Grace Park on Hawaii Five-0 Exit: I Did ‘What Was Best for My Integrity’
More than a year after departing Hawaii Five-0, original cast member Grace Park is opening up about her decision to leave the long-running CBS procedural behind after seven seasons.
Back in June 2017, it was announced that both Park and fellow series regular Daniel Dae Kim would not be return for Season 8. At the time, it was reported that they failed to secure pay parity with co-stars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan — but in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Park says that “there were a number of factors spanning the show that affected the non-renewal of my contract.” And while she’s “grateful for the lessons learned,” she says, the choice to leave was ultimately “what was best for my integrity.”
Park doesn’t get into specifics, but rules out one reason for her departure. In the wake of the big announcement last June, Five-0 showrunner Peter M. Lenkov tweeted on Park’s behalf, suggesting that she left Five-0 to spend more time with her family.
“The whole situation was just a bit too charged for me,” she says. “I let him know, ‘That wasn’t cool that you made a statement on my behalf.’ … I know he did it to be helpful, and I care about Peter as a person, but I didn’t leave for that reason.”
To date, only Kim had commented on the situation, saying, “CBS and I weren’t able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue.” Park, meanwhile, had remained mum, and even slipped away from a press scrum at the Television Critics Association summer press tour last month.
Lenkov said in July 2017, in the immediate wake of the double departure, “The truth is this: Both actors chose not to extend their contracts. CBS was extremely generous and proactive in their renegotiation talks. So much so, the actors were getting unprecedented raises, but in the end they chose to move on. No one wanted to see them go — they are irreplaceable.”
Park, meanwhile, is returning to primetime this fall as part of the ABC ensemble drama A Million Little Things (premiering Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 10/9c).
Always liked Park and Kim; tremendous actors!!! 5-0 not quite the same without the 2 of them!!
Best of luck to both!!
everyone can be replaced
I agree quit watching after they left.
She opens up…by not really saying anything. Mmkay.
She cleared up that it wasn’t about family. She also stated it was more than just the pay increase.
Well, when it comes to certain people,
sometimes it’s best not to say anything, especially if you can’t say something nice. I won’t name names,
but I think we know who these “certain people” are. So do they.
I seriously doubt how “generous” CBS was. I respect them both for walking.
I don’t. I’m sure they were offered significant bumps in pay, but below O’Loughlin and Caan. They wanted be be on equal footing with the leads, even though they weren’t leads. Given that they had other options, they walked. Good for them, but networks/production companies can’t just pay everybody the same amount of money. There isn’t an endless supply and it has repercussions on future salary issues, be it on this show or another one.
Exactly. It’s hilarious that people are supporting them for equal pay when they don’t deserve it. A raise? Sure but equal pay? It’s like complaining that Jonathan Banks or Michael Mckean should get paid equal to Bob Odenkirk.
They were more leads than Caan in the last several seasons, IMHO. They absolutely deserved pay parity with him. It’s just unfortunate that he’s apparently getting the same as O’Loughlin.
True. Scott Caan wasn’t even there full time and he obviously didn’t want to do any of the action scenes. Grace did a lot of those so that poor Alex didn’t bare the full brunt of the action. I think she should have been paid as much as Scott.
I agree she was the only one I had really heard of I seen Caan in a few movies and Alex O’Lauglin in a few cancelled tv shows and a lot of episodes revolved around her she was definitely a important character
Didn’t Scott Caan negotiate reduced working hours so he would stay with the show? I don’t know what that could have meant for his pay though.
I agree. Alex O’Loughlin is the star of the star and Scott Cann is a supporting actor. (Scott’s workload is reduced, because, he lives in LA with his family and commutes to Hawaii to work there). If Alex were to leave and Scott were the lead actor, the ratings would probably go down and that would be the end of the show. Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park should have been paid as much as Scott Cann, not as much as Alex O’Loughlin. I am so very happy that after CBS said no to the Good Doctor, Daniel Dae Kim took to ABC and made it a hit as executive producer. Good luck to Grace Park on her new show.
Amen! My thoughts excatly. I’m sick of his him, and his whiney character! He adds nothing to the show. Be much better without him.
I was talking about Scott in my above comment. . The good Doctor is a awesome show. Good for Daniel, happy for him.
I agree with that. alex is the star so I can accept hum getting a lot more. But I agree that they should have gotten the same as Scott. It is unfortunate Scott got paid so much.
Let’s be honest here: the actors still make a TINY amount of what a series like that makes over it’s lifespan. TINY. There are a whole lot of people. producers in particular, that make massive cash. They have it to give to the ACTUAL talent. There’re just staggeringly greedy. Don’t be naive here.
Actors are way over paid anyway!!! Come on people…..they make way more than the average Joe in a life time….So I don’t feel sorry for them…especially when you see pictures of their homes, cars & lifestyle…
yeah, but like in sports, the people that draw you to the show should get their due. Every 20 or 30 second commercial earns millions for the show. If brand x soap company is willing to pay millions of dollars to run their ad in the middle of the H5O Friday night they do it because of the actors. Not many even know the name of a producer or even care who directed the episode. It’s the actors the people identify with and love to see. So brand x soap pays a million dollars to run that ad then a good healthy chunk should go to the personalities that bring in that money. Keep in mind that the actors get paid every time the show is aired.
Ya, it was greed – Integrity means taking less pay to get the job done. Greed means I want more money or I walk – nevermind the fact that I’m way overpaid already and work in Hawaii, mostly outdoors.
A classy Canadian actor who kept her business private — I respect that!
I don’t. truthfulness is a far better option at all times… the typical coservative secrecy gibberish only helps scum get away with being scum.
Why? She didn’t lie or anything, she just didn’t go into great details on why she left. If she did get into great detail, then things could’ve gotten messy. There’s nothing wrong with having tact. She didn’t run for public office or anything, so her salary and her salary negotiations do not have to be privy to the public.
Good for her! I haven’t watched 5-0 since her and Daniel’s departure.
I haven’t either. She was my favorite character.
Ditto. It’s definitely not the same show without them and I hope they both get major roles that pay what they’re worth. Meanwhile, Lenkov putting words in Park’s mouth? So uncool.
Same here.
Even though it was just a fun guilty pleasure, losing the two of them ruined so much of what I enjoyed most; the cast’s chemistry.
She did not say anything so she better had kept silent still. I dont know her departure sounds fishy. If it was not for salary issues or beause she wanted to spend more time with her family, like Peter claimed, so what was the reason she left that went against her integrity. I mean a money issue has nothing to do with a person integrity, it is just money anyway and actors and actresses earn a lot of money even in secondary positions. More money than any average person. I wonder if it had something to do on a more personal level. But now she is back on TV on anotherr network this fall,, this is why I believe it had nothing to do with her spending more time with her family . So ABC is paying her more money this time than Alex and Scott Caan? I really doubt it.
The fact it’s being reported that Grace Park’s talking about her integrity in relation to how much she is being paid for an acting role while she is failing to comment on whether she was (as rumored) paying into a sex trafficking cult is deeply disturbing to me. In the age of the Me Too movement I really can’t believe how the main stream media has not acknowledged her well established involvement (there are nine videos supporting this). Why can she just give interviews commenting on her acting and not even have to acknowledge her role in this (even if it’s just to deny deny deny). We pretend the world is evolving but really we live in a time where the media is happy to call men men out for sexual harassment because it’s fashionable but they are still more than happy to let all other questionable behavior be swept under the rug like they were doing with all the sexual predatory men up until a year ago.
And to be clear I’m not accusing the actress of anything other than her being involved with NXIVM (which as previously stated their are nine videos to support) as I don’t know what she knew and what she didn’t. I’m calling out the media (including this site) for being happy to report every sexual accusation going against an actor (most of which have not been charged of anything) but going back to the old school method of not acknowledging it when it doesn’t fall into the trendy “Me Too” bracket.
I hate that both of them have left the show. I don’t like the replacements they got. I think in this day and age it is ridiculous that you make a difference between race. They were all 4 very important to the show.
The husband and I agree with you. The replacements are not the same. It would have been fair to pay them all, equally. They were all equal to the plotting and action in the shows. The husband is SO tired of the whole restaurant thing. I’m beginning to think he’s right. It would have been better to keep them. The show’s not as much fun, now.
I don’t mind the new characters, although I don’t like that they are clearly going to be a couple at some point given the “subtle” hints. However I would far rather that Grace and Daniel had stayed and they got rid of Jorge Garcia’s utterly unnecessary character
I also wish they’d stop bringing Michelle Borth back. It’s over between
McGarrett and Rollins, or should be since she lied to him numerous times.
That’s not conducive to a loving, honest relationship. Or can’t Ms. Borth get any other acting work except parts no one else will touch, such as lifetime movies of the week?
Probably assumed she was “famous”
enough to write her own ticket for meaningful challenging parts. Wrong wrong wrong.
Honestly, it all comes down to whoever initially negotiated their contracts. CBS is know for other shows that do this. Criminal Minds is one of them and they have a couple of cast members that miss episodes of the show and one of them is out for a whole month every season. When the H50 started they wanted Scott Caan. He had a few movies and Entourage. I don’t know how they pay, but I’m sure cable tv pays more than network so he probably started off with a bigger salary and possibly a shorter contract so that he could renegotiate or an out clause. As far as I know actors get paid per episode so whatever he misses he probably does not get paid. As far as any back end deals I have no idea, but I doubt CBS would be that generous with that kind of money unless they earned Producer status which they have not. Also much to my surprise with all the vitriol spewed at Scott Caan he has a bigger fanbase than I realized.
As with any job if you accept a salary of $30,000 while at the same time someone else is hired for the same type of position and holds out for $40,000 you get what you get. When it comes time for a pay raise I don’t know any corporation that going to bump the $30,000 employee up to the exact same pay raise as the one that started at $40,000 who is now bumped up to a $50,000. We all know this whether we like it or not. My sister kept wondering why her co-worker in the same position is working 3 jobs. They are both single and have no children to take care and her co-worker has been there for many more years than my sister that just started. After a recent conversation with her co-worker she just realized she makes a whole lot less than she does, which is why many companies stipulate employees not discuss salaries.
As far as this show goes women are pretty much either window dressing or an appendage of a man with no real personal storylines of their own, so she was always going to be on the sidelines and that can be frustrating. The problem is when they started this show they made it look like it was going to be a team of 4 crime fighters and that was not the case with this or the original H50. You can’t do that with a big cast and someone always gets left out. It was just as well she made the choice to leave since the incident with the organization she was in came up. If she would have stayed she wouldn’t have been able to stay under the radar and I’m sure the media would have made a big deal out of it. She seems happy with her new role and I congratulate her.
Please try using paragraphs.
Please ignore my comment. I added one below with a line between paragraphs but after posting, no space appeared between paragraphs.
😂 Yeah just in case I actually did 3 instead of 2 spaces between each paragraph.
Have not watched an episode since they left.
Lenkov is right , Grace and Daniel are irreplaceable… Though the new characters do soften the blow of them leaving. Would love to see Kono and Kim meet the new additions to the team and wrap up their storylines.
Nothing new here. While I think there are certainly serious issues, in general, re women, minorities, pay and representation, and while there may be specifics to the Hawaii Five O story that are not known, Park and Kim were not the leads. They were important parts of the story, but not the leads. The lead is Alex O’Loughlin, and there is a heavy buddy aspect to the story, making Scott Caan very close to a co-lead. On it’s face, this story was two actors trying to get a better deal and threatening to walk if they didn’t get it. The problem with playing chicken is that you have to go through with it or you lose credibility and that’s what I think happened. I wish both actors well, but the show has not missed a beat without them, in my opinion. Kim was written off in a reasonable manner. Park a bit less so. I hope they come back to guest star, but I wish them well.
I agree with y our statement. The 4 were important on the show of course, but Grace and Daniel would had never expect, them to get paid the sam amount of Alex, that is stupid to think. Alex was the lead since the beginning of the show is as simple as that. Mayeb they would had gotten paid similar amount as Scott but not as much. I mean they should had given a raise sure but not the same amount as Alex or Scott, because the leader is Alex period. They should had gotten rid of Jorge, he does nto add anything to the show and the network kept him and I dont know why,
It is like saying that any employee in any company should be earning the same amount of salary as the General Manager of the company, beause that employee is as much important as the GM, that is absurd. Unfortunately but in the corporate world, there are classes and positions and you get paid for the position you are or you applied and you can get a raise from time to time, but your salary could never ever be the same as the CEo or someone ina high position even if your work is also important as the office janitor. You have to get a dose of reality.
Scott as necessary as he is because of the dynamic duo, he was hardly present and did a lot fewer action scenes. Grace and Daniel Dae took on those roles, and had more lines. They also had their own story lines around which the show spent a few a seasons – Adam’s story, and Chin Ho’s theft charge/wife situation. They were absolutely integral to the show. As seasons passed they took on more important and challenging parts. I think that deserved a pay bump. They both should have been making at least the same if not more than Scott on a per episode basis. I understand Alex making more because he’s pretty much the only irreplaceable character on the show and his stunts were extreme but it was clear the actor wanted a break from all the stunts and some time off. Had the producers and cable company paid Grace and Daniel Dae Kim more similar salary amounts to Alex they could have had them do more and ease off the burden from Alex a bit. Everybody wins. The audience gets to see how all the story lines resolve instead of seeing a lost Adam in the few seasons and missing Daniel Dae and Grace’s characters. Last few seasons felt like Adam was off on his own most of the time, didn’t understand why they bothered to keep him around if they weren’t going to give him a proper role. I like the replacements but still miss the original cast and their storylines. Just felt like they grabbed a few people of color and shoved them into the show to replace Grace and Daniel’s characters.
In other words she is butt hurt she didnt get more money!
Typical nutty con nonsense.
Grace I am sorry to see you leave the show. You and cuz was a big part of the show
You added the realism the show needed. I will not watch the show any more. I gave ten people in my home and they agree. I wish u the best and want to see you naked in your own police show . I am a retired police deputy chief.god bless you
The storyline standards remain the same, however I guess I’m that “old dog new trickster”.
Chasing down the bad guys without Kono and Chin Ho just isn’t quite the same. Well at least I’ll be able to watch you evolve in another series in the near future.
Kim and Parks were the best two on the show. Big mistake losing them. If anyone should be gone it should have been Cahn. He is terrible.
We still miss you and Kim and we wish you return. The show is OK but it’s not the same
I too like and miss Park’s and Kim’s characters. I thought after all these seasons the entire cast had great chemistry. It’s the 5-0 franchise’s loss.
That said, they were not the leads and it is silly for them to expect pay parity. How many scenes were they written in? How many lines did they have? That people here think they should get equal pay is mystifying
Look people, 85 percent or more of what the leads make is still a boat-load of money for less work. So yes, there might be some greed at play here.
As far as Danny’s character goes, I’m not a fan but he is playing it as written. I like Scott Can as an actor but his character is annoying and I did miss him that much this season.
The show is just not the same without them. I really wish something could have been done here. Like maybe when Scott Caan is off doing nothing (he barely shows up anymore), they should have gotten his pay for covering his absence. IDK.
I like the new actors, I just wish they had been added in a different way.
I stopped watching the show. Between the two of them leaving and Caan only doing part time, why bother.
Did not realize she was in A Million Little Things. Looking forward to it even more now!
As much as I like Grace Park, sorry – she was replaceable. I really like Tani as a character and I was a Meaghan Rath fan before she was cast on the show. Still miss Daniel Dae Kim, though.
This wasn’t a Friends parity situation. There’s no way Daniel and Grace were going to get as much as Alex or Scott. They both were offered very good raises and each refused. Can’t believe this is still being discussed 15 months later. Daniel is an EP on TGD. Doubt he’s hurting for cash.
As much as I miss Park and Kim, the show has not lost its touch without them. I am still loving the show as much as I did before. The show would be basically nothing without Alex and Scott so I can see why they are making more.