Fan favorite Alex O’Loughlin has been cast as Detective Steve McGarrett in the new CBS update of ‘Hawaii Five-O,’ The Hollywood Reporter confirmed on February 10. The character is the head of the Hawaii State Police, and was portrayed by Jack Lord in the original series.
Joining O’Loughlin, who many supported to take on the role since the remake was announced, will be Daniel Dae Kim from ‘Lost,’ who will play Detective Chin Ho Kelly. The revamped series will be written by ‘Fringe’ co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. ‘CSI: NY’ executive producer Peter Lenkov will produce the show with CBS Studios.
The original crime drama series ran on CBS for 12 seasons, from 1968-1980, for a total of 278 episodes. The fictional state police force that McGarrett led chased international secret agents, criminals and Mafia syndicates on the Hawaiian Islands, and followed them on their path to jail.
CBS hopes O’Loughlin will follow in fellow Australian Simon Baker’s footsteps and achieve a long lasting critical and fan favorite on his third collaboration with the network. O’Loughlin appeared in the 2007-08 series ‘Moonlight,’ which was cancelled after 16 episodes, and this season’s medical drama ‘Three Rivers,’ which was cancelled after eight episodes. Baker starred in the short-lived series ‘The Guardian’ and ‘Smith’ before headlining the hit series ‘The Mentalist,’ which premiered last season.
Written by: Karen Benardello