Masi Oka (Hiro on Heroes and Max on Hawaii Five-O, formerly a visual effects programmer at ILM) is an example of a programmer who taught himself how to act and

Masi Oka (Hiro on Heroes and Max on Hawaii Five-O, formerly a visual effects programmer at ILM) is an example of a programmer who taught himself how to act and became a successful actor, but he didn't self-promote on the Internet. He did it the hard way (commercials, guest roles, pilots, etc).