Beloved character Dr. Max Bergman (Masi Oka) will be leaving "Hawaii Five-0" after seven seasons with the show.
According to Oka, the decision to exit the show was more practical than personal because of the difficulties of having to travel multiple times to Hawaii every year to fulfill his commitments with the show, as well as managing his businesses, which are mostly based in Japan and LA.
"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. I'm probably the only one who really commutes to Hawaii, maybe 18 times a year round trip. It got to the point where the producers were very gracious enough to — like we talked about it and we thought Max was entering his journey and they allowed me, kind of like for my health as well, to be able to take a reprieve from being on the show," he said.
He also said that given the trajectory of his character, it was also a good time to leave. He teased that his send off was going to be something special because it will highlight his relationship with the rest of the characters.
Meanwhile, Alex O' Loughlin — who plays lead character Steve McGarrett — has announced his plans to leave "Hawaii Five-0" for health reasons, but it has also been reported that the show will allegedly continue even without him.
"As long as people are watching the show, we would keep going. 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." executive Producer Peter Lenkov said.
O' Loughlin earlier said that he was already having difficulty performing the stunts required of him because of injuries he suffered while doing the show, particularly on his back.
"At a certain point, it's television. Film and TV is not as important as my life. I don't think I can physically do any more than eight years. We might not even do an eighth year. That's a little presumptuous of us to even be speaking like this. But, if they want us to do an eighth year, that will be it for me," he said.
Beloved character Dr. Max Bergman (Masi Oka) will be leaving "Hawaii Five O" after seven seasons with the show.
According to Oka, the decision to exit the show was more practical than personal because of the difficulties of having to travel multiple times to Hawaii every year to fulfill his commitments with the show, as well as managing his businesses, which are mostly based in Japan and LA.
"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. I'm probably the only one who really commutes to Hawaii, maybe 18 times a year round trip. It got to the point where the producers were very gracious enough to — like we talked about it and we thought Max was entering his journey and they allowed me, kind of like for my health as well, to be able to take a reprieve from being on the show," he said.
He also said that given the trajectory of his character, it was also a good time to leave. He teased that his send off was going to be something special because it will highlight his relationship with the rest of the characters.
Meanwhile, despite actor Alex O' Loughlin's —who plays lead character Steve McGarrett — plans to leave the show for health reasons, it has been reported that the show will allegedly continue even without him.
"As long as people are watching the show, we would keep going. 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." executive Producer Peter Lenkov said.
O' Loughlin earlier said that he was already having difficulty performing the stunts because of injuries he suffered while doing the show, particularly on his back.
"At a certain point, it's television. Film and TV is not as important as my life. I don't think I can physically do any more than eight years. We might not even do an eighth year. That's a little presumptuous of us to even be speaking like this. But, if they want us to do an eighth year, that will be it for me," he said.
