Fox‘s latest procedural, Rescue: HI-Surf, is taking on lifeguards and how they protect and patrol.

Executive produced and directed by John Wells, the series follows lifeguards on the “North Shore of O’ahu—the most famous and dangerous stretch of coastline in the world,” and episodes will feature the “dedicated, heroic and adrenaline-seeking first-responders saving lives in the difficult and often life-threatening conditions of Hawaii’s Seven Mile Miracle,” per the official description of the show.

Kainalu Emerson in Rescue: HI-Surf, played by Alex Aiono

One of the series’ stars is Alex Aiono, who plays Kainalu Emerson, a newcomer to the lifeguard team that the series centers on. As the son of the mayor-elect, Kainalu gets a bit of grief from his fellow lifeguards, including Emily “Em” Wright (Arielle Kebbel).

She thought that the new position on the team should have gone to a woman lifeguard, Hina Alexander (Zoe Cipres).

Though Hina ends up joining the team anyway, Kainalu still has a lot to prove, and it seems like this is something that the character will be working on throughout the season. The situation has posed a question to Aiono: Is Kainalu a nepo baby?

“It’s interesting because we’re in this era of nepo babies, [and I] unfortunately am not a nepo baby in real life,” Aiono joked in a recent conversation with Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “However, I’ve always had the stance [that] you don’t choose who your parents are. I think the only time that it gets dicey is when you allow that as a crutch to make yourself not have to really kind of put in the work. And so I think for Kainalu, he’s a big, big proponent in his own success. I think he worked his butt off to get to where he is, and his dad did what his dad did. I think, as you see in these first few episodes, he’s automatically walking into a bunch of people who don’t know where that line is drawn. As you see in the first episode where Hina and he are kind of battling each other … they’re the front two people. So it’s like there’s a whole bunch of other people who don’t make it — and not that I don’t need to argue for my character. I think throughout the season he’ll prove himself worthy, I hope. But I think it is interesting when we’re talking about him versus the rest of the group of people.”

The real-life training to prepare for Rescue: HI-Surf

Aside from Kainalu trying to prove himself within the series, in real-life, Aiono also felt like he had something to prove as far as the work it took to prepare for the role, especially when it came to working with the watermen behind-the-scenes.

“These are OGs of water safety, and I felt like I wanted to prove to these guys that I belonged as somebody out there in the water with them,” he said. “So as my character is proving that he’s not just some nepo baby, I wanted to prove that I wasn’t just some Hollywood-style, diva actor who’s ready to call cut as soon as the going gets tough.”

All of the cast had to go through extensive training to prepare for the water scenes.

“When it comes to lifeguarding, I knew nothing. When it comes to swimming and being in the water, I grew up going to the beach all the time [and] surf camps as a kid, but never became a good surfer. But I love going to the beach and body surfing and boogie boarding and all of those things. The thing about that training that everybody talks about — and I know that they use the term ‘intense training,’ and it still kind of has a ring to it of fun, which it was fun because it’s fun to learn — but it’s so humbling. You realize how much you don’t know. Even people who are around the water 24/7 were standing in front of us saying [that they] learn something new every day from the water. When you’re somebody who doesn’t know everything, isn’t a lifeguard and doesn’t have that background, it was a huge shock, [but] then immediately after that, you appreciate that you’re that humble and you kind of surrender yourself to learning even more at hopefully an even faster rate.”

Showcasing Hawaii and its culture

Not only does the show film on location in Hawaii, but it also makes sure to highlight the state and its culture, as well as have Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) talent in front of and behind the camera.

“I’ve been super lucky to be a part of projects as an actor that really focus in on representation, especially with AAPI, right? When I was on Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., there was such an inclusion of a strong, Asian female lead set in Hawaii, and based in Hawaii, for the cultural aspect. With Netflix’s Finding ‘Ohana, it was obviously the same thing, a Hawaiian young lead and a huge focus on the culture. Even with Pretty Little Liars, we had a lot of different pieces of making sure that everybody felt represented, that when anybody watched our show, they would be able to go, ‘Oh, hey, there’s me,’ or ‘There’s my people, there’s my culture, or just a piece of who I am.’ With Rescue: HI-Surf, it’s no different. If anything, it’s even more. We’re so lucky to have Matt Kester at the wheel for this one. He moved to Hawaii [and] the North Shore when he was 15 years old [and] has cared about nothing but doing right by the place that brought him in with open arms. I think he tackles a great challenge by not only showing Hawaiian culture and local culture — which are two different things — [but] obviously tackling lifeguard culture while making it still palatable and entertaining for people who might not know anything about any of them.”

Rescue: HI-Surf airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.

Alex Aiono

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