More Details About Masi Oka’s Role in the ‘Stand Up To Cancer’ Special
USA Today published an article today on some of the stars participating in Friday’s Stand Up To Cancer special. Heroes star Masi Oka is one of those featured celebrities.
From the article:
Masi Oka
Role: NBC’s Heroes star will be working the phone bank and presenting a piece on NASA research related to cancer.
Reason: "I was actually approached. Soon after(that), I found out that my mother (Setsuko) was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a partial mastectomy and has to go through chemotherapy."
Wake-up call: "I hate to be selfish, but when it affects you personally, you learn more about it, and you realize the importance of getting word out there."
Other causes: "There are a lot of good causes out there, autism and many others. It’s hard to support them all, but right now, the cancer stuff is very personal for me."
Importance of star power: "If we can be a messenger for the causes that need awareness, that’s a very small thing we can do and have a greater impact in the world."
Other celebrities featured in the article include singer Carrie Underwood, ER star Mekhi Phifer, Saturday Night Live alum Jimmy Fallon and Angie Harmon of Women’s Murder Club.
The all-star Stand Up To Cancer Special airs live on Friday, September 5th at 8pm (ET and PDT). The commercial-free event will be televised simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC, making it the first simultaneous cross-network broadcast ever to raise funds for the fight against a disease.
For more details about Stand Up To Cancer, or to make a donation, check out their website at www.standup2cancer.org.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I didn’t know Masi’s mom had to deal with that… my mom did too, though my mom just had a lumpectomy (even though it was abad type they caught it early enough)and had radiation treatment. It’s a scary disease. I think it’s great Masi is doing this.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Masi really seems like an all around great guy.
September 9th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Poor Masi - when it’s your parent it really does hit you in a whole new way. I hope his mother recovers fully!