When Kekoa Kekumano graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 2016, his acting career was already in progress. The previous year, he’d made his first appearence on the CBS reboot of “Hawaii Five-0” — as homeless juvenile criminal Nahele Huikala. Huikala became a recurring character and Kekumano appeared in 13 episodes of the show.
Kekumano had what he calls a “blink and you’ll miss it” role in the 2016 television movie “A Midsummer’s Hawaiian Dream.” He also appeared in the 2018 short film, “Hae Hawai‘i,” and played young Arthur in the Warner Bros. big-screen megahit, “Aquaman.”
Kekumano, 23, adds another entry to his acting resume today with the premiere of the HBO miniseries “The White Lotus.” The show is described as a “social satire” about the experiences of vacationers and hotel employees during a week at an “exclusive Hawaiian resort.” Kekumano plays a hotel employee named Kai.
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The Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea served as the setting for the aforementioned resort. In addition to Kekumano, the cast features some familiar faces including Connie Britton (“Nashville”), Jennifer Coolidge (“2 Broke Girls”), Jake Lacy (“Girls”), Natasha Rothwell (“Insecure”) and Steve Zahn (“Treme”). Actor Molly Shannon (“Saturday Night Live”) has a recurring guest role.
What can you tell me about the character Kai?
As the guests start to come into the hotel, he starts to have a connection with one of the guests. She wants to help him do something that is a negative thing with a positive outcome.
Did doing the show give you any new insights into the visitor industry and luxury hotels?
I had a connection with the character that I played because he doesn’t only work as the hotel staff, but there’s also a scene where I’m dancing at a luau. Back home (in Honolulu) I dance for Tihati Productions at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel Mondays and Thursdays, so I can make a connection because of that.
Jumping back a few years, what are some of your favorite moments working on “Hawaii Five-0?”
A majority of my scenes were filmed with Alex O’Loughlin. Every time I was on set getting to work with him was an awesome opportunity.
How did you break in as an actor?
It was my mom pushing me to go out on auditions (when I was younger), and then being in the right place at the right time.
When did it become fun?
I think I started enjoying myself — the actual aspect of acting — probably just recently doing “The White Lotus.” If I’m able to portray a character, and have some kind of connection to that character and play it well and people enjoy it, then I’m making somebody’s day. I think that’s pretty cool to me.
What do you enjoy doing outside of acting?
(I spend) lots of time in the gym, I love working out. Once I started getting roles and stuff, it made me push myself even harder to want to look good onscreen and have a certain type of look. I love to surf, I grew up around the ocean, and that’s why my day job is a Waikiki lifeguard.
Looking forward, is there someone you would like to work with or a project you would like to do?
I’ve gotten to work with some pretty cool people already. Willem Dafoe, Jason Momoa. If I could choose right now, I’d like to work with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. I personally like and enjoy mafia movies, I’m partially Italian, so I would like to get a role along the lines of those kinds of movies. It would be a little different from the roles I’m used to and I’d like the opportunity to get into something a little bit different.
Where do you want to be — careerwise or personally — in 2030?
I’d like to move on to some more features and land a couple of big roles in a major TV series as a main character. If that is not in the works for me, I’m very content with everyday life — lifeguard by day and dancing at the luaus at night. And (by 2030) I hope to have enough money to buy my own house.
What else should we know about you?
At the end of the day I’m a local boy. There’s nothing crazy cool about me but the fact that I’ve been very blessed. And (I’m) grateful for all the opportunities that I’ve gotten.
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Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.
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WATCH IT
“The White Lotus”
Airs 6 p.m. today on HBO
