|
‘Hawaii’ co-star swears
it’s all an act
Improvisational spark carries the big man
from extra to NBC role
It was nearly noon during a break in the filming of NBC's "Hawaii" when a 6-foot-plus, 300-pound Samoan-American actor walked over to diminutive executive producer Jay Benson saying, "I need a kiss."
The silence was deafening, but Peter Navy Tuiasosopo, who co-starred as a police officer, wouldn't be denied. "C'mon, Jay," he said. "I need some motivation. You're the boss. Give me a kiss right on my cheek."
Benson seemed to gulp but puckered up, leaned forward and kissed his chubby-cheeked actor.
"Thanks, boss," Tuiasosopo said. "I'm ready for my close-up."
Any tension on the set at the show's Mapunapuna sound stage evaporated. By the end of the series last month, Tuiasosopo had pretty much spread his love around.
"I'm sure Pete has been kissed by everyone on the show," joked star Eric Balfour.
Improvisation is what made Tuiasosopo's character so memorable. And it's how the San Pedro, Calif., actor got into show business.
"I have to be spontaneous," Tuiasosopo says over coffee near his Hawaii Kai home. "Some of my best acting has come out of improvisation, taking risks, and it certainly kept rehearsals fun."
Although "Hawaii" is no more, Tuiasosopo will stay here until January to let his children finish school before moving back to Los Angeles. He plans to do more filming here, including a $10 million motion picture about Hawaii-born sumo wrestler Konishiki, whom he will portray.
Tuiasosopo has written the first draft of the script, which will be refined by screenwriter friend Dan Gordon ("Hurricane"). Konishiki, Tuiasosopo says, has given his blessing to the project. "It will be the 'Rocky' of sumo wrestling, with a sort of beauty-and-the-beast concept," says Tuiasosopo, who has two investor groups interested in the project.
Plans are for principal photography in Hawaii and more filming in Japan. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, a co-star on "Hawaii," and Al Harrington are also on board.
TUIASOPOPO, son of a retired U.S. Army veteran and a nurse, was named after Petelo Siosi Tuiasosopo, his grandfather, a Navy captain. He played football at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, advancing as far as the National Football League scouting combines, where he bench-pressed a record 225 pounds 46 times before his sporting career came to an end.
He married and started a family, working as an airplane mechanic for McDonnell-Douglas. Tuiasosopo wanted to have children at a young age, so he and his former wife had five -- now 5 to 17 years old -- in about a dozen years.
Acting wasn't something Tuiasosopo considered until he was approached by an agent in a Santa Monica mall.
"I'm with my brother, and we notice this guy checking me out and we pretty much decide he's gay, especially after he tells me, 'I think you've got a good look.'" Tuiasosopo grinned and said, "You've got a good look, too."
The agent asked Tuiasosopo to audition for an extra's role in the film "Necessary Roughness," starring Kathy Ireland and Scott Bakula.
A few days later, the agent told Tuiasosopo about an audition at Paramount Studios.
"I didn't really know the Hollywood area, so I'm driving around the studio for an hour looking for the address until I finally look up and see this huge sign saying 'Paramount' above a gate," he says.
Tuiasosopo improvised his way past the security guard and walked into the casting office, where he saw three dozen hopefuls in aloha shirts. Tuiasosopo, who had no appointment, résumé or photos, was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans.
His name wasn't on the audition list, so, improvising again, he said he'd just gotten the call from his agent. The woman at the door disappeared into the audition room and returned, handing him the script.
Tuiasosopo read his lines and got the role, which paid him about $2,400 a week.
"I thought that was the monthly salary," he says.
Tuiasosopo later won a detective role opposite Adam West ("Batman") in the 1993 comedy "Danger Theatre." Other roles were in action dramas such as "Street Fighter," "The Fast and the Furious," "The Scorpion King," "Austin Powers" and "Charlie's Angels II."
But it was "Hawaii" that allowed Tuiasosopo to utilize different aspects of his talents.
"The comedy I can do it my sleep, but I was able to learn the serious stuff from the other really fine actors on the show. 'Hawaii' has gotten me recognition and respect, and I'll always be grateful for that."
Tuiasosopo, a gifted storyteller, doesn't tell jokes. He tells tales. One of the funniest is about his first few weeks working here. The Mapunapuna set had limited parking, so only stars were allowed at the main lot. Extras and crew had to park a few miles away.
"I pull in the first day, and the gate person says crew parking is 'that way,'" Tuiasosopo says. "I tell her I'm in the cast, and she says, 'Yeah, brah, we all want to be in the cast.'
"'No, I am really in the cast.'"
The guard eyed Tuiasosopo, who resembles the Polynesian crew members, and said, "Brah I told you where crew parking is." Tuiasosopo politely asked her to call a show executive.
"She's holding the phone, and I can see her skin go white and she apologizes and apologizes."
Everything is fine until four days later, when there's a new guard. "Yeah, had to go through it all again," he says, laughing. "I think they finally put my photo up in the booth."
His grin disappears when he remembers the day NBC announced that "Hawaii" had been canceled. Three days earlier, network executives had told the production they would film five more shows.
"That was cold, man, really cold," he says. "The cast had gotten together that Friday and Saturday, and we all talked at how we had to be at our best to keep 'Hawaii' going.
"Monday was like a game day. I was so pumped up. We were all excited. Then the call ..."
But heartache is part of the business, Tuiasosopo says. "I've tasted the top, and I'm so far in the game I can't even think about walking away. I feel very close; I'm right there where everything is going to happen."
Click for online
calendars and events.
