The “hot young cast” of one of the most DVR’d shows on television—Hawaii Five-O‘s Alex O’Loughlin, Grace Park, Daniel Dae Kim and Scott Caan—is featured in the “For Your Consideration” issue of Emmy Magazine, currently on select newsstands.
Inside the issue, Grace Parkdiscusses the downside of being an actor:
This has been a really interesting journey. I’m really grateful [for the opportunity], but with that comes a lot of exposure. There’s an inordinate amount of attention put on actors. Some people want to make their lives public, but that doesn’t mean everybody does. It kind of feels you landed in — well, not really ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ because its not that fun.
Meanwhile, Daniel Dae Kim, who played the small role of “Jin” on Lost for six years, discussed his hopes of being an “integral part of [Hawaii Five-O],” and distinguishing himself as an actor.
CBS has (thankfully) renewed Hawaii Five-O for a second season. Watch a promo trailer for season two below:
This week kicks of the new television season with Hawaii Five-O and a host of other shows. It looks like the networks are throwing a lot of different things out there and the one we’ll be watching is Hawaii Five-O, which stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park. You can tell CBS is bullish on this show with the heavy promotions they’ve been running on TV and in print. It’s also obvious that from the advertising and promos that both Daniel and Grace will have significant roles and so we’re excited to see two Koreans, male and female, in a prime time network show. For those who are too young to remember (post-70′s), Hawaii Five-O is actually a remake of a television series from the 70′s. The title is based on the fact (according to wikipedia) that Hawaii was the 50th state. And this whole time I thought it was a police reference.
Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim are coming off of very successful television shows. Grace Park is obviously known for her Maxim lingerie spread (amongst the testosterone audience) but she’s actually had a consistent flow of work with recent shows: The Cleaner, The Border and of course Battlestar Galactica. It’s rather interesting (and scintillating) to see that the promos they have for Grace are of her coming out of the Pacific Ocean in her bikini. I’m sure the director did over 50 takes on that one. But if you don’t know, Grace is in her mid-30s and she validates what we all know about Korean women…. they age damn well! And our fine actor Daniel Dae Kim gets to keep his home in Hawaii since LOST was filmed there previously. Daniel got lucky with not having to deal with relocation issues. At least in this series, he’ll get to speak English without an accent so we don’t have to listen to him speak with an accent in Korean and in English like he did on LOST. That ain’t easy easy to do but he pulled it off and he’s a better actor for it. I’m looking forward to seeing Hawaii Five-O and I do hope it survives the onslaught of competition during this new season. Cue the music!
May is the month for the television upfronts. It’s a week in New York where the networks showcase and preview their upcoming lineup of shows to entice advertisers and ad agencies with buying commercial time. One of the big entrees that CBS is serving up is the remake of Hawaii Five-O and it has two Korean-American actors: Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park. It’s great for Daniel Dae Kim because he doesn’t have to leave the state of Hawaii because LOST was filmed there. For Grace Park, it’s another television series for her which probably makes her the Korean with the most number of television shows. Check out the preview below and don’t forget to watch it!
Maxim Magazine came out with their definitive list of the world’s most beautiful women for 2010. Grace Park was the lone Korean on the list. Of course she’s very well deserving to be on the list but we all know there are many other Korean ladies who could be on this list but they’re not well known to Maxim and the public. Let’s just enjoy Grace Park’s talents and her beauty.
Grace Park is definitely holding the torch to show why Korean women are simply beautiful. It looks like she’s already filming the remake of Hawaii Five-O. She’s been cast along with Daniel Dae Kim of Lost fame and they’re both hard at work… filming we think. Maybe surfing on the side? Well, if you thought she looked great on Battlestar Galactica then she certainly looks fit on the Hawaiian set of Hawaii Five-O.
Grace Park has been cast for the new television remake of “Hawaii Five-O.” Grace Park will play Kono Kalakaua, the neice of Detective Chin Ho Kelly – a role filled by LOST actor Daniel Dae Kim. According to Hollywood Reporter, Kono is a “beautiful and smart champion surfer who is about to graduate from the police academy when McGarrett recruits her to join his team.” It’s good to see the beautiful Grace Park back on television. She had a great stint on Battlestar Galactica where she built a great following.
The Wall Street Journal caught up with Grace Park of “Battlestar Galactica” fame and a couple of her friends in Vancouver. Grace is originally from Vancouver and she shared a little bit of what do do while you’re in her hometown for the Winter Olympics.
Have you noticed the significant increase in Korean-American actors and actresses on TV and movies lately? Have you noticed there are more men than women in Hollywood? You would think that there would be more women in front of the camera because let’s be honest, Korean women are great to look at which makes sense in such a visual medium. Not that the Korean men aren’t studs but who doesn’t like looking at a Korean women? They are undeniably beautiful women. Then again, I guess it does take more than just looking good in front of a camera to make it in Hollywood.
This is a an anecdotal story I’m going to share and it does not provide any empirical evidence as to why there are more Korean guys than gals on the screen. However, it does suggest something. In my earlier days living in NYC, I roomed with actors and guys who worked at a movie studio. I was the odd man out because I had a regular job unrelated to the entertainment industry. I once asked one of my buddies if he ever saw Asian guys out on the audition circuit. He quickly responded, “Are you kidding me?! Those guys get more work than most actors out there.” Huh?! What? He continued to tell me that though there are only a few roles seeking Asian male faces, there were even less auditioning for them and he suggested that I just give acting a try – even though I had very little acting talent. Well, to best illustrate this perception, let’s do a quick roll call here.
Ladies on a TV show or in a film in 2009
Smith Cho, Moon Bloodgood, Grace Park, Jamie Chung, Kelly Choi, Margaret Cho, Jenna Ushkowitz, Sandra Oh, Lindsay Price & Yunjin Kim
Guys on a TV show or in a film in 2009
Daniel Henney, Tim Kang, Ken Jeong, Aaron Yoo, John Cho, Rex Lee, C.S. Lee, Justin Chon, Rick Yune, Sung Kang, Rain, Lee Byung Hun, Daniel Dae Kim & James Kyson Lee
We may have missed a few folks but these are the Korean-Americans who were in a prominent role in their film or show. Now 14 to 10 in favor of the men doesn’t seem like a big difference, but if we were to count up the hours of coverage or viewer impressions, then we would see the greater disparity. We don’t have time to count up every second and sum it all up but here are a couple proxies.
Weekly TV program comparison: Tim Kang, Ken Jeong, Rex Lee, John Cho, C.S. lee, Daniel Dae Kim and James Kyson Lee are in key roles on current weekly network television shows.
Movies: Only Moon Bloodgood and Jamie Chung were in big screen films this year versus John Cho, Aaron Yoo, Ken Jeong, Justin Chon, Rick Yune and Sung Kang. And don’t forget that Hollywood is really gambling with Ninja Assassins and the predominantly Korean cast with Rain as the lead role.
So what are we trying to say? Simple observations suggest that America is becoming more accepting of the Asian male and there are more opportunities for them. But what about the ladies? My conclusion is that there’s that much more competition on the female side of the fence where they’re competing against more open non-ethnic/racial specific roles. Though they may be going on casting calls for Asian-American woman between 25-30, they’re also going on casting calls for (all) women between 25-30. I thoroughly root for all the Korean women on the big and small screen, but I wish there were more of them up there. Don’t you?
We’re starting a new series to capture the key news and moments from the previous week. So with that quick and clear description, here we go with our very first WEEK IN REVIEW.
Winner of the Week: Chan Ho Park
Chan Ho Park was the first Korean-born player to play in Major League Baseball and now he gets his chance after 16 years to play in his first World Series. If you didn’t know, and we found out quickly from our readers, Byung Hun “Home Run” Kim was the first Korean-born player to reach the World Series. If you remember, he had a habit of giving up home runs in the 9th inning. Let’s hope that Chan Ho Park represents us better.
Christina Kim is Nude and That’s Better Than a Clothed Grace Park
Christina Kim doesn’t look like Honey Lee (Miss Korea) but she is all athlete and she represented the LPGA in ESPN magazine’s body issue. Our staff discovered this week that if you want to drive traffic quickly to a web site, just insert the word “nude.” Anything naked seems to outperform someone who’s barely naked. Who would’ve thought that Christina would’ve beaten out Grace Park scantily clad on Maxim?!
Yul Kwon got a(nother) Job!
The guy who has career ADD has a new job. Surprise! Yul Kwon of Survivor fame is now working for the FCC, after having done everything from clerking to reality show contestant. If trends hold true, Yul will change jobs in 2 years.
Don’t RAIN on my Parade!
The RAIN man is starring in Ninja Assassin and he better kick some ass with his big Korean-American male cast. Otw, we ain’t getting more acting gigs in Hollywood for a while. The movie is coming out on Thanksgiving.
