Hawaii Five-O has been around for decades. The original Hawaii Five-O aired in 1968 and aired until 1980. When the last episode aired, it was the longest running police drama in American history. Of course, this was before Law & Order’s heyday hit in the ’90s. Then, in 2010, it was decided to reboot the police drama with a new cast playing versions of the old characters. Oh, and they changed the “O” to a zero. Now in its eighth season, the reboot has been airing on CBS ever since.
As with any show, particularly one that’s been on for almost a decade, there are many secrets behind the scenes of Hawaii Five-0. Whether it’s why an actor decided to leave, or a problem with the police, there’s a lot that the audience tuning in every week doesn’t know about this sunny procedural drama. The trivia contained in this list won’t necessarily change your opinion on the show, but it will give a lot of color as to why certain decisions were made - both by the cast and the network.
Prepare to learn 15 Secrets Behind Hawaii Five-0 You Had No Idea About!
15. Taryn Manning’s Charges
Before Taryn Manning was part of Orange is the New Black, she was on the reboot of Hawaii Five-0 for a few episodes. She played Mary McGarrett, Steve’s rambunctious younger sister who was always getting herself into trouble Steve had to get her out of. However, after she appeared on the show, Manning herself had trouble with the law.
When she was thirty-three, she allegedly assaulted her twenty-three-year-old make up artist. This resulted in two misdemeanor charges for physical abuse and released on her own recognizance.
However, according to Manning’s attorney, it was a minor incident that had been blown out of proportion. The two lived together, according to People, and spent every living moment together. We’ve heard about bad roommates, but that seems extreme.
14. Employee sues the show
This darker secret that Hawaii Five-O holds unfortunately isn’t that surprising - especially with today’s #MeToo and Time’s Up movement. Late last year, according to Fox, in the midst of #MeToo, Kelly Tolar filed a complaint saying that she had been harassed in Honolulu. The claims include workplace harassment, harassment, and breach of employment for emotional distress as well as assault and battery. Tolar did locations for the show.
Even though she filed the complaint in 2017, Tolar says she emailed her supervisors in 2015, but there was no official reprimand. “This week he blew up at me, telling me that I am a ‘stupid f–king idiot,’ ‘retard’ and ‘dumb a–.’”
The complaint was against Jake Downer, a colleague and executive producer’s son.
13. A Loss in the Five-O Family
Keo Woolford, better known to the Five-0 family as Det. James Chang passed away during filming back in 2016. He suffered a stroke at the age of 49 at the Pali Momi Medical Center. He was a reoccurring character on the show from 2011 to 2015.
Besides being on Hawaii Five-0, he was also a film producer, which he used to show his connection to Hawaii. He wrote, directed, and produced an indie film about Hawaii, as well as a sequel.
His Five-0 family came out on twitter to show their heartbreak for the early passing of the actor and director. Daniel Dae Kim said he will be remembered most for his kindness, and Kelly Hu called him a “spreader of love”. These tweets show that even though he left in 2015, his role on the show lived on despite his passing.
12. Alex O’ Loughlin’s addiction
After an injury, series star Alex O’Loughlin developed an addiction problem to prescription meds. The addiction became bad enough that O’Loughlin had to miss filming.
His publicist put out a statement: “Alex is taking a short break from Hawaii Five-0 to receive supervised treatment for prescription pain medication due to a recent shoulder injury.”
According to O’Loughlin, one of the stressors was the fact that there was violence - including gunshots, fist fights, and explosions - from the get-go. CBS seemed to support his decision to step down from the show for a couple episodes to get help.
He was away from the show for a couple months, but had his fans behind him and soon was back, looking better than ever.
11. Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park quit
A substantial pay gap that led to the departure of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, two main actors on the show. Kim, who played Chin Ho, wrote in a Facebook post he will “miss Chin Ho sincerely,” and encouraged fans to look “beyond the disappointment..
This was not a small pay gap they were fighting over. The gap was between 10 and 15% of what Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan’s salaries were. This is a double whammy when you consider that Hawaii has a majority of Asian heritage, and therefore Asian representation is incredibly important on a show literally named after the state.
Considering both Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Kelly were veteran actors and played their roles as long as the other two actors, is what they were asking for really too much?
10. Scott Caan’s injuries
It turns out even actors are breakable! In Scott Caan’s time filming Hawaii Five-0, he had a couple of injuries that had to be written into the show. The first was a knee injuru, for which he had to be flown back into the mainland. However, CBS was clear – his injury didn’t occur on set. While he didn’t miss any episodes, the injury had to be written into a couple episodes.
This happened for the second time in 2017, when fans noticed Caan wearing an arm brace. CBS put out a statement that said he had hurt himself on his own and it was being written into the show.
While it’s good that the show can realistically incorporate Caan’s injuries, fans continue to worry about him.
9. Michelle Borth vs fans
If there’s one thing celebrities should never do, it’s lash out against fans, and if there’s a second thing – it’s lash out against creativity! Fans of television shows, movies – anything, really – will often write fanfiction about it.
After suffering a lot of mistreatment from angry fans who didn’t like her character, Michelle Borth, who played Lt. Catherine Rollins, took to Twitter to discuss her opinion of fanfiction. As you can see, it was less than positive. Many fanfiction writers replied to the tweet, saying that they did have jobs, and were incredibly successful, and used fanfiction writing to wind down.
It’s unclear as to whether Michelle meant fanfiction writing for the show, which is pretty much free reign, or fanfiction about the actresses and actors themselves, which is seen as an invasion of privacy.
8. Danny is missing from episodes for a reason
In 2016, Scott Caan’s character Danny Williams began to be seen less and less on Five-0. It was enough that fans began to notice, and when fans inquired, it turned out that Caan himself was the one who asked for less screen time.
Caan lives in LA, rather than Hawaii, like the rest of the cast. Caan’s family also lives in LA - he has a daughter who is three years old (born July 2014). It makes sense that he wants to use his more flexible schedule – at the time, he had five fewer episodes less than O’Loughlin a season – to focus on his family.
He’s also written a play called “The Trouble We Come From”, and likely spending more time in LA could give him other work with Five-0 having to end eventually.
7. Why the Original “Danno” didn’t appear in the reboot
Many Hawaii Five-0 fans might not know this, but James MacArthur, who was the original Danno in the original Five-0 was set to come back for the reboot. MacArthur had never let go of is love for the show, as he’d appeared in a pilot never aired from ‘97.
Sadly, he would never make it to the 2010 reboot. As the last surviving cast member of the original television show, MacArthur passed from “internal complications” at the age of 72. Not much was said about his passing, but many people would remember the legendary line “Book ‘em, Danno.”
One of the executive producers of the new show said in a statement that he’d hoped to get MacArthur in as a cameo since the reboot started. However, that never came to pass.
6. Caan places foot in mouth
In 2013, Scott Caan went under the fire from the press when he went on Chelsea Lately. She asked him about living in Hawaii and he said he didn’t like it because there’s “a lot of [illegal substances]” and the food “sucks.”
He also told Handler that everything was too relaxed for him and there was “no hustle.” Unfortunately, he had to eat his words, because the people in Hawaii were not relaxed in asking him for an apology for what he said about their state.
Caan sent out an email addressing the public: “I am truly sorry for my comments made on ‘Chelsea Lately,’” Caan said in his message. “Jokes are always a part of late night talk shows, but I’m horrified if I hurt or offended anyone, as that was not my intention. I love Hawaii, I love the people of Hawaii and I apologize.”
5. O’Loughlin wants to leave the show
Many people mourned the news that Alex O’Loughlin would depart Hawaii Five-0 after seaosn 8. However, he seemed adamant that it was time he left the show. He believes that there is still magic left in the show, and if he stays, he’s worried he would ruin it. While that might sound insane to fans, it’s a common reason for actors to leave a show they’re popular on, no matter how much they love the role.
Another reason and, this is actually a bit sad, are the injuries he sustained while being on Hawaii Five-0. He was going back and forth to California to fix problems that he had endured while on the set. Apparently, he can’t even lift his children! He’s currently undergoing stem cell treatments so he can pick up his kids again.
4. Daniel Dae Kim’s arrest
Many people will remember Daniel Dae Kim not only from Hawaii Five-O but also Lost, both outstandingly popular television shows. During DDK’s time on Lost, he got caught up with the police when he got caught driving under the influence. After his DUI charge, he reached out to his fans, saying that he was “deeply ashamed” and “embarassed by the events”.
“It is my intention to cooperate fully with the police and I am grateful to them for their sensitivity throughout this matter,” Kim adds. “To my friends, family, colleagues and fans, thank you for your kind words of support. To those I have disappointed I can only ask that you accept my heartfelt apologies.”
Since Lost, Daniel Dae Kim hasn’t gotten in trouble with the police. Instead, he’s dealt with the issues of a pay gap because of his ethnicity, causing him to leave Hawaii Five-O.
3. Tom Sizemore’s last chance
Tom Sizemore is a name many people will remember from his role in Saving Private Ryan. He was rose to fame with his spectacular acting but quickly lost it once he began to dabble in substances. After trying to take his life and ending up in jail for domestic violence, he told the AP he didn’t know what to do: “I looked like I was 100 years old… I was living in squat.”
However, all that has changed, thanks to Hawaii Five-O, which gave him a chance to show the world what he could do. Five-O’s executive producer said that Sizemore showed them that “you’re never too old to change” after Sizemore played Captain Vincent Fryer for two episodes in season two.
2. Why Masi Oka Left
Late last year, Hawaii Five-O lost another actor, Masi Oka, who played Max Bergman. If you’re wondering what made him decide to leave, there were multiple factors. First and foremost, he believed that his character was in a place where really nothing else could happen.
Oka told TV Guide that as he began to think about Max, he also began to think about himself and his life. After deciding that living in Hawaii was getting hard when his mother was having health issues in Los Angele, it became clear that 18 round trips from Hawaii to LA too much. When he realized he was spending more time in the air, he realized he had to leave the show.
1. CBS turned down Kim’s hit show, The Good Doctor
After leaving Hawaii Five-O for complicated reasons, Daniel Dae Kim didn’t rest on his laurels. He went on to create this TV season’s hit television show, The Good Doctor! As an executive producer, he took the South Korean show by the same name and brought it to ABC after CBS rejected it.
Daniel Dae Kim talks about the hurdles of making a television pilot, including getting a script bought, then a pilot made, then going to series, and making sure people watch it. It’s definitely a difficult process, but Kim definitely did everything he could and the show is a huge success.
What other secrets are there behind Hawaii Five-0? Let us know in the comments.
