PASADENA, Calif. — In the 1960s, George Takei was one of the very few Asian-Americans on TV.

The man who played Sulu on "Star Trek" never imagined that four decades later he'd not only be back on NBC, but he'd be speaking nothing but Japanese. In a bit of perfect casting, Takei joins the cast of "Heroes" tonight (8 p.m., Ch. 5) as Hiro's (Masi Oka) father.

Yes, it's another science-fictionish show, but one very different from "Trek."

"It's kind of a merging of the same audience base," Takei told the Deseret Morning News. "The 'Star Trek' fans are overjoyed."

But the producers of "Heroes" first had to be convinced of Takei's language abilities.

"My agent called and asked whether I speak Japanese. And I said, 'Yes, of course,"' he said. But the producers were unconvinced and faxed over a scene for Takei to play.

"I got the pages, and they were in English! And I said, 'I thought they wanted me to do it in Japanese?' And my agent said, 'They want you to translate this.' They want me to translate this as well as play it.

"So I went and auditioned, and they were blown away."

The elder Mr. Nakamura shows up as Hiro searches for the sword he needs to help prevent the impending cataclysm that threatens to destroy New York City. Takei can't tell us a lot about his character — partly because he can't give away plot-points, and partly because, well, he's just not sure who his character is.

"I can tell you that I'm a powerful industrialist from a distinguished, old-line family. And I have great aspirations for my son," Takei said. "But other than that, I don't know quite who I am. I don't know quite why I do what I do. Or what I expect to have happen. Everything is a surprise, and with each script I make new discoveries.

"Am I a good guy? Am I a bad guy? What are my motivations? What's my goal? What do I really want from my son? Am I the big boss, or am I taking orders from someone? It's like being part of the audience, but I get to do it."

And he gets to speak Japanese exclusively. "I speak Japanese fluently, but I've never worked in Japan," said the native Californian, who turns 70 in April. "And here I am in Hollywood doing whole scenes, episode after episode, purely and exclusively in the Japanese language.

"That's an amazing commentary on the sophistication and the globalization of the American television-viewing public. I mean, it's really remarkable." (Takei isn't sure how many episodes of "Heroes" he'll appear in — it's open-ended at this point.)

Takei and Oka — who has become the breakout star of the television season by playing the "Hero" who is overjoyed with his newfound powers— formed a quick bond. "George was amazing," Oka said. "He's so charming, he's so charismatic. He has so many stories.

"Off set, he would be, like 'Well, back in those days,"' Oka said, doing a perfect imitation of Takei. (An imitation he's "scared to do" in front of Takei.)

Takei was already a fan of both the show and Oka when he got the part. "It was nice when we met. We went directly to each other and we started chatting," Takei said. "And somehow we revealed to each other that we speak Spanish. ... So then we started conversing in Spanish. And we were going back-and-forth in Spanish when I thought we would be doing it in Japanese.

"So be prepared for another twist and turn," he said with a laugh.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com