perspective of an audience member, and asks a lot of the questions viewers would ask."

The Seoul-born, Bronx-bred Lee says that as far as socializing with the rest of the Heroes cast, "We try to when we have time, but there's not a lot of time. We work at such a frenetic pace. One week I had to shoot four different scenes with four different directors. It was insane."

We're glad to have Lee back. He's at least an old, comfortable name in the face of so many fresh actors joining the program, such as Dianna Agron and Dana Davis.

Our good friends at Buddy TV recently sat down with James Kyson Lee, the actor that portrays loyal friend to Hiro, Ando, on Heroes.

How did you end up with the part of Ando on Heroes?
The whole audition process was a little over a year ago, February last year, and it was a long process and I had to audition five times. You know, the first audition and the initial callback with the producers and then they do what's called a work session in which they basically prepare you for going before the executives. Mine felt just like another audition. And then we had to go before Universal Studios to do a screen test, and finally it was at the network, at NBC.

What were your first thoughts when you got the pilot script? Could you tell that this might have the potential to be a pretty big deal?
Yeah I did, I felt it right away. It was a page turner, I couldn't put it down, it was…it felt like reading a movie, you know…a feature script and I was really curious to see how they were gonna film this because there were people flying, walking through walls. You know, it just didn't read a like a regular TV show so I really felt that there was something special at hand and it was a show that I wanted to check out whether or not I was involved in it, so yeah…so far it's been amazing.

You work pretty closely with Masi Oka as Hiro. How has it been working with him? You guys seem to have a pretty easy, natural chemistry going on.
You know, we do have really good rapport on camera, which is surprising because, one, this is our first time working together, and two, we really don't have any kind of rehearsal time because the show films at such a fast pace. We don't have any table reads and, you know, all of us have really busy personal lives off the set.

So, you know, it's very common that when we show up to work, after a half an hour we are dressed in make up and we're filming, so a lot of the stuff that happens on camera is really spontaneous and in the moment. Masi and I both come from an improv background, so that helps.  One cool thing is that even though this is a one hour drama we get to bring some comedic elements onto the show, which really opens things up and adds a different layer to our storyline and the show overall.  So, I think that's what really separates us from all the other TV shows out there.

To read the rest of this interview, click here.