'Hawaii Five-0' News: Alex O'Loughlin Now Open to Negotiations to Stay in the Show
Despite his initial plans to depart from the show at the end of season 8, Alex O'Loughlin might still reprise his role as Steve McGarrett in future installments of "Hawaii Five-0."
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, O'Loughlin stated that he would like to come up with a deal with CBS to extend his existence in the long-running police procedural series for more season.
"I'm more open to continuing on than I was when we spoke a couple years ago," the 41-year-old Australian actor stated in the interview. "It's a hard question to answer at the end of the season. I'm literally shooting episode 25 right now, and it happens to be episode 193 as well. All I want to do is collapse into my hiatus and go to bed for a couple weeks, but I am open to doing another couple of years. Hopefully we can make a deal," he added.
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He also told TVLine in a separate interview that he would have said no if he was asked two years ago if he wants to extend his stay in the series because he wants to enjoy a quality of life and spend more time with his family. But this time, he claimed that the incident that made him want to quit the action-packed drama has been finally fixed.
The actor initially shared his plans to turn in McGarrett's badge in a past interview with TVLine in November 2016. "I'm just trying to make it through the end of [Season] 7! [Five-0] is really, really wonderful, but it is an action show, I'm the main guy, and I defy anybody to do what I've done for as long I've done it and hold out the way I have," he stated at that time.
The actor also explained in the interview that he planned to quit the show because of the spinal injury that he acquired two years ago. According to O'Loughlin, the injury made it difficult for him to move. He felt that he cannot force his body to cooperate and believed that he cannot work in that condition.
However, the actor revealed that he tried to undergo a stem cell trial and built a physical rehab gym in his own garage in order to improve the state of his back. He also claimed that he did a lot of workouts during the last two years, which made him feel better today.
O'Loughlin and the rest of the cast of "Hawaii Five-0" can still be seen in the upcoming episodes of season 8. According to the synopsis for the upcoming episode titled "E ho'oko kuleana (To Do One's Duty)" that will air on Friday, March 30, McGarrett's partner, Danny Williams (Scott Caan), will meet with the former wife of the man who shot him. The lady will tell him that her life was saved because of his protection during a dangerous domestic dispute back when he was still assigned in New Jersey.
The episode will also feature Tani (Meaghan Rath) and Junior (Beulah Koale) during their assignment as the uniformed officers for the day.
The next episode of "Hawaii Five-0" season 8 will air on Friday, March 30, at 9 p.m. EDT.
