“COOL!”
(TV HITS – April 1996)
Britain may be chilly, but Baywatch‘s David and Gena heated up The Big Breakfast!
Is it tough being a star on a show like Baywatch?
David Chokachi: It’s a good show, but we get more respect here than in America – people look down on us there. It’s great to come here where people like us!
Gena Nolin: I think Baywatch is such a hit here because of the weather. People here love the idea of California Dreaming with the girls and the hunks!
Have you got lots of so-called friends now you’re famous?
Gena: I have second and third cousins coming out of the woodwork! It’s amazing. I have people who met me when I was four years old at kindergarten saying, ‘Hi, let’s get together again!’ But it comes with the job course! I’m in this and I Iove the fame and the show, but I’d be just as happy if it hadn’t happened.
Do you ever worry people think you’re naff?
David: It’s difficult when you go up for an audition for something like a feature film! Because of the success of Baywatch some people in the industry are against it. It was canned after the first year but then came back to be the biggest programme in the world.
Do you want to be movie stars?
David: Absolutely! If somebody’s interested in an acting career, it does give you a lot of power being in Baywatch all the same! The movie industry is looking to sell films to an international audience and we’ve got a big following abroad.
Gena: It also gives you the chance to meet people you never thought you’d meet. Over a billion people a week watch the show – it’s unreal!
Can you really swim?
David: Of course I can! My character’s supposed to be an Olympic swimmer so I have to swim a bit. I’ve got a Masters Award in swimming. But I had to train for the part because there’s a big difference between an Olympic swimmer and someone who can swim.
Gena: During the auditions for the show the producers made sure we could do things. I think they’ve hired people before and then found out they couldn’t go in the water because they were afraid.
Do the creatures in the sea ever scare you?
Gena: They’re there but you just have to be careful. There are jellyfish and sharks – one day my mother came on the set and she got stung by a jellyfish!
Do you take beach holidays?
David: It’s weird. We spend five days a week on the beach but then at the weekends all my friends phone up and say, ‘Let’s go to the beach and play volleyball ‘ and I’m like ‘Woah! No!’ But we go down the beach and play anyway.
Do all the blokes on the show – except chest-wig Hasselhoff – shave their chests?
David: I shave my chest because the hair doesn’t grow evenly. On TV you need to look a lot more defined. But I don’t personally have any strict regulations about what I do. David doesn’t come round and say, ‘Put down that choccie bar because you’re putting on weigh!’
Gena: David Hasselhoff’s incredible! He’s tall and lean and gorgeous and… what is he? 44?
Will you be following Mr. Hasselhoff into a singing career?
Gena: I wish! I wish that I could sing!
Do you plan staying on Baywatch?
David: David Hasselhoff has said over the last season that he’s now got one of the best chemistries of cast on Baywatch that he’s ever had. And that’s great. As long as the show keeps doing all right, I’ll stay in it for a few years!
Gena: We’ve both signed five year contracts so it depends on how well the show is doing, but I’d like to stay there, for a while yet definitely!
