Kiwi actor Beulah Koale has been announced as part of the rebooted cast for popular US television show Hawaii Five-0, alongside fellow new arrival Meaghan Rath.
The former Shortland Street actor will star in the eighth season of the show as Junior Reigns, a former Navy SEAL who has just returned from serving his country and hopes to put his skills to use as a member of Five-0.
Beulah joins Hawaii Five-0 after the controversial departure of veteran leads Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, who left after being unable to reach an agreement on their contracts for another season.
The casting follows a string of highs for the 25-year-old actor, who will be well-known to many Kiwis thanks to his turn as Jared Afeaki on New Zealand’s longest-running soap.
Beulah and his co-star in the upcoming Thank You For Your Service, Joe Cole, pictured at a basketball game in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: Getty
After leaving the show to pursue his dreams of a Hollywood career, Beulah landed a starring role in the DreamWorks movie Thank You For Your Service, which also stars Miles Teller and Amy Schumer and is due for release later this year.
“This is an opportunity and a dream come true for a Pacific Island actor from South Auckland and one that I am going to fully embrace and make the most of,” he told Scout in an interview at the time his role was announced.
In the Oscar-tipped film, which follows a group of American soldiers who return home from Iraq, Beulah plays an American-Samoan soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Off-screen, the actor is also cherishing being a dad. Beulah and his 21-year-old partner, Georgia Otene, welcomed twin boys Xavier Lyall and Isaac Pakira last December.
The actor and his partner, Georgia, recently welcomed twins.
The tiny tots were born more than three months premature at 28 weeks, meaning the young family spent their first three months with the boys in the newborn intensive care unit at Auckland City Hospital.
Now, however, Beulah’s boys are happy, healthy and thriving – and the doting dad clearly can’t get enough of his adorable family!
“It was like being shot with love – I felt this intense electric current surge through my whole body,” Beulah told Woman’s Day of the moment his boys were born.
“Now that both my sons are here, alive and together, I don’t take a moment for granted.”
