"I really can't tell you much."

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa doesn't usually say those words. But the outspoken local actor has to stay uncharacteristically mum on his upcoming role in one of TV's hottest action dramas, "Heroes." For now, he's in Hollywood to shoot only one episode. But like many things in his life, that could change.

At 57, Tagawa finds himself mulling both plot lines and life lines. He spoke to The Advertiser on the eve of his first day on the set.

"All I can say is that I'm playing the sword maker, and that my character has an integral role in Hiro's story," he said.

To those living under a rock, that would be Hiro Nakamura, played by actor Masi Oka. Local fans have been especially taken with Hiro, a Japanese everyman who discovers he has the power to stop time. With an ensemble of other super nobodies, he embarks on a mission to help save the world.

"I think there's a vulnerable innocence to Hiro, a noble romanticism that has been lost in Asian culture," Tagawa said. "It's slightly stereotypical, but it's a positive stereotype that still plays well, particularly in Hawai'i, where we share some of those values."

Expect to see more peaceful values in the sword maker, Tagawa said, although vulnerable is not a trait he has often played in his career. "Frankly, I don't think I'm what they had in mind when they first developed the role," he said. "I think they would've considered someone like (legendary film actor) Mako if he were still alive."

This presents the veteran actor with a bit of a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. In the two-or-three-take world of television production, there isn't much time to summon up your inner Mako, especially if you've been playing action villains and killers for much of your career. Add to that another tidbit of info about the character: Like Hiro, he speaks only Japanese.

"Yeah, it's a little different, but I have done television before, and I think I can bring a fresh, samurai energy to the part," he said. "And I'm now at that age where I can play the kinder, older man."

In real life, Tagawa has begun to embrace that for himself. While in Tibet for a recent film shoot, he visited an 800-year-old Buddhist monastery and took part in an annual celebration of its lineage. The experience affected his outlook on life.

"It was an impoverished area, and so it made me think about all the things we take for granted — hot showers, flushing toilets and other so-called necessities," he said, adding with a laugh: "So basically, that's what I did for my mid-life crisis. But seriously, everyone should take some time in a place like that, to get some sacred rest."

Tagawa is also in Los Angeles for the Hollywood premiere of "Balls of Fury," a martial-arts spoof with an advance screening in Honolulu Monday (see box above).