| German Version coming soon |
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First of all, congratulations on the renewal. As fans from the start, we are very happy to have the |
| Interview by Gaby Eichberger/Christine Schmidt |
mycoven.com
Hawaii Five-0 is riding the wave into its 7th Season. Fans are awaiting the 150th episode. The show has a solid fan base in the States as well as in overseas. What were your expectations when H50 hit the screens back in 2010?
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Honestly, I was hoping people would tune in… and was working week to week to deliver a piece of entertainment that would hook folks, get them to commit to years of viewership. Never took for granted that this would be a hit. |
mycoven.com
The show and the characters have developed a lot. Season 6 shows bigger shoot outs, explosions and tons of action. It seems you take H50 to another level with each new season. How much do you depend on computer technology and how much is real?
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A lot is practical (real) with CGI done to enhance the spectacle… but not every episode. As for bigger, we try to outdo ourselves with every season, hoping to keep things fresh and the audience coming back. |
mycoven.com
Heading for season 7 with such an action packed background, do you feel a pressure to live up to these expectations, and how to you cope with it anyway?
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The pressure is on … every week… every week we live for the ratings numbers. If we don’t do well, we work our butts off to do better the following week. There’s nothing to get rid of the pressure, it’s always on. |
mycoven.com
You’re not shying away to kill off some well-known characters, no matter if they’re good or bad, like Chin Ho’s wife or Wo Fat for instance. Just to come up with another lethal surprise. How hard is such a decision to make?
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It’s always difficult, especially when it’s an actor you really like, Marc D[acascos] for instance. He’s a dear friend, so killing off his character Wo Fat was not a decision I made lightly. |
mycoven.com
When you introduce a new character to the show, do some of them already come with an expiration date?
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Ha! Usually no, unless it’s a character arc we know that needs to run it’s course. For the most part if a new character clicks, they end up joining our ohana. |
mycoven.com
Chi McBride, Jorge Garcia, Christopher Sean are great additions to the show. How does the development of a new character work? Do you have a certain actor for a certain part in mind while you’re writing?
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It depends… sometimes it’s actor driven, sometimes character driven and we search for the right actor. In Jorge’s case, we knew we wanted him on the show, so we wrote to his personality. Grover was a character we were adding to the show, but we knew as soon as we started casting that Chi McBride was at the top of our wish list. |
mycoven.com
You have a lot of diversity on the show and are careful to reflect Hawaiian culture whenever you can. We like that, especially after the difficulties at the Oscars. How important has this fact become to the show?
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Look, we shoot in Hawaii, we want to represent the people, the culture, so diversity is in our DNA. It has nothing to do with Hollywood or leading some sort of campaign. We simply want to be honest in our portrayal. If we didn’t cast the way we do, we wouldn’t be representing correctly. |
mycoven.com
Is it a blessing or a challenge to work with the same actors for a long time?
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A blessing for sure… the more time passes, the better they get to know their characters, the better their instincts are, and the trust factor builds year to year. |
mycoven.com
We consider you one of the trendsetters of remakes. They weren’t popular in 2010, but currently there are a lot of sequels and remakes in the works (TV and movies). Not many of them are successful. What do you think about remakes in general and – considering the success of your showis there a recipe for it?
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Recipe? Casting. Simple as that. We were lucky to hire the best team in the business. |
mycoven.com
What convinced you that H50 (reloaded) would work?
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Who wouldn’t want to visit Hawaii every week? My dad did watching the original show, so I knew I’d have at least one viewer. |
mycoven.com
The show aired first in 2010. What were the challenges of creating a remake of such a successful show?
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Proving to fans of the original show that I was going to honor the legacy… and not just ignore what came before us. |
mycoven.com
Did you have to compromise a lot on ideas, stories or maybe even actors, given that there was an already existing fan base that ought to be made happy but the new show should still appeal to new audiences?
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I don’t think so … the original fan base would always be skeptical… my job was to win them over as well as new fans, so I had to keep a delicate balance of the new, and the old as well. |
mycoven.com
In our 2011 interview we asked you about your dream project, and you said you’re doing it right now. Is that still the case?
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Absolutely |
mycoven.com
Looking back all these years, would you have done something differently?
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I would have bought a house in Hawaii. Every year I was too afraid thinking the show might not come back. Going into season 7 I now wish I had pulled the trigger on that. I hate having to fly with a suitcase one week a month. |
mycoven.com
Is there something unique and maybe completely out of whack with the rest of the show, a stunt, a story line or something else entirely, that you would still love to do with H50?
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A volcano erupting would be cool … but I think I’d rather see that as a special FX and not happen in real life. |
mycoven.com
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions. And please tell cast and crew we’re sending tons of hugs and appreciation. Thanks for all the efforts you guys take each single season to keep the show running and for being awesome with the fans. It means a lot to us!
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Mahalo… appreciate all the support. Sorry if the answers are so short. I’m actually on hiatus. And it’s a very very short one. |
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| Note: © MyCoven.com 2016 – This interview is exclusive to MyCoven.com and may not be published on any other website, blog or else. It’s allowed to share three questions if you link back to this site. Translations in any other language than English or German have to be posted with full credit incl. name of writer(s) and backlink to this site. |