Actress Teilor Grubbs is known for her easy smile and youthful sweetness playing Five-0 Detective Danny Williams’ (Scott Caan) now teenage daughter. Grubbs has virtually grown up before our eyes on “Hawaii Five-0.” She was eight years-old in the Pilot episode of the series, and will turn fifteen shortly after the start of the seventh season. She has blossomed into a lovely young lady, whose spunky attitude and hero worship of her father, has become more wary and a bit too knowledgeable for someone just starting high school. Unfortunately, that could be more about her father’s position in Five-0, than it is about her becoming a teenager.

While Grubbs plays Grace “Gracie” Williams as a young girl who loves father, as well as his partner, “Uncle” Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), her character has definitely been through quite a lot in the last seven years.

Still, I do love the fact that Grubbs’ off-screen life seems to be reflected a bit in her character. Grubbs comes from an incredibly supportive family which gives her a solid foundation and a maturity that has been present since the first season. Grubbs was not yet nine when she began to be recognized by fans and viewers, and yet she has always been gracious and genuinely sweet with her time. Even for adults actors, meeting fans and walking the red carpet can be daunting, yet Grubbs has always handled it with her ever-present smile and sincere charm.

And Grubbs’ character, Gracie, has always come across to viewers in the same way. From the start of the series, we not only meet a shy but sweet little girl, we also learned about her father, Danny, and how they both got to Honolulu. Gracie’s parents, Danny and Rachel (Claire van der Boom), divorced before the start of the show, and Danny followed Gracie, after her mother remarried and moved to Hawaii with her new husband, Stan Edwards (Mark Deklin).

During the first three seasons, Danny is a weekend Daddy. Gracie, who called him Danno since she was three and “all that came out was Danno,” was called “Monkey” until she started to outgrow her nickname. Steve always calls her “Gracie,” even after he learns about how Danno came up with Grace’s name.

In “I ka wā mamua” (“In a Time Past”), Danno tells Steve about his former partner Detective Grace Tillwell (Sydney Tamiia Poitier), and how she was murdered in a case gone wrong on the morning of September 11, 2001. He named his daughter after his brave partner, and Gracie definitely has lived up to his partner’s courage and confidence.

For a young girl, Gracie has had to be brave at several moments in her life. She was with her mother during a carjacking; she was kidnapped by Danno’s ex-partner who wanted revenge after Danno sent to prison for corruption; and she almost loses her father when he is poisoned by Sarin gas. When she and her fellow Aloha Girls go on a camping trip — Uncle Steve and her friend Lucy are taken captive by an ex-con and diamond smuggler. Luckily, Daddy Danno and Gracie’s Aloha Girls leader Madeline (Lesley Boone) pool their resources to get the girls to safety and to save Steve and Lucy. After season three, Danno convinced the court to allow her to stay with him in Hawaii, and stops Rachel from being able to move Gracie without his consent.

So while Danno seems to have won his daughter, her life is not without a few bumps. When Danno is arrested and taken to a Colombian prison, Gracie doesn’t realize how close he came to dying. In this last season, Gracie is the one who holds Danno’s hand as he is wheeled into surgery in order to donate part of his liver to Uncle Steve. When it matters, Gracie has faced scary moments with courage and strength.

Still, Gracie has also enjoyed being a child. Danno is always trying to make her holidays memorable. Since season two he has worked hard to create the proper Halloween, complete with costumes and the ample opportunity to trick ‘o treat. Christmas is another holiday Danno loves to share with Gracie — complete with Santa costume and the perfect Christmas tree.

Like most Hawaii children, Gracie has always played a sport or been involved in her community — she took tennis lessons, she played on a Little League team, coached by Daddy Danno and Uncle Steve, and she cheers and participates in many cheerleading camps and competitions.

Besides the moments when she was kidnapped or been in situations that caused her father to slide his Five-0 cap over his Daddy hat, she’s had a relatively regular childhood. She toilet papered a house at Halloween — yes, it was her own, but at least when she comes clean to her father she admits that she “thought it would be mean to do it to someone else’s house.”

When she finds a puzzle box that belonged to a Japanese girl who died in the 2012 Tsunami, Danno helps Gracie return it the keepsake to the girl’s father for a lovely Christmas present. Of all the lessons Danno can teach his daughter, some of them she learns just by being herself.

Lately Gracie has been acting like a typical teenager. She’s lied to Danno about seeing a boy for an ice cream date, and another time so that she can attend a raging Halloween party. And like an everyday regular teen — her phone is not just a way to communicate, but an actual appendage of her body. Yet when she, her little brother Charlie (Zach Sulzbach), and Danno are stuck on the North Shore after Danno’s car is stolen, she learns that sometimes her phone is not the only valuable thing in her life.

Fans around the world love Gracie — because of her spunk and attitude, as well as because of the sweet relationship she shares with her father. In the summer Fan Favorite survey, Jenniffer Wardell from Utah wrote, “If you love Danny it’s really hard not to love Gracie, because their bond is unbreakable, their dynamic is fun, and she’s like him more than either of them wants to admit.” Many fans commented on the bond she shares with Danno, and how deep their love is for each other as one of the main reasons why they adore her.

Other fans commented on Gracie’s personality. “Grace is so sweet and it is wonderful to see how she is growing up,” wrote Beatrix Rudolf from Kassel, Germany. Many fans commented on how the have really loved watching her grow up these last six seasons.

It will be interesting to see how Gracie continues to become an adult this next season — and how she continues to deal with the changes in her life. Perhaps we’ll get to see more about her being a big sister this season, and even more of a support system for her Daddy Danno.

Still — regardless of what is in store for Gracie, good or bad, Teilor Grubbs will continue to do her justice — and grace us with her growing talent.

REDUX SIDE NOTE

“Hawaii Five-0” executive producer Peter Lenkov posted a picture in his Instagram account of the call-sheet from the 150th series episode, which began filming this week. The picture included the title of the episode, “Ka makuahine a me ke keiki kāne.”

While the English meaning was not visible in the picture, the title actually means “The Mother and Son” in Hawaiian. Of course, the writer’s still have to weigh-in on the translation, but it does seem as if the episode will deal with Momma McG and Steve dealing with their many issues.

Wendie Burbridge is a published author, playwright and teacher. Reach her via Facebook and follow her on Twitter  and Instagram.