L.A. Resident Masi Oka Is So Intellectually Deprived, He Finds Bankers Interesting

We ran into Heroes star Masi Oka at the Cinema Society screening of Atonement last night. Heroes films in L.A., and Oka, a Brown graduate, was happy to be back on the East Coast. “There seems to be a lot more culture in New York; people talk to each other; people are interested in more intellectually stimulating conversation,” he said. “Whenever I go out, I’ll meet like, investment bankers, you know, people who are creative. The creative folks here tend to be a lot more intellectual.” Wait, what? Investment bankers are creative? And intellectual? Has living in California addled Oka’s brain?

“You know, it’s refreshing for me, because I hang out a lot with industry people,” Oka explained. “Outside the industry, you get different stories, which is kind of funny. And in L.A. it’s a lot more … I hate to say the word superficial, but it does feel sometimes superficial. Like, let’s say we’re talking. In L.A., people would be doing this, looking over there and just talking about whatever. In New York, it’s all about eye-to-eye contact.” Yeah. Totally. We know what you mean. But at least, having a hit show and all, Oka is best friends with all the cool famous people in L.A., right? Such as Atonement star Keira Knightly, whom we spy on the red carpet behind him? The two were on Regis and Kelly at the same time this morning. Did they hang out after? Um, no. “I didn’t get to meet her because, uh, I think she was very busy in her world,” Oka explained. “And uh, I don’t think she knows who I am at all.” Aw, surely that’s not it, we assured him. It’s probably just that she’s really busy. Like, she didn’t wave back at us when we saw her earlier, either, even though we screamed her name really, really loud. Not that in New York, we care about celebrities, particularly. — Bennett Marcus