Hawaii Five-0 - 2.17 - Kupale (Defender) Hawaii News Now Interviews with Shane Victorino & Apolo Ohno

Also features stars Daniel Dae Kim & Alex O'Loughlin (he gives a hint that there will be more surprises for the remaining episodes of the season that we wont expect to see) with producers Peter Lenkov & also director of the episode Steve Boyum

Shane Victorino:

Apolo Ohno:


Transcripts
Shane Victorino:
KUALOA (HawaiiNewsNow) - The "Flyin' Hawaiian" takes on Hollywood!

Maui's own Shane Victorino has never even taken an acting lesson, but when producers of Hawaii Five-0 came calling, the Philadelphia Phillies all-star stepped up to the plate.

We know Victorino can play centerfield … but can he take center stage? In Monday's (February 20th) episode of Hawaii Five-0", Shane plays "Shaun" – an employee who's on Oahu with co-workers on a team-building exercise. Before his scene ...

"Hope you're ready. Gotta make sure I look good with my beautiful hair!" says Victorino as he rubs his head.

… it's hair and make-up. And let's just say, he was in and out of that chair faster than a stolen base. Then, we were driven up to the set in Kualoa.

I ask him, "What's more stress? Right now ... as you get ready to do your scene ... or playing in a World Series?"

Victorino says, "I'll let you answer that. What do you think's easier?"

"I think this would be cake!" I say.

"I would have to argue and say probably not," answers Victorino.

"Really?" I'm pretty shocked.

He says,"I mean, hey, it's something that I'm not used to doing. Obviously, playing in the game, playing in the World Series, I played the game of baseball everyday as a kid. And I just saw it as another game. I didn't think, 'Okay, I'm playing in the biggest stage of my career or my life', but I just looked at it as playing another game. So, that definitely kept my nerves down, but I'm definitely a lot more nervous now. Trust me."

Well, Hawaii Five-0 star - and lifelong Phillies fan - Daniel Dae Kim doesn't buy it for a second. "You gotta be kidding me!" exclaims Kim. "50,000 fans, bottom of 9th, 3-2, facing an ace closer? You can't tell me that that's not more nerve-wracking than being in our little show! I appreciate what he says. Much respect to Shane, but ... he's wrong!" Kim laughs.

Victorino took a tour of the Five-0 set last year, and executive producer Peter Lenkov liked him so much, he nixed the cameo idea and wrote a small part for him.

"I thought it would be more interesting for him and more of a challenge," says Lenkov. "You know, he's Shane Victorino 24/7, so I thought it would be interesting for him to come here and play a character."

Once we got to the set, number 8 put on his game face.

"Ready, and action!" yelled director Steve Boyum.

Shaun (Shane) says, "Well, what's the problem?"

Victorino only had three lines …

"This trip ain't about partying. It's about team-building. So, let's go!" shouts Shaun.

… but the director thought he hit 'em out of the ballpark.

"Shane did great. I had high hopes, and he exceeded the high hopes," says Boyum.

After the two-and-a-half hour shoot, Victorino described his day. "Being here today, I think, just being amongst everybody, was something, again, I'll never forget. It's one of those experiences I will always cherish, and I had a lot of fun doing it."

Naturally, we had to ask if he'd ever toss the glove for the glitter of Tinseltown. "I'm focused on the game of baseball right now, and maybe when it's all said and done, maybe an acting career, but again, I'm in no rush to look that far ahead."

He may not be ready to trade his red cap for the red carpet just yet, but fans could be seeing more of the Flyin' Hawaiian for years to come.

Apolo Ohno:
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Sometimes, even good guys go bad! Olympic gold medalist, Apolo Ohno, guest starred the February 20th episode of Hawaii Five-0 - as a thief and murder suspect.

But before the Five-0 team could catch him, he sat down with me to talk about the transition from athlete to actor. He's the first to tell you, it's not necessarily a natural transition. Ohno hasn't decided if he'll go for Olympic gold again, but he is definitely setting his sights this new career. "A new challenge!" he exclaims. And he knew Five-0 would be a perfect fit.

On one of his breaks from shooting, he told me, "When I heard that they were going to remake Hawaii Five-0, I think I was actually still competing at the time. This was before the last Olympics, and I called my manager, and I said, ‘I love the show. I gotta get on the show!' and finally, finally, we made it happen."

Mr. All-American loved playing the bad guy and has been taking lessons to hone his acting skills. "My entire life as an athlete, I spent, essentially creating this invisible shield, this invincibility shield - that I never showed any weakness," says Ohno, thinking back. "I didn't show any emotion, other than I was happy or I was never tired. And then, you reverse the role and you try to become an actor, and you show your vulnerability side. You show your weaknesses. You show all of your insecurities. So, it's a big change of pace, but it's something that I really enjoy."

Ohno's role on the show could be recurring – as producers tinker with various storylines down the road.

"I'm always thinking of whole, the big picture," explains executive producer, Peter Lenkov. "I'm thinking, like when we started the season, I was thinking about what our end game was going to be."

And for fans who think they know the endgame, plenty of surprises are still in store. "You can bring up a back story that wasn't there before or you can do all sorts of things," says the show's star, Alex O'Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett. "So, we have a lot of freedom with that. We've still got a lot of juice left in the Wo Fat stuff and the John McGarrett stuff. You know, we're far from resolution with that."

Add to that, the continuing rotation of guest stars - drawn to the allure of both the show and the islands – and the show stays fresh. "I love Hawaii," says Ohno. "Everytime I come back here, I feel so good. It's like one of the few places that I feel like I can rest and I'm calm. It's a really good sense of energy here."

Next on the guest list: legendary actor James Caan - Scott Caan's father. He won't be playing Danny's dad in the show, but just like Apolo Ohno's character, it promises to go against typecast and expectations.

Source: Hawaii News Now

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