The former 'Heroes' actor, who has played Dr. Max Bergman since the first season of the CBS procedural series, quits as a series regular.
- Nov 18, 2016
AceShowbiz - Masi Oka is set to sail from "Hawaii Five-0". The actor has decided to exit the show after seven seasons. He first recurred as Dr. Max Bergman, the Chief Medical Examiner who assists the titular team in solving crimes, in the fifth episode of the first season, before being promoted as series regular in season 2.
Oka will make his last appearance in episode 13 of the current seventh season as his character Max and his new bride Sabrina (Rumer Willis) move to Africa. Explaining his decision to leave the show, the actor tells EW that he "felt like Max had done too much of everything he can do."
The "Heroes" alum also reveals that he has been commuting to Hawaii to film the long-running procedural series and "it's been increasingly difficult" because a lot of his business has been in Los Angeles.
"I'm probably the only one who really commutes to Hawaii, maybe 18 times a year round trip," he says. "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."
Oka is open to the possibility of him returning to the show someday. "I'm definitely not opposed to it. They left the door open with the idea that there's still going to be technology, of course, in Africa, so I could be tweeting or emailing or Skyping in, so that might happen. Nothing is 100 percent at any time," he says.
Teasing his character's send-off, Oka shares, "It's going to be a little bit of the greatest hits, so you're going to see things that really made Max's character very interesting and unique. You see his relationships with Sabrina, with Commander McGarrett, with some of his working mates. ... And there's a lesson/awakening from an unexpected friend and he wants to take a final journey, not a physical one, but more of an emotional and mental one as he says his goodbye to everybody."
"Hawaii Five-0" airs Fridays at 9 P.M. ET on CBS.
