‘Hawaii Five-0’ begins filming sixth season with blessing
20150708-2358 FTR HAWAII FIVE-0 Hawaii Five-0 cast and crew gather for their tradition Hawaiian blessing for the upcoming sixth season at Koko Head Neighborhood Park. Cast members Alex Oâ??Loughlin (Steve McGarrett), Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho Kelly), Grace Park (Kona â??Konoâ? Kalakaua), Chi McBride (Lou Grover), Jorge Garcia (Conspiracy Theorist), Dennis Chun (Duke Lukela) and Ian Anthony Dale (Adam Noshimuri) were present. This is (l-r) Kahu Kordell Kekoa presiding over the blessing ceremony with Alex Oâ??Loughlin, Jeff Downer (co-exec. producer), Bryan Spicer (co-exec. producer and director) and Peter M. Lenkov (Exec. Prod.) holding the mail lei as the sun peaks over the horizon in the east. PHOTO BY DENNIS ODA. JULY 8, 2015.
A Hawaiian blessing at the start of a TV season may seem routine, especially if it’s the sixth time, but don’t say that to Australian actor Alex O’Loughlin, star of “Hawaii Five-0.”
When the “Five-0” cast and crew gathered Wednesday near Koko Head Elementary School for the start of filming of the first episode of Season 6, O’Loughlin smiled like a kid on the first day of classes.
“I’ve never been this far in a show,” he said as the morning sun cut through overcast skies behind him. “This is six years, our sixth season. Everyone is very excited. By now we certainly know what to expect as far as workload goes. I think there is a certain ease that goes along with getting this far in a show as well.”
With a thick beard he started growing at the end of last season, O’Loughlin’s first order of business was going to be a shave. He doesn’t start work until Thursday.
Only Grace Park and Ian Anthony Dale would be shooting scenes Wednesday, but the blessing drew cast members Daniel Dae Kim, Jorge Garcia and Chi McBride. Local favorite Dennis Chun was there, too, checking his email to discover that the daughter of Leonard Freeman, the creator of the original “Five-0,” was wishing cast and crew a good season.
Kim, casual in shorts and slippers, spent the hiatus between seasons working and traveling. He went to 12 cities around the world, continued developing his production company and spent time in Atlanta filming the third installment of the “Divergent” movie series.
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He hopes the sixth season of “Five-0” will explore the things that fans love about the show: action, character relationships and the carguments between McGarrett and Danno (Scott Caan).
“The good news about Season 6 is we are on a bit of cruise control and we know what the fans like, we know what we do and we know our brand,” Kim said.
Although he made his directorial debut last season on “Five-0,” Kim said he has no plans to do that in Season 6. “We’ll see how it goes for Season 7, though,” he said grinning.
“Five-0” plans to shoot 25 episodes this season, said Executive Producer Peter Lenkov, but he had no official word yet from CBS about whether the network plans to host another Sunset on the Beach red carpet season premiere in Waikiki.
