Masi Oka announces departure from ‘Hawaii Five-0’
COURTESY CBS
Masi Oka, center, who plays Dr. Max Bergman on the CBS series “Hawaii Five-0,” in a scene with co-stars Alex O’Loughlin (Steve McGarrett) and Scott Caan (Danno Williams) that will air this week on CBS. Oka’s character will exit the show later this season.
Working in Hawaii might be a dream job for some, but the commute can be a killer — especially when you live in Los Angeles and have a second gig in Japan.
Masi Oka, who plays Honolulu’s chief medical examiner Dr. Max Bergman on “Hawaii Five-0,” announced Thursday he would be leaving the CBS show in the 13th episode of Season 7. (The network is set to air episode 9 this week before a Thanksgiving hiatus takes the show off the air until Dec. 9.) Oka joined the cast as a recurring character in the show’s debut season before signing up as a series regular for Season 2.
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“I think character-wise, I felt Max had done too much of everything he can do,” said Oka in an interview with Entertainment Weekly announcing his departure. “We’ve been so blessed to work for seven years on a great show, but a lot of my business has been in Los Angeles and Japan and it’s been increasingly difficult to really commute to Hawaii.”
CBS confirmed Oka wrapped filming on his final “Five-0” episode Thursday in Waikiki. Co-star Daniel Dae Kim posted a photo on his official Instagram account that showed him and Oka with fellow cast members Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Caan, Chi McBride and Grace Park along with local actors Tailor Grubbs, Dennis Chun, Taylor Wily, Shawn Garnett, Al Harrington and Kimee Balmilero with the quote, “You will always be #ohana to me.”
Oka, who starred in NBC’s “Heroes” from 2006 to 2010 before joining “Five-0” and returned to appear in “Heroes Reborn” in 2015 and 2016, also appeared in 2011’s “Friends with Benefits” and “Searching for Sonny” along with the Steve Jobs biopic “Jobs” in 2013. He told Entertainment Weekly that more film work is in his future as well.
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“I recently finished producing ‘Death Note’ for Netflix … (and) I also just finished shooting ‘Meg,’ which is a Jason Statham-starring shark movie for Warner Bros.,” he said. “I have a goal to try and go towards directing a movie. That’s definitely where I want to go, but whatever is open, I’m always open-minded.”
THERE COULD be more departures from the show in the coming months, as Lenkov and other CBS execs have confirmed contracts for many of the show’s main characters will be up for renewal after this season. While Lenkov wouldn’t get into much detail with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about negotiations when asked earlier this year, he recently addressed rumors the actor who plays Steve McGarrett will depart “Five-0” after Season 8.
“If Alex elects not to come back, that’s obviously going to be his choice. But we’re moving forward as if the show’s going to keep going,” Leskov told TVGuide.com last week. “We’ve had no conversations with him. … If it comes to that, there’s still life after that character. But nobody’s looking forward to that happening. We’re all hoping he stays.”
“Hawaii Five-0” airs at 8 p.m. Fridays on KGMB in Hawaii.
19 responses to “Masi Oka announces departure from ‘Hawaii Five-0’”
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Best of luck to Masi. If Alex leaves can you really have a Hawaii 5-0 without Steve McGarrett? I don’t think so. I think they’d have to find another actor to take the role.
Sounds like this 5-0 has run its course. Time for NCIS: Pearl Harbor!
Never watched it.
Thank you for letting us know.
No one cares.
Masa role was already done with the addition of Danny’s nephew. So no biggie there. As for Alex well show might be ending. Can’t see anyone else in his role. This series went longer then I thought. 7 seasons?
Can’t be too sure about that. That’s what we all thought when Jack Lord departed.
Except he never left the original series, he stayed until the end.
While it would be really sad if Alex leaves the show, the other great actors can keep the show going. I’ve watched soap operas for years, where actors come and go and surprisingly, I got used to the new actors who replaced the old. As long as they get a good, strong replacement, I think they’ll do fine.
Maybe they can hire a “local” actor? LOL
Is the series Heroes returning?
Wut?
Fut. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
There were plans for a Heroes Reborn mini series.
The most surprising thing is that I thought that Scott Caan would be the first of the main characters to depart from the show before Masi Oka or even Alex O’Loughlin. I would be traumatized to see Jorge Garcia leave.
We could do w/o Jorge. Let’s see more local actors and actress.
N::ever liked Scott Caan. He is so argumentative and contrary. With Alex McCloughlin leaving, it’s time to can the show. I stopped watching it years ago, even since Scott Caaan complained about the slow life of Hawaii and angered locals. One of them suggest boycotting the show and I took up his suggestion.
The position has traditionally been filled by the American Savings Bank spokesperson.
Having to work for a few weeks a year for way too much $$ is so difficult.