HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow)
– 8 March 2011
by Teri Okita
You may have noticed a lot of marquee names guest starring on Hawaii Five-0 this year – from Sean Combs to Nick Lachey to Dane Cook and Chef Morimoto. So, we asked the cast what they think about all those famous faces on set.
It doesn’t take much coaxing to get A-list stars on the set. “Everybody that’s come on board as guest actors, it goes to show people must really like the show and believe in the show,” says Alex O’Loughlin who plays Steve McGarrett on the show.
The cast welcomes the new energy these big names bring but still feels Five-0 has strengths, with or without guests. Grace Park, who plays Kono Kalakaua, says, “A show has to hold its own and preserve its integrity to be able to bring on someone (like Sean Combs) like that, you know? And I think, as long as we maintain that, then you can keep bringing these people.”
Then, we brought along questions that you, the faithful viewers, emailed and Facebooked to us.
We started with Daniel Dae Kim.
Teri: “This is from Connie L. Was the bike written for you or was it your choice?”
Daniel: “The motorcycle came into play when my executive producer said that he loved motorcycles, and so we started having a discussion about motorcycles, and he decided that it might be cool for Chin Ho to ride one and asked me whether I’d be interested, and I said, ‘Absolutely'”.
Next, a viewer question for Scott Caan, who plays Danno.
Teri: “Noriski asks: How much of Scott is there in Danny -or how much of Danny is there in Scott?”
Scott: “Well, I mean, that’s a tricky question because obviously, it’s all me. But I don’t dislike the ocean. I don’t dislike Hawaii so … it’s that stuff on paper is not like me but anything you see, mannerism-wise or attitude or behavior, that’s all me.”
Hawaii News Now received a flood of emails for O’Loughlin.
Teri: “This is from Jamie.”
Alex: [ looks into the camera]. “Hi, Jamie.”
Teri: “How long did it take you to perfect your American accent?”
Alex: “Well, look, first of all, I kind of grew up with a North American sound in the house. My stepdad is Canadian, but he has a very clear North American sound so that was all around me as a child. And I also grew up with American TV, like all of us Australians.”
Grace Park had fun with your questions.
Teri: “Thaibeauty21 wants to know: do you want Kono to have a love interest on the show? If so, who do you want to play him?”
Grace: “Oh, I would love to have a love interest. I always think it adds another dynamic, and it’s fun. I don’t want it to be within the team. I know there’s been some talk of that. That’s just a little weird. It’s like your brother!”
Teri: “Is there an actor that you might have in mind that you’d want?”
Grace: “I don’t know, there’s a few pretty good … Um, how about Charlie Sheen?!” she said with a big laugh.
Another question for Caan.
Teri: “Twitter@mymaxius asks: “You have a great eye for photography. Have you considered using your gorgeous co-stars as subject matter? Wink. There’s a wink at the end of this tweet.”
Scott: “A wink? I’ve shot photos of them all, yeah. They’re like, as far as subjects, they’re like in the medium category. You know what I mean?” he smiles.
Teri: “What do you do with the pictures?”
Scott [jokes]: “I sell them!”
Another question for Daniel Dae Kim.
Teri: “Musicfreak26 wants to know: what’s your favorite part about working in Hawaii?”
Daniel: “I think knowing that once you leave work, it’s not an industry town and not everyone is talking about your job or their job in the same business. I like the fact that people leave work, and they have pau hana and go surfing or be outdoors and go running, and they leave it all behind and I love that.”
And a final question for O’Loughlin.
Teri: “Donna Hall wants to know: will you please Twitter! Why haven’t you joined a social network?”
Alex: “I would rather set fire to myself than join social network! Only because, I’ll tell you why, Donna. Okay, at the moment, I’m going to have a look. I’m going to reach into my pocket, and I’m going to get my phone out and I’m going to have a look. Okay, if you see here, it’s says 97 unanswered emails. 97!!
They’re all emails I have to answer. I’m so unmanageable when it comes to that stuff. If I had Facebook, Twitter, anything like that, I don’t know what would happen. I would probably have to start taking some pharmaceutical narcotic just to cope with the stress and anxiety, and then, McGarrett would become a very different character!”
Link to Video:
My thoughts
- It is really interesting to see how many people still search for Alex’s broken arm (and also search if Alex really ever served as a Navy SEAL) It just shows you how people sometimes struggle to separate the fantasy world of television from real life. Please remember he was wearing a fake cast here in the interview, because he was on set for the 2nd of the 2 episodes when STEVE broke his arm and had to wear a cast.
- In retrospect – using the words “pharmaceutical narcotic just to cope“, was maybe not a the best choice of word for him at the time.
Alex O´Loughlin ~ An Intense Study 