Only one of the main characters from “Hawaii Five-0” had scenes to shoot on Wednesday, but that didn’t stop a number of series regulars from showing up in Waikiki just after sunrise to help kick off filming of the CBS show’s seventh season.
“They all came here for the blessing,” said executive producer Peter Lenkov. “We take this very seriously. Clearly it’s something that’s meaningful to everybody.”
Lenkov was joined on the sand at Kahanamoku Beach fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village lagoon just after sunrise by actors Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, Jorge Garcia, Teilor Grubbs, Dennis Chun and Shawn Garnett. Chi McBride, the only cast member actually filming Wednesday, still couldn’t believe the amount of attention his first day back with “Five-0” got from production staff, even after three seasons on the show.
“I don’t know why everybody’s kissing and hugging!” he joked. “We just left out of here a few weeks ago!”
Like many of his cast mates, McBride spent part of his hiatus visiting New York City to see Kim star in “The King and I” on Broadway. While Kim didn’t specifically ask his co-workers to attend in support, McBride said there was no way he was going to miss catching his friend on stage in the Big Apple.
“He crushed it, as we expected,” he said. “It was great. We genuinely have affection for each other. These are lovely people.”
Kim, who returned to Honolulu on Monday and resumes filming “Five-0” today, wasn’t sure how his time on “The King and I” would affect his performance as Chin Ho Kelly, but he was happy to be back in Hawaii and ready to start a new season with the “Five-0” team.
“It feels like I’m coming home again, which is what I’m doing literally, but also on ‘Five-0,’” he said. “Being back here with the water and the beach and the people, it feels like I can rest and settle and start work again.
“We’ll start shooting (today) and I’ll see if any choices are different or if the way I approach the character is a little bit different. But right now, I’m just thinking about the task ahead and everything else will work itself out.”
With the loss of the show’s main villain, Gabriel Waincroft (Christopher Sean), at the end of season six, fans can expect to see some unfamiliar faces when new episodes begin airing later this year.
“The season starts off with this arc that’s going to introduce a new bad (guy), very different from the sort of villains we’ve had in the past,” Lenkov said. “That’s going to take place over the first four episodes, and then it’s going to arc out over the rest of the season, at least.
“We usually do a Halloween episode (fans) love, (so) we’re doing another one of those. Kono and Adam, everyone is rooting for them to be back together, (so) that’s coming very soon. Danny and McGarrett’s relationship, now they’re connected even closer together after this liver (transplant), so it’s going to be fun to see how they deal with that. We’ve got some great stories coming out.”
For Grace Park, who plays Kono Kalakaua on “Hawaii Five-0,” getting back to work is like playing a sport. Once she gets settled, shooting starts to feel like second nature after six seasons of filming in paradise.
“You can be super tired, but it kind of revives you out here,” she said. “Once you read the scripts, your mind gets right back into all the dialogue, the different characters and what they’re doing. It’s like a muscle you use so many times.
“In the beginning, it took quite a few months (to get comfortable) and I still didn’t feel like I had any idea who Kono really was. And then after a while, you have a feel for them. It’s in your body. You kind of just slide right back into it.”
According to Lenkov, “Hawaii Five-0” expects to film 25 episodes this season, which is the same amount filmed during season six. CBS has yet to make an official announcement on whether the show will return to Waikiki’s Sunset on the Beach for another red carpet preview screening before the official season seven premiere on Sept. 23.
