Masi Oka was mystified by the Spam musubi that showed up on the set of "Hawaii Five-0."

"I totally thought, ‘Whoa, am I getting punked or something here?’" said the excitable Japanese-born actor. "I left for like five minutes, and it was all gone. … I guess it’s a huge delicacy."

His character would probably not be fooled by one of the Hawaii’s favorite foods, or even the myriad meats and meat byproducts that go into it. In a recurring role, Oka will play "Doc" Max Bergman, the medical examiner who will be dissecting bodies and providing the medical forensics evidence for the "Five-0" team. His first appearance will be Oct. 18.

As with the other characters in the new version of the iconic cop show, Oka’s Bergman will have a distinctly different personality from the one embodied by Al Eben in the original series. Instead of solid, serious and just-the-facts, think quirky and CSI.

"I kind of liken him to more of a mad professor," Oka said in a conference call with reporters. "He’ll get into his own world, so he won’t realize that people are around him. It actually takes him like three minutes to five minutes into a conversation before he realizes there are people around him."

"In the morgue he has a piano right in the examination room. He’ll play to think, because he’s a tactile thinker. … He thinks logically through the music."

Oka won acclaim for his energetic portrayal of the time-stopping and time-traveling Hiro Nakamura on the series "Heroes" and appeared in productions like "Get Smart" and "Scrubs," but his talents off-camera are equally substantial. He has degrees in mathematics and computer science and worked for George Lucas’ special-effects company, contributing to films like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest" and the last three "Star Wars" films.

That science background, however, has not provided Oka with much assistance in his new role. He even had trouble putting on the surgical gloves, getting his fingers stuck.

"When I see blood, I just think ‘ugh!’" he said. "I always tried to stay away from medical shows or being on them just because — well, the blood — but also the language is really difficult, with all these chemical terms. I was great in math, I was great in computer science, but chemistry, organic chemistry, I just couldn’t get through them."

He was especially interested in working with Daniel Dae Kim, who portrays Chin Ho Kelley, and said there was great camaraderie among the cast and crew.

"Everybody’s really funny on-set," he said. "My first scene, I got to work with Scott (Caan) and Alex (O’Loughlin), and they literally banter like that off-camera as well. It’s really funny to see that, like an ‘Odd Couple’ scenario going on."

Oka acknowledged that Hawaii is a "paradise," but he might not be able to enjoy it the way that most people do or even the other characters on the show do. He does not expect to see Doc Bergman outdoors chasing criminals or even in scenes at the beach, though "that would be kind of funny."

Off-camera he is also having to keep out of the spotlight while here. "Now the problem is with not only American tourists, but Japanese tourists were around, so I couldn’t really go from place to place without privacy," he said.

Still, Hawaii’s multiethnic population has allowed Oka to play a groundbreaking role.

"He’s the first Jewish-Japanese guy to be on TV," he said with a laugh.