Grace Park opens up about her departure from 'Hawaii Five-0'

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons License 2

Grace Park, right, and Daniel Dae Kim were on a panel  at ComicCon in 2010.

ASAM NEWS

ASIAN AMERICAN STARS Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim made headlines last year, after they announced they’d both be leaving the show Hawaii Five-O because of contract disagreements with CBS.

It was reported that both Kim and Park were paid less for their main roles compared to their white male costars, Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan. According to Variety, both Korean American actors had been offered up to 15 percent less.

In his statement, Kim described his decision as a “difficult” departure — especially since he was playing one of the few well-developed Asian American characters on television.

Park didn’t release a similar statement explaining the end of her contract. When she took a long leave of absence from the show, its executive producer Peter Lenkov, tweeted that Park had been away from her family for seven years and was visiting them.

Only in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly promoting her new show, A Million Little Things, did Park finally discuss her decision to leave — which appear to have been on rocky terms. 

She also called out showrunner and producer Peter Lenkov for his misleading tweet: “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,” she said.

As for why she kept quiet for so long? “The whole situation was just a bit too charged for me,” she said. “There were a number of factors spanning the show that affected the non-renewal of my contract,” she says slowly, carefully choosing her words. 

“I’m grateful for the lessons learned, but I chose what was best for my integrity.”