Life has been a whirlwind for Kaneohe native Kainalu “Kai” Moya. After all, he’s busy saving the world.
You wouldn’t expect anything different from one of the new Power Rangers, the karate-chopping, side-kicking, somersaulting band of superheroes who have entertained kids for almost 30 years.
Moya makes his debut Saturday on Nickelodeon’s “Power Rangers Dino Fury.” You’ll have to get up early to see it, or set the DVR — the show airs at 6 a.m. Hawaii time. He’ll play Ollie Akana, who can morph into the Blue Power Ranger to battle evil space aliens threatening life on Earth.
The Hawaii connection, as suggested by the name, is no accident, said Moya, who is of Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino descent, and has European ancestry. “I’m really happy to represent diversity, not only the Hawaiian people, but just Hawaii kids,” he said on a Zoom call from New Zealand, where the show is being filmed. “Hawaii kids are so many things, and it’s not very often that they get to see someone who looks just like them.”
Moya described Ollie as “very logical and is really into science.”
“He travels the world with his mom, who is an archaeologist,” he said. “He’s always traveling and his mom taught him everything, so he’s really a sharp, smart and intelligent guy. It’s pretty fun to play that.”
Fun, but challenging. Moya admits that Ollie is “pretty opposite” from him. Moya didn’t like science in school, and after he began college in Washington state, he vowed to major in “anything that has nothing to do with science.”
Enunciating Ollie’s tongue-twisting science terminology has sometimes made learning his lines difficult, but it’s all part of the young actor’s burden. “It’s hard for me to say my lines sometimes,” said Moya, 23. “I really have to warm up my mouth muscles to be able to pronounce all these things.”
In addition to a lack of interest in science growing up, Moya had no interest in acting either. He focused on athletics, playing many different sports, including wrestling, surfing and taekwondo. He eventually concentrated on track and football while attending Castle High School. He did do some modeling, but he didn’t watch much TV or movies growing up, he said. “I wasn’t aware that acting was even a career.”
A college theater class, taken on a whim, sparked his interest in acting, and eventually Moya eventually dropped out of school to pursue acting in Los Angeles. He has appeared in “Hawaii Five-0,” a reboot of “Saved by the Bell,” and in some short films, but the Blue Power Ranger will be his biggest role yet.
It’s been an adventure just to get the production going. Moya first auditioned in March, but then the pandemic began shutting down TV and film productions. All follow-up auditions were done online. He was formally cast in August.
“It was a big relief, because it was such a long process,” said Moya, who by that time had returned to Hawaii to wait out the pandemic. “It was on my mind from March all the way to August. It was really hard to not worry about it.”
He arrived in New Zealand in September and was immediately set up in a quarantine hotel, allowed face-to-face contact only with his fellow cast and crew and for just a half hour a day outdoors. “We were considered a bubble, so if anyone tested positive, everyone would have to be relocated,” he said.
Now that the show is in full production, his athletics background is coming in handy. Though professionals do the more dangerous stunts, he’s able to do many of them himself. “It’s really awesome, really fun. It’s what I love doing, and it’s something I want to take further after Power Rangers,” Moya said, citing Jason Scott Lee as a role model.
He knows his ohana back in Hawaii are stoked over his shot at morphin’ glory. “My uncle was a huge fan,” he said. “He hasn’t really admitted it yet, but I know he’s really happy, like, ‘It’s so cool that my nephew is a Power Ranger.’ And family and friends, the ones that knew my journey in deciding to pursue this crazy kind of career where nothing’s promised, they’re really happy for me. They know this is a dream come true.”
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WATCH IT
“Power Rangers Dino Fury”
The show airs 6 a.m. Saturdays on Nickelodeon.
