Seeing stars at sunset
After almost a week since the “Hawaii Five-0” season two premiere at “Sunset on the Beach” in Waikiki, I have finally had a chance to let the excitement of the evening sink into my overly star-stimulated brain.
Let me just tell you — that’s no small feat for a regular girl like me.
Many people have seen the very well done video — shot by the Pulse’s Brian Takemura and edited by Scott Morifuji — of myself and Honolulu Star-Advertiser television and film reporter Mike Gordon as we spoke with the various “Five-0” stars and producers.
In case you missed it, here it is again:
You will see that I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of talking with the very gracious and equally excited cast on the red carpet. I had been nervous all day wondering what would happen — would I turn major fan-girl and just giggle the whole time? Would I keep my cool and ask hardball questions and alienate even the sweet and unflappable Masi Oka or anger the always happy and energetic Mark Dacascos?
Would I lose my ability to speak while looking at the incredibly handsome Alex O’Loughlin?
Believe me, I think I had nightmares thinking about it. But watch the video — it all turned out pretty good. Thanks to a great bunch of pros who made me feel welcomed and like one of the Pulse crew, I basically held the microphone and played Vanna White for Mike Gordon as he asked pertinent and effective questions.
Working with Mike made everything go smoothly, as he is a seasoned pro. As the new kid at the Pulse, I really learned a lot about asking questions that were interesting and thought-provoking from a fantastic reporter.
(Editor’s note: Wendie IS a member of the Pulse team, and she did a great job on the red carpet!)
So let me do a quick breakdown of the sunset event on the red carpet and include all of the pictures I have from my own camera, along with Star-Advertiser Features Editor Christie Wilson’s pictures, and fill you in on a few moments that made the night even more special than I thought possible.
Mike and I spoke to most of the “Hawaii Five-0” cast, although we missed speaking to Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim, and Taylor Wily. Not because we didn’t want to, but with the hustle of getting everyone down the red carpet, sometimes we were busy talking to one actor — and then there wasn’t an opportunity to get the person we missed to come back up the carpet to speak to us.
Unfortunate, but just part of the ups and downs of working the press line.
We did get to speak to Masi Oka, Mark Dacascos, Terry O’Quinn, Grace Park, Daniela Ruah, Lauren German, Peter Lenkov, Roberto Orci, Brian Yang, and Alex O’Loughlin. Every one of them a treat to speak to and all of them as gorgeous and natural in person as you can possibly imagine. I know it’s hard to imagine them as “regular” people, but it was easy to talk to them, almost like speaking to a friendly person you bumped into at Starbucks.
And I know you want to bump into any of these folks waiting in line for coffee, right?
Daniela Ruah was a major hit on the red carpet as she is as kind as she is beautiful. She shook my hand twice and told me I looked like an actress — who knew?
One of my favorites of the evening was Mark Dacascos, who is so down to earth it’s hard to imagine him as the evil Wo Fat. He does not have a negative bone in his body. He makes for a great villain, believe me, but if you met him in a dark alley the worst that man would do is hug you to death.
My other favorite interview was with Brian Yang, who plays Charlie Fong. I had the pleasure of meeting him the morning of “Sunset on the Beach” at a “Five-0” fan brunch hosted by Bruce and Yaling Fisher. Brian was very generous with his time and joined us in a delicious catered breakfast.
Afterward, he spoke with all the fans and took pictures, signed autographs, and was such a fantastic sport. I saw him walking down the red carpet and pulled him over to talk to me. Of the entire evening, I felt the most comfortable talking to him. I asked him if we could throw a tweetup for him the next time he was in town and he said he’d love it.
How would you all like to watch “Hawaii Five-0” with Brian Yang if we can swing it? Don’t all tweet me at once. I’m sure we’ll have to find the biggest Big City Diner to hold that party.
Now I know you have all kept reading just to hear about talking to Alex O’Loughlin, right? Well, all I can say is that if I could remember what I said to him, I’d be sure I spoke to him. Thankfully, there is photographic evidence of my having said something to the man. Otherwise, I don’t think I can recall specifically what words actually came out of my mouth.
It’s not just because he is the star of the show, but it’s also because he is amazingly easy on the eyes. As well as completely charming and funny. You’ve seen the video, so you know. And you’ve seen all the pictures and the news reports and the streaming video.
If you haven’t, don’t worry — “just relax and try to take your mind off it, the time will go faster if you just focus on other things.”
Like Alex says, the season two premiere of “Hawaii Five-0” will be with you soon.
Redux Side Note
The television premiere of “Ha‘i‘ole” will air this Monday night September 19 at 9 p.m. in Hawaii. Check your local listings for the time on CBS in your area.
Be sure to check out the Monday edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, as Mike Gordon will highlight the “Hawaii Five-0” television premiere with a special four-page viewer’s guide to season two. They will also include a review of the first season’s DVD that will be released Tuesday, Sept. 20.
If you want to see all the pictures and coverage of “Sunset on the Beach” and all of the “Five-0” news and blogs from season two, bookmark the Star-Advertiser’s “Hawaii Five-0” Interactive page.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the rest of the Pulse crew for helping make my night fantastic: huge thanks to Mike Gordon for showing me the red carpet ropes; thanks to Brian Takemura who shot the video; Scott Morifuji for editing, and along with Entertainment Editor Jason Genegabus, dealing with the live streaming. Thanks, guys, for capturing the evening. Thanks to Gary Chun for tweeting pictures and taking a few for me as well. And special thanks to Features Editor Christie Wilson, who took the pictures of me interviewing the “Hawaii Five-0” stars pictured here.
Thanks to Christie and the rest of the awesome Pulse crew, I am pretty popular in the Five-0 Fan world. This week at least.
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Wendie Burbridge is a published writer, playwright and a teacher of literature and fiction writing at Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama. Reach her on Facebook and on Twitter.
36 responses to “Seeing stars at sunset”
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WOW. Wendie..you make it feel like I was actually there….well, not really LOL but close. For those of us stuck at home and just dying because we couldn’t be there, all the videos and tweets, blogs and pictures from everyone there was a godsend. Most were good, some were just ok, others were excellent. Then there were our friends (you, Bob, Lisa, Bruce, etc) who did their jobs brilliantly but also remembered their Ohana’s still stuck at home. You guys were totally awesome. Mahalo for making us feel less disconnected to our favorite show and the cast and crew we have come to call friends. You guys ROCK!!!
WOW. Wendie..you make it feel like I was actually there….well, not really LOL but close. For those of us stuck at home and just dying because we couldn’t be there, all the videos and tweets, blogs and pictures from everyone there was a godsend. Most were good, some were just ok, others were excellent. Then there were our friends (you, Bob, Lisa, Bruce, etc) who did their jobs brilliantly but also remembered their Ohana’s still stuck at home. You guys were totally awesome. Mahalo for making us feel less disconnected to our favorite show and the cast and crew we have come to call friends. You guys ROCK!!!
WOW. Wendie..you make it feel like I was actually there….well, not really LOL but close. For those of us stuck at home and just dying because we couldn’t be there, all the videos and tweets, blogs and pictures from everyone there was a godsend. Most were good, some were just ok, others were excellent. Then there were our friends (you, Bob, Lisa, Bruce, etc) who did their jobs brilliantly but also remembered their Ohana’s still stuck at home. You guys were totally awesome. Mahalo for making us feel less disconnected to our favorite show and the cast and crew we have come to call friends. You guys ROCK!!!
WOW. Wendie..you make it feel like I was actually there….well, not really LOL but close. For those of us stuck at home and just dying because we couldn’t be there, all the videos and tweets, blogs and pictures from everyone there was a godsend. Most were good, some were just ok, others were excellent. Then there were our friends (you, Bob, Lisa, Bruce, etc) who did their jobs brilliantly but also remembered their Ohana’s still stuck at home. You guys were totally awesome. Mahalo for making us feel less disconnected to our favorite show and the cast and crew we have come to call friends. You guys ROCK!!!
Wonderful job, Wendie! No one would ever suspect that this was your first time on the Red Carpet and I love hearing hearing about the experience. Bravo.
Wonderful job, Wendie! No one would ever suspect that this was your first time on the Red Carpet and I love hearing hearing about the experience. Bravo.
Nice little wrap up Wendie. You did a fabulous job! Thank you for being so thorough! It felt like being right there with you. Brava!
Nice little wrap up Wendie. You did a fabulous job! Thank you for being so thorough! It felt like being right there with you. Brava!
Nice little wrap up Wendie. You did a fabulous job! Thank you for being so thorough! It felt like being right there with you. Brava!
Nice little wrap up Wendie. You did a fabulous job! Thank you for being so thorough! It felt like being right there with you. Brava!
Wendie,
WOW for sure. Great job on the red carpet, and thanks for all of the photos. Just curious are you going to have any meetup at a City Diner or anyplace else in the next week or two. Have friends and your fans traveling there.
Paul
Wendie,
WOW for sure. Great job on the red carpet, and thanks for all of the photos. Just curious are you going to have any meetup at a City Diner or anyplace else in the next week or two. Have friends and your fans traveling there.
Paul
Wendie,
WOW for sure. Great job on the red carpet, and thanks for all of the photos. Just curious are you going to have any meetup at a City Diner or anyplace else in the next week or two. Have friends and your fans traveling there.
Paul
Wendie,
WOW for sure. Great job on the red carpet, and thanks for all of the photos. Just curious are you going to have any meetup at a City Diner or anyplace else in the next week or two. Have friends and your fans traveling there.
Paul
Thank you great job!! Greetings
Thank you great job!! Greetings
You did an AMAZING job cuz!!!! 🙂 You looked so natural in the video,like Terry said no one would have guessed it was your first time on the red carpet 🙂 HAHA I loved the part about Alex and not remembering what you said….totally know that feeling 😉 Can not wait until Monday 🙂 See you tomorrow 🙂
You did an AMAZING job cuz!!!! 🙂 You looked so natural in the video,like Terry said no one would have guessed it was your first time on the red carpet 🙂 HAHA I loved the part about Alex and not remembering what you said….totally know that feeling 😉 Can not wait until Monday 🙂 See you tomorrow 🙂
You did an AMAZING job cuz!!!! 🙂 You looked so natural in the video,like Terry said no one would have guessed it was your first time on the red carpet 🙂 HAHA I loved the part about Alex and not remembering what you said….totally know that feeling 😉 Can not wait until Monday 🙂 See you tomorrow 🙂
You did an AMAZING job cuz!!!! 🙂 You looked so natural in the video,like Terry said no one would have guessed it was your first time on the red carpet 🙂 HAHA I loved the part about Alex and not remembering what you said….totally know that feeling 😉 Can not wait until Monday 🙂 See you tomorrow 🙂
Great article Wendie! glad to have you as an H50Fanatic!
Great article Wendie! glad to have you as an H50Fanatic!
Great article Wendie! glad to have you as an H50Fanatic!
Great article Wendie! glad to have you as an H50Fanatic!
As always, Wendie, a fantastic wrap-up of your experience on the Red Carpet! I am so glad that someone of your talent and loveliness was there to ‘represent’ all of us H50 Superfans! Hope to get you on the Podcast soon to talk about it! Much Mahalo!
Dana In Vermont
“Hawaii In Vermont” #H50 podcast at http://alohavermont.com
As always, Wendie, a fantastic wrap-up of your experience on the Red Carpet! I am so glad that someone of your talent and loveliness was there to ‘represent’ all of us H50 Superfans! Hope to get you on the Podcast soon to talk about it! Much Mahalo!
Dana In Vermont
“Hawaii In Vermont” #H50 podcast at http://alohavermont.com
As always, Wendie, a fantastic wrap-up of your experience on the Red Carpet! I am so glad that someone of your talent and loveliness was there to ‘represent’ all of us H50 Superfans! Hope to get you on the Podcast soon to talk about it! Much Mahalo!
Dana In Vermont
“Hawaii In Vermont” #H50 podcast at http://alohavermont.com
As always, Wendie, a fantastic wrap-up of your experience on the Red Carpet! I am so glad that someone of your talent and loveliness was there to ‘represent’ all of us H50 Superfans! Hope to get you on the Podcast soon to talk about it! Much Mahalo!
Dana In Vermont
“Hawaii In Vermont” #H50 podcast at http://alohavermont.com
awesome article
awesome article
awesome article
awesome article
Can’t wait for tonight!!!! H50 makes Mondays so much better!!
Can’t wait for tonight!!!! H50 makes Mondays so much better!!
Can’t wait for tonight!!!! H50 makes Mondays so much better!!
Can’t wait for tonight!!!! H50 makes Mondays so much better!!