I don't really try to emulate...in fact, I actually try not to emulate.
There's a number of people I highly respect in one way or another, admire in one way or another, all that jazz, but there's no one I can think of who I'm comfortable putting the title of "hero" to. I don't know, in a way it feels odd because I know a number of people personally who have gone through a lot and no doubt deserve such a strong title, but there's no one I look up to in a way that those "write about your favorite hero in real life" sort of papers seem to be using the term. Questions like this always make me think of those papers. Give me a "write about your favorite literary hero" over a "write about a hero in real life" paper any day. I guess I just don't do heros? It makes me think of all the quotes and things that have been said about needing heros, but as far as I'm concerned to each their own, I'm just not comfortable with the idea myself.
Sometimes I will notice myself sort of taking on mannerisms or whatnot if I've been watching someone for an extended time (whether on a show, in interviews, whatever), but when I notice that I am I usually do my best to put an end to that. It...doesn't feel like me, I guess. I want to be my own man, not borrow from other men and be the metaphorical equivalent of Dr. Frankenstein's monster and be a mix-and-match of other people.
Upon thinking I'd actually like to clarify: there are people I would put the title of hero to, but not in any personal sense. So it's more the idea of a personal hero that I'm not comfortable with myself than the general idea of "hero."