Hawaii-born actor Kanoa Goo doesn’t mind stirring the pot a bit with his characters.

On the crime drama “The Rookie,” he plays an attorney involved in a love triangle. In his latest role, in “Fire Country,” a CBS drama set in the fire-prone forests of Northern California, he plays Kyle, an Olympic athlete who once had a close friendship with Gabriela, the romantic interest of the lead character Bode. Kyle might be interested in rekindling his past with Gabriela into something hotter.

“We’re not sure why he’s there, and maybe what his true intentions are,” Goo said in a call from Los Angeles, where he is currently based. “I kind of shake things up a little bit.”

Goo’s three-episode arc on “Fire Country” started on April 21 and concludes in May, so local fans who remember Goo in local commercials and theater can get an update on his acting skills. And, rest assured, whatever flirting or trouble-making his character does, for Goo, it is acting.

“It’s not true to life,” he said with laugh. “I’m never trying to stir things up in my own personal friendships and stuff. But that being said, that’s the job. You want to lean into different parts of your personality that are a bit more dormant in your actual life and kind of find ways to relate to these characters. And also find a way to bring them to life in a way that seems true to you but also is honoring what you’re there to do in the world of the show.”

The recurring appearance on “Fire Country” is the latest step in a career that is progressing nicely. Aside from the two TV shows, Goo also appeared in the 2021 independent film “I Was a Simple Man,” filmed in Hawaii, which was selected to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. He also just finished shooting another independent film “Chaperone,” directed by Hawaii island filmmaker Zoe Eisenberg.

The acting bug bit Goo at an early age. He was “7 or 8” when he went to a theater camp with some neighborhood kids. “I just loved it. I loved that feeling of performing in front of people, even though I couldn’t articulate why or what that feeling was,” he said. “Fortunately I had a really supportive family that then started seeking out, ‘How else can you do this?’ ”

He started getting roles in local commercials, finding it “fun to play hooky from school” while portraying a kid accompanying a parent to American Savings Bank, or munching down on Kentucky Fried Chicken. He also got early acclaim for stage work, getting nominated for a Po‘okela Award in 2002 for his portrayal of young Patrick Dennis in Diamond Head Theatre’s “Mame.”

“It didn’t feel like work at the time, but when I think about it now, it still was professional work,” he said. “I’ve truly been doing this a long time.”

He continued in theater at Punahou School and then went to New York University to study acting. Then came the move to Los Angeles. It was “just a matter of time,” he said, considering his interest in film and TV, and was immediately rewarded with some commercials, followed by his film and TV roles.

For his audition for “Fire Country,” he and a friend acted out a scene in his home, which has a room dedicated to auditioning. “Everything now is done virtually, through a self-taped audition,” he said. “With ‘Fire Country,’ it was one of those roles that really felt right. I felt it came really easily to me and it was obviously a thrill when I learned I was on hold for it and then I got it. It was one of those moments where my feeling is aligned with the outcome.”

He sees a bright future ahead for actors of diverse backgrounds like himself and others from Hawaii, and sees his recent success as part of a trend. “I feel really proud to be from Hawaii and be part of the shifting attention onto AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) actors,” said Goo, who is of Chinese, Hawaiian and Caucasian backgrounds, “especially in these sorts of roles where they weren’t typically being given.

“I’m guessing a lot of people auditioned for that part (on ‘Fire Country’), and so I don’t take it lightly that I’m the one, from Hawaii, with the name Kanoa, that was given that part. You can’t think about it too much …, but in certain moments I realize how cool and how important and awesome that it is, that it’s not just another blond, blue-eyed person in that role. They went with someone who’s a mixed person from Hawaii, and I think that that visibility is really cool.”