Borges pushes himself hard for final ‘Five-0’ appearance

Singer Jimmy Borges has loved “Hawaii Five-0” from the very beginning — and it’s loved him, too.

During the CBS show’s original run, Borges appeared in 15 episodes, each one as a different character, and in 2012 he had a part in the rebooted “Five-0.” He once even played himself, but more in the vein of Don Ho, performing for tourists in a gaudy jumpsuit with bell bottoms.

But now, as the 80-year-old Borges gradually succumbs to lung cancer, he has the perfect farewell: On Friday, he will have a final guest appearance, this time as an unscrupulous doctor.

He is grateful.

“I wanted to do it because it’s going to be my last ‘Five-0,’” Borges said in a call from his Honolulu home. “I won’t have any more opportunities to do that. And I have a great affinity for ‘Hawaii Five-0’ in many, many ways as a lover of Hawaii.”

Long a favorite among Hawaii audiences, Borges lifted his fans when he beat liver cancer a few years ago, then stunned them in December when he announced he was suffering from lung and liver cancer and had chosen to let it run its course.

When “Five-0” executive producer Peter Lenkov personally called Borges, the singer was touched.

“Executive producers just don’t do that,” Borges said. “The first thing I said was ‘thank you’ and ‘I would be happy to do it.’ And I think they understood where I was coming from.”

Borges will play Dr. David Yang, a criminal who thinks he’s untouchable until he meets up with “Five-0.” Borges shared the scene with Alex O’Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett, and Scott Caan, who plays Danno.

During the scene, the lawmen escort the doctor from his Chinatown shop, which required them to walk about a quarter of the block where the set was located.

“It was hard,” Borges said. “I had to take some really, really deep breaths.”

The director shot it five or six times, from different angles, but Borges said nothing to anyone.

“I was trying to be a trouper,” he said. “I’m thinking: This is my last shot at ‘Hawaii Five-0.’ I’m 80. I have terminal cancer. Let’s do it. Just shut up and do it. Find a way and do it. No big deal. If you die you die.”

Borges played multiple roles when he appeared on the original “Five-0,” including a drug dealer who gets killed by a strung-out junkie, a sleazy gangster, a hit man, a newspaper reporter, a disco owner and a hotel manager.

The same actor coming back to play a different character isn’t something the current “Five-0” does, according to Lenkov.

But that’s exactly why he wanted to use Borges, who played a shady Chinatown businessman four seasons ago.

“I wanted to use an actor a second time playing a completely different character, which is something the original show did often,” Lenkov said “We don’t do that but Jimmy is a bridge between the new and the old show.”

Lenkov likes Borges because he feels like an authentic slice of Hawaii. “He feels real,” said Lenkov, who is also a fan of Borges’ singing and plans to use his cover of “If Ever I Saw Your Face” in an upcoming episode.

When Borges was on set with O’Loughlin, the Australian actor asked the singer about his bucket list.

Borges said he wanted to visit Tibet and the ancient Incan citadel Machu Picchu in Peru.

This stunned O’Loughlin, who asked Borges why he was acting in a guest role and not traveling.

“I said, ‘Alex, the reason I am not doing it is there is a better reason for me to be here,’” Borges said. “I have an opportunity, because of my semi-notoriety in Hawaii, to talk to people to let them know what is it like to die and it is OK to die and you can still be productive while you are dying. Death is just on the other side of the door. It’s no big deal.”

“Hawaii Five-0” airs 8 p.m. Fridays on CBS.

AND that’s a wrap.

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.