He’s heard the command so many times during his 20-plus years as an actor that Daniel Dae Kim knows what to do when a director shouts, "Action!"
‘Hawaii Five-0′
8 p.m. Fridays on CBS |
But last month Kim found himself on the other side of the camera, calling the shots for an episode of "Hawaii Five-0," advising fellow cast members on what to bring to a scene and losing sleep between long days as a first-time director.
He loved it.
"I’m trying to expand my horizons a bit," said Kim, who plays Chin Ho Kelly on the series.
The episode, airing at 8 p.m. Friday, is called "Kuka‘awale," which is Hawaiian for "stakeout." In the episode, McGarrett and Danno, the oft-bickering lead characters in the CBS cop drama, work on their relationship while on a stakeout. They’re trying to catch a woman who escaped from a diamond robbery.
Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Cloris Leachman and Emmy-nominated comic Jon Lovitz headline the guest stars.
Without giving anything away, Kim said the episode has a lot of appeal.
"There is an extended ‘cargument’ for fans of Mc-Danno," he said, using the shorthand adopted by fans who love the banter between the two characters. "There is a really high-octane action sequence, which was a lot of fun to shoot. And there are a couple of twists and turns in the story that some teenage boys will get a kick out of."
Kim has wanted to direct an episode of television since he starred as Jin on the hit ABC drama "Lost," which shot in Hawaii from 2004 to 2010. He shadowed directors who worked on the show, but the director’s chair remained elusive.
After the third season of "Five-0," Kim asked executive producer Peter Lenkov if he could direct. Lenkov, who oversees every detail of "Five-0," agreed.
It took a year to finalize the arrangement, and Kim used the time to study his surroundings. Like most TV shows, "Five-0" relies on a stable of directors who drop in and out of the season. Kim said he consulted directors Joe Dante ("Gremlins"), Sylvain White ("Person of Interest," "The Mentalist") and Larry Teng, who directed "Five-0’s" 100th episode.
He likened the experience to knowing only the surface of the ocean and then being given a scuba mask and a chance to see what lies below.
"Often when we are doing a job, we look at that job through our own filter," Kim said. "I focused on trying to learn how a director views a show."
Kim got the script in December and read (and reread) it several times. He helped scout locations and viewed audition reels. He prepared shooting schedules.
"I lost sleep thinking about what the next day would hold for me and all the potential questions I might be asked," he said. "And most importantly I needed to have a plan for every single shot that day and a plan B. If something went wrong because of lighting or because of weather or some other variable, I needed to have a backup plan."
The show’s writers minimized Kim’s speaking parts as Chin to just two days, which freed him to spend his time directing. After seven days to shoot it was time to edit.
Kim spent three days in Los Angeles putting together his episode. At the same time a show editor did the same thing. Afterward both versions went to Lenkov.
"It is expected and accepted that whatever a director does on our show will be tweaked by Peter," Kim said. "I fully expect his cut to be different from mine, but it is his show. It is his vision."
Lenkov said Kim had an advantage over most visiting directors.
"A lot of directors watch episodes and try to get the tone of the show, and it’s a crapshoot," Lenkov said during a break in editing. "Directors come in and don’t have the luxury of seeing every episode we have done, and Daniel has. And I think Daniel wanted to try and do things we haven’t done before."
Lenkov said losing sleep was a good thing.
"You want him to show up nervous and with butterflies in his stomach," he said. "That will be the fuel that drives him."
Kim said he would welcome another episode to direct, but even if that never happens, he’s already benefited from the experience. Having what he called a 360-degree view of his industry will inform his acting with something he didn’t have before.
"It makes me a better actor," he said. "From now on, when I am working on a project, I will be able to see it through a director’s eyes and have a clearer vision of how to tell a story."
