ACTOR DAVID CHOKACHI

My guest today, David Chokachi, not only is a super talented actor, but one of the nicest, kindest people I've ever met in my life.

David's first career role was as lifeguard Cody Madison in the worldwide phenomenon Bay Watch, which earned him a huge fan base and the distinction of being voted one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful.

David can currently be seen in the future film Black Panthers of WW2.

He has also recently been in the future film As Long as I'm Famous, directed by Bruce Reisman. And in the horror feature film The Bone Box, he's also working on a bunch of new projects.

He is an avid animal rescuer supporter, which is something we both do and we are really passionate about. And this was a really fun, amazing conversation.

David was kind enough to drive all the way from Malibu in a rainy day to my studios in West Hollywood. And I hope you guys enjoy.

If you are listening to the audio episode, make sure you go watch the episode on YouTube, Cat on the Lose show, because David is definitely super handsome, super good looking, but most importantly, super, super, super nice.

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Thank you so much.

Thank you for having me. I know, listen, it's such an honor because I think I speak for millions of people out there.

As one of them, I was a huge fan of Baywatch. You were a big part of my life.
I love it.

And we get requests, as I was telling you before we started, from all over the world to have you guys on the show, if you believe that.

Yeah, I mean, that's really cool. And I'm honored.
And thank you people for requesting. Like, it's cool.
The show is still really popular. It's weird.

I think, I think during COVID, people started watching it again and like kind of binging it. And then a younger generation started watching it.
And

because the company that owns it now, Fremantle, they track it and they've just seen like internationally they watch the viewership of the original show that I was a part of is like.

around the world is spiking. So it's cool.

So we have to talk about Baywatch first and foremost. Yeah.
I think I'm not sure, but it was the number one in terms of viewership. It had billions and billions of views.

I don't think there was ever a show that was more watched than Bay Watch. Yeah, no, at the time, it was the number one watch show in the world.
It was because I have this statistic.

It was

like 1.1 billion people a week. And there were only 5.6 billion people on the planet.
That's crazy. Yeah.

And you're on the show for many years. Yeah, I was on from 95 to 99.
Yeah, that's a long time. I came in, like, the show hadn't peaked in terms of popularity yet.
It was, you know, still climbing.

So I got in at a really good time and was able to ride like the popular, like the increase for a couple of years. Yeah.

So can you tell us how was it for you? Like, you know, you get a call, you get cast in the biggest show in the world.

Tell us a little bit about the experience. When I get the call or well,

you know, it's obviously it's an arduous,

the cool thing was when I walked into the casting office, like

I was at the small theatrical agency at the time and they were like, oh, we got you this audition for Baywatch to replace this guy who's leaving. It's the main young lead, blah, blah, blah.

I was like, awesome. I worked on it with my coach.

And when I walked into the casting office to read for the first time for the two women, Fern and Susie,

I forget their last names.

They looked so beaten down. They had seen, I think, like a thousand guys already from like East Coast, West Coast, and they were like heads down.

Like they come out, I walk in and they kind of look up and they're like, oh my God. They go, holy shit, you're the guy.
They're like, you're the guy the writer's been looking for.

Please tell us you can act, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, gulp, you know, like, oh my God, don't fuck this up.

And then, you know, five more auditions and a swim test which i did and i got it um but it was it was the hard part was when i got the call they're like yeah you got the show i'm like yeah and they're like but by the way they they it's they're guaranteeing you six episodes out of 22 oh okay with the option of doing all 22 if they like you or the option to basically like

draw it drop you and leave you like so i was like oh so you're kind of like on this probationary

so it puts a little added pressure, but I was I was like made for this show. You were

I grew up on the ocean on the east coast. I was already a certified scuba diver.
Oh, really? Yeah, I was on a swim team. You had the body, you had the looks.
They put you on the opening credits

getting out of the pool, right? Like in your body's like. Yeah.

And I think everybody watching are like, like the guys were looking at Pamela Anderson and Yasmeen and us girls were like, oh my God, what is this?

Major eye candy. Yeah, you were perfect for the show.
Yeah. And I brought, like, I knew how to drive because I taught, I grew up sailing and then I taught sailing and I've driven all kinds of boats.

Like,

so when it came time to like actually,

you know, like whether it was the wave runners or like the, we had those big yellow, the long speed boat, but like for action sequences, like you need experience and you like before they're going gonna let you like drive like they'd only let myself and the other guy mike newman pretty much drive them like when they like in close to venice pier and kind of and um so all the experience i had already before i was on the show and and that i brought to this show just they were like wow this guy can do it all we can just write massive rescues for him and we don't need to have so you guys did a lot of your own action scenes i did all of them except for some reason they wouldn't let me the only thing they wouldn't let me do is like rappel down this cliff and then about two episodes later Numi and I were doing an episode like called um and we rappel off a hundred-foot like fire tower so I'm like you know that made a lot of sense but I get to do it all yeah oh my god how fun and how was it working with all these other super because David Hasselhoff was already very famous right and I think the girls became famous with the show like you yeah but did you guys were friends off camera Yeah, I mean, in the beginning, there was like, you know, it was a lot of pressure, but I was like, you know, I saw what worked.

I saw the formula. It was basically like

the more fit you were,

the more like, the more you worked on your craft, like your acting abilities, basically.

Like all those, if you just kept at that, you would succeed.

So I would just, I would work on the show and then I would go to the gym and then go work on my, with my acting coach, and I would just do that and do that every day.

And then, and then I got into a really good rhythm. And all of a sudden, you know, even that first season where I was only guaranteed six, I ended up doing like 19 out of 22.
Oh, my God.

And then my character took off in popularity. But

yeah, I just, in the beginning, you know,

it's nerve-wracking. You're stepping into a show that's already a hit.
It's already in full motion. So you're...

you're like the new guy but the pressure but you knew like you said you were married i like that you said that because you're like that's me that's my game yeah because as soon as they were like all right we're gonna do shoot some like you know we had an A unit and a B unit.

Like, we're going to shoot some, the B, which is all the action. And when it came time to do that, I would just crush it.
Oh, my God. I love that.
How was it working with Pamela Anderson?

She was awesome. Like, her and I, I mean, it was so funny.
Like, my character, they gave me so much, it grew so quickly. Like, I think it was the end or the middle of my first season.

They're like, hey, the producers came to me and go, do you want Pamela or Yasmeen as your girlfriend on the show? And I was like, oh, you could choose. You guys are giving me that choice.
Wow.

And I loved Yasmine. Oh, my God.
Pam and I just had the gorgeous blonde or the

God.

Somebody has to do it.

She has a little bit.

My mom is, my grandmother has, we have strong Finnish heritage from Finland, and so does Pam.

So, and then her and I just had this very self-deprecating humor back and forth. Like,

and so I just, of course, I was like, when I went with Pam, but,

and we're, our scenes were awesome because we just had a, we never took ourselves that seriously. And they were very, I look at them and I'm like, we were doing great work.
They were funny.

They were like their

chemistry was there. And, you know, we had a great time doing it.
So she was, she was awesome.

You guys had great chemistry on screen. And I have to ask you, there are lots of rumors out there.

And I know you've talked about it on other podcasts that when she started dating Tommy Lee, it was a big issue for him. Like, he was jealous of you guys working together and doing romantic scenes.

Is that

yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a

so when we shoot, we would shoot at Will Rogers, which is out in the open, and they can only, they'll police tape off like as much as they can, but they can't control.

Anybody can show up and people would fly. They would take their vacation, they would fly to like LA and go watch Baywatch and fly home.
Like that was their issue.

But at the time, there was those,

do you remember like inside edition and like those yeah kind of like the tmz of these days yeah so they had written one of these scenes where pam and i are making out at the water's edge and they sure enough they were shooting it and i think it was his birthday i don't know he was at home and they aired it that night basically

And he like was watching it and they're like, and here's Pamela Anderson making out with her new on-screen boyfriend, David Chokichi, and blah, blah, blah. And he just lost it.

And then the next day, I'm walking to the set and I walk by her trailer and I just hear all this like

commotion I'm like what is going on in there like you know and then he was just basically in there um renovating oh my

gosh so it's a true story

he was furious

did you have like a contact with direct contact with him did he ever say anything to you no it gets even weirder but he threatened the producers he he said if you write another um

kissing scene for pam and chokichi again i'm gonna to kill you to the

to the creator oh my god and you guys like were they intimidated no they were like this is babe wouldn't they just say you're not coming to the set like get out

it got so complicated and it messed her up she became

this i forget the timeline but everything was really cool and fun in the beginning and then she noticeably was getting more and more like anxious and nervous about like him and but like two months after this whole incident we ended up going to dinner tommy Pam Yasmine a friend of hers myself and a buddy and we end up like partying together and Tommy and I are like and my buddy are like doing shots together and then we all go to the viper room together and like like it was like nothing ever happened.

So it was maybe he needed to hang out with you to feel comfortable with the situation.

Yeah, I've heard he actually

You know, he, you know, I get it, you know, like you're married to the woman who everybody like fantasizes. I'm sure it triggers you at times, you know.
But I was like the last guy on the planet.

I was like, dude, I'm not.

I just like, I'm not crossing that line ever, you know? I mean, it comes with the territory of being an actor, right?

So I always say, like, if you're going to marry, date an actor, you need to know work is work. They cannot not do it because if you're jealous, like, maybe you shouldn't date an actor.
Yeah.

And we're just like making it. It's not like TV today where they're like going for it.
You know, like you're making out on screen. Like, come on.
It's like, but

it it got, it's, it got squashed and moved on. Yeah, let's talk about the cold water because you guys, and I, we got that question a lot for you guys.

This was a TV show being filmed in the actual beach. Yeah,

right on, like, it's not like a movie set. You are swimming in the ocean.
So, yeah, really in Malibu and vicinities, right? Malibu, Santa Monica, Will Rogers, and so forth. Yeah.

And the water is cold all year long here. It's not like the Atlantic Ocean that gets 83 degrees.
Yeah, well, Florida, yeah.

It's freezing. It's freezing.

How was that experience of like literally like having to do all the scenes and jump in the cold water? Must be tough as fuck. Well, as you know,

because my character was like an Olympic hopeful,

and also lifeguards do wear speedos a lot. Like they, they, I don't know if they do as much now, but back then they just for like, for efficiency in the water.

They were wearing speedos in real life? Yeah, yeah, for less swim drag.

Or when they do lifeguard competitions, which were huge back then, like Mike Newman was like one of the champion, like worldwide, like world champion lifeguard.

But you wear a speedo because it's you're running, swimming, and it's less drag.

So my character was an Olympic hopeful and we would take the boat out and they'd go like 10 miles, I don't know, eight miles offshore in the middle of the ocean.

And it'd be six in the morning and it's foggy and the water is probably like 60 degrees.

And they're like, all right, you know, they're just going to, they're going to film me, you know, training, basically getting ready to try for the trials.

And Alexander Paul was my coach and she's in the boat yelling at me and stuff.

And then, so I'd have to get out of the ocean after swimming for like an hour, freezing, and then get in the boat and then do a scene. And like, so I like, I talk about the,

I was just yes talk about the shriekage factor and i came up with a really effective solution i would just i would find a i'd be like i need like five minutes and i'd grab a towel and i would find a little spot like on the boat and i'd just do a little self-circulation massage oh my god i'd be like all right i'm good to go we thank you for being so honest about it because yeah we we were watching the the show we're watching the scenes and everybody's like this water is freezing and these guys are acting like because of course the tv shows everything is so glamorous, and every day the sun is shining.

But in real life, it's cold. Malibu is cold.
You get out when they call cotton, you're scrambling for the boat, usually, and like, like,

like this. And we shot some night stuff in the ocean, no wetsuits, where I had to swim against all these guys.
And that was even.

Were you afraid, like, at all? Like, oh my God, this stuff. Afraid of what? Jumping in the water, jumping in the cold, freezing water at night.
No? I like it all.

Was anybody afraid?

oh yeah yeah yeah the girls well not alexander paul was probably the most like she was a legit like iron woman or iron man yeah to this day she's so fit yeah yeah so she loved it she didn't care about the cold knew me mike didn't care about the cold um

yasmine um didn't like to be in water over her head so that became really

that's an issue interesting when we had to do rescues but i i was i was like you're you know i was just supportive you know she just wasn't used to the ocean that wasn't her thing but she pulled it off you know they helped her um

but yeah there was there's a lot of people um one actress they had cast before i'd gotten there after they had cast her they they didn't ocean test her for this like a swim test and they you know called they said okay you know there's the victim action go get her She runs up to the water's edge.

She's like, I'm not going in there. I'm afraid of sharks.
And it became like a real thing. So they would have to

like cut have this stunt double run in do the rescue pull the shoot the thing

the double comes in then the actress grabs the people for the person at the water's edge and then pick up the scene from there and like you know it you can't be doing that so ever since then they made people do a swim test at the the pool up in uh the Palisades at the time yeah the pool but it's a big difference between doing a swim test in the pool and then shooting in the ocean because it's a lot more real and scary right didn't they put a clause like in everyone's contract in your contract like you are going to have to shoot in in the ocean you are going to have to swim yeah yeah but i mean i was like bring it like that was my forte that was my strength yeah for you was the money worth it like to do all of that was it life-changing money no no jesus did you're like on the biggest show in the world and it wasn't life-changing money no they paid hasloff and they paid pamela and they paid themselves, the producers.

But they figured everybody else,

their philosophy was you can make money off of the show

once we wrap. There will be a million opportunities where you can actually go kind of cash in.
And they basically felt everybody besides Pam and Hasiloff were replaceable to an extent.

Which, you know, at the time, I didn't really care about the money.

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Find your next ride at autotrader.com, powered by auto intelligence. It really pissed off a bunch of the like the original like Billy Warlock and he had a real problem with it.

It was just it was just unfair the way it was scaled.

You know, he went from like making a lot of money and then it was like, you know, kind of peanuts.

And, but true to their word, you know, I've had, I did have a lot of opportunities that were like, you know, I went to Argentina one time.

They, they said, you know, will you come down here and receive the Lifetime Achievement Award? And

it was like first class everything.

I, I received this award in front of this huge crowd. It was like a big modeling show that, and Valeria Matza presented it to me.
Oh, wow. And they paid me a ton.
She was one of the most famous.

For people that don't know, she was one of the most famous supermodels back then, right? Yeah, she was stunning. Yeah,

I haven't seen her in forever, but she was gorgeous. So they

looked like Lauder Schiffer. Yeah, I think even prettier.
And they paid you good bucks for that. Yeah, crazy good.

Yeah. So there was like all these weird ancillary opportunities that did pop up.
And that was kind of true, but still, it was. I don't know.
That was their philosophy.

I remember you were on People's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. That must have brought you tons of publicity, right?

That's an honor. No, it is.
And it's still like, the craziest thing is, like, it every,

not just today, but it follows you around. People like bring it up.
Like, I don't know if that, that issue is still as popular as it used to, but what is it? It is. Is it? Yes.
Okay.

Because when I was doing it, it was, I remember like, wow, this is a super popular like thing to crack into. Like, it was hard.
Like, I remember they were like,

it becomes like a kind of a fight, like, to try and get your guy in there. And then they were like, yeah, this guy's, this is the guy.
So, and like, Tom Cruise is on the cover.

And it was a killer of photospread

that we shot out in Malibu. And it looked awesome.
And,

and it's almost like a little club you're in. You're in the 50, 50 most beautiful.
Listen, it's a very exclusive club to this day.

I promise you. If you ask anybody in Hollywood, they want to be included there.
And it's only only 50 out of hundreds of thousands. So yeah, you can be very proud of that.
No, it was good.

It helped afterwards. We got into a lot more

anytime, like we're trying to go to a bar and there was a line.

They're like, oh, wait, that's the dude. Come on, dude.
You're good. Bring your buddies.
You're like right in there. So let's talk about that because I know some of you guys from the show.

did amazing, didn't lose your head over the fame and the success and the open doors. And some people went down a really bad path, right? Of drugs and alcohol and all kinds of stuff.

How was it with you? Did you let the success go up to your head a little bit? How did you deal with it? No,

I didn't fall for that trap. I grew up in New England.
I grew up with parents who were very,

we just had like hardcore work ethic. Like my dad and mom, like we were.

Like my but my brother and I would be like, you know, we want to go to the beach with our buddies and it's Saturday and summertime. He's like, no, there's work to be done.

And, you know, he basically, that was his way of being with his boys. Like, he didn't really not ever late.
So he would have us do yard work with him all day long. It'd be furious.

But we just, we, in the end, like, uh, you know, my mom and dad taught me just like we had chores, we had chickens. Like,

we had around like, so at five in the morning in the winter, a snowstorm, someone's got to go feed the, like, give water to the chickens. It's dark out like before school.

And that was us and like there was just no slacking and that work ethic always carried forward and even when i got on the show um i saw the traps i i was well aware and even my buddies i went to bates college i played football with a bunch of like really good buddies and they all thought i would change and become this other person like who is full of like like full of themselves and And then after shooting the show, when we got together, they're like, holy shit, dude, you didn't change a bit.

Thank goodness, by the way, right?

i think there is nothing more annoying that someone that gets a show a movie or something and they become another person no right because let me tell you what whatever you're doing tv or film it's not that important and the scheme of it's entertainment it's entertainment you're not saving lives although we were kind of on big watch

but um but really when you break it down like there there's no reason i don't care who you are as an actor i mean maybe maybe the top 10 people could take themselves that seriously because they're doing that good of work but but you know i have to say i think the more successful ones normally they're the more down-to-earth ones yeah and the ones that are like wannabes are the most like you know let their ego go up to their head at least in my experience in this industry and interviewing people and just being out and about yeah yeah you know i'm not gonna name names but i've met crazy successful people and they're like you they're like super chill, super nice.

And then you meet some reality stars or something. They're like, oh my God,

no comment. Yeah.
Oh, my God. Don't even get me going there.
I know.

So when you are on the show, and like you said, you're walking into bars and restaurants, you're making good money, you're being invited to things.

had the same personality. You're like, okay, I'm going to do my thing.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, I just had a blast with it. I mean,

yeah, I just didn't, you know, I didn't buy anything major.

I think I got like a Toyota 4runner was like my basic expense. And I kept that for like 18 years.
And

I just saw people like either they left the show because they thought they would become movie stars and that failed drastically. Or they spent money that they didn't have.
That failed drastically.

Or they just chose unhealthy lifestyles and that failed drastically. Which is unfortunate.

I told you I was watching the, and if you guys didn't watch it, I highly recommend it because it's super interesting and it's very emotional the Hulu documentary yeah about you guys what is it called

after Baywatch moment in the sun yeah moment in the sun and they show some of those actors that got tangled up in drugs like you said some of them left the show after one season they're like oh i couldn't handle it i couldn't handle the the pressure the pressure i don't know or the success i'm not sure what they what they couldn't handle yeah i i didn't understand that i i just yeah you know we got to go to um like when i got on the show gina and gina leanola and myself went to

we did this photo shoot in the bahamas and then we went to europe for this big press tour and it was like we were the beatles it was unbelievable and i was like this is awesome like what are you talking about the pressure this is like right we just got to do the coolest things possible you're getting paid right you have this amazing i mean you're working on the beach like you said i remember when i was in california with my dad as the show was on TV.

And sometimes friends would come with me from Brazil and my relatives, and they were like, Oh, let's go through Malibu because we want to see them.

Everybody that came here visit from other countries, they thought any given moment you would drive through Malibu.

I'm like, they're not here all the time, you know. And

everybody thought the lifeguards in real life were as good looking as you guys.

You know, I remember every time I was with my dad in Brazil or in France, everybody used to ask me that question, like, you know, is that like that in real life? I'm like, no, no, this is like just

the ultimate dream that everybody looks like that, but it's not the case. Yeah, exactly.

Because you guys are like the impossible, like, talk about body goals, you know, like watching the show, like, this is impossible body goals to achieve, you know.

I mean, the lifeguards in real life, because my daughter is a part of the junior lifeguard program. Oh, how sweet.
How old is she now? She's 13, and she

summer she'll be her fifth year and the crazy thing is the guy greg bonan who was the creator one of the creators of the show he's in his early seventies he's still an active lifeguard um but he actually runs this is at zuma beach up in malbury so he runs the cadets so there's like you know abc and then the more elite but he kind of oversees that hold of it so it on the first day i dropped her off like i'm like here i am dropping my daughter off for like

junior lifeguard to become a potential lifeguard. My friend and like colleague, Greg, is like running the program.
And like, you know, it was like art imitating life.

I was like, whoa, this is so weird. This is like emotional.
Did she ever watch the show? She's barely watched it. She's like, watched one episode and it wasn't like have a great one.

And she's like, I'm like, I cannot believe you. I haven't watched my show.
Like, my whole family, they don't watch anything I do.

Really? Maybe they need to do a reboot.

They are doing a reboot. They are? Yeah.
Oh, really? Yeah. And he's, so I've been pushing it for probably 10 years.
Oh, my God.

Every six months I keep writing to them saying, why haven't you guys done this? This is why I should play the guy. This is the backstory of what Cody has been.

I came up with a great, like, one-page story about where my character's been and how he's back in the mix. And

so there's, I don't know where they're at. I mean, there's, they're, they have a deal at Fox, but they're kind of stuck there, I think, until January.

I think if they, who knows what, what's really true, but

there's a chance if they shoot, there's a chance they're going to shoot in Australia because of financial reasons. And if they do, I won't be a part of it.
But you don't want to move to Australia.

They won't cast me. They won't, they won't, um,

they won't have the, they won't fly another actor. They won't pay for it.
So, but there's a chance.

You would not be the same if they do it's not i don't get it because they already tried it they when they moved the show from la to hawaii it i know same i know i agree because for audiences when it changed like it's like what are you doing because the the essence of the show yeah was the california malibu lifestyle yeah right and you would think hawaii would be better because it's everything's like

and it just didn't work yeah and they're so they're gonna try and double australia for la and it doesn't work yeah oh my god it would be so cool if they just brought it back here.

Yeah, he's really, he's fighting, but you know, it's like the people like Newsom and them, they're just like,

there's a chance there's, I guess there's a studio in Venice that's being, he's trying to get them to rehabilitate and they would shoot it there and try and bring a con like it would you know brings it bring millions of dollars back to the state for sure but he is he took an initial meeting with Newsom to see if he would help subsidize the reboot

and Newsom's response was,

I don't see how subsidizing Baywatch reboot would help the state of California. Oh my God, that's and the guy's jaw just like dropped.
And I heard that story.

We need to like do a massive campaign to bring the shoulders. Stay in LA.
Yes, and stay in LA. So Cody can be on it.
Come on. Cody, can you imagine Cody and your daughter?

That's what I already said.

Brit, BRIT. Brit.
Oh, my God. I'm like, because I had this whole backstory that my wife passed away and I went down a bad, blah, blah, blah.
And she's she's already been in a couple of my movies.

She's, she's like, she's beautiful. Like, she, uh, I'm sure.
And she can surf. She can swim.
She's part of the.

Like, what a better, like, duo than the two of them. Yes, I know.
I will help you pitch. Yeah.
She's a great pitcher. I promise you.

Coincidentally, before I run out of time, because there's so much I want to talk about, you were in a movie that I loved. It's based on a true story, Soul Surfer.
Yeah.

About the girl that lost her arm.

What was her name? Bethany. Bethany, it's a true story.
She lost her arm surfing in Hawaii. And one of my dear, dear friends was the executive producer of

Dominique Caiano.

He was one of the executive producers. Now he's the president of Roundtable Entertainment.
Oh, really? He was one of the executive producers in this movie. I knew about the movie because of him.

I did not know you were in the movie.

Was he there when we were shooting?

I don't know if you probably because, yes, he was highly involved in the movie. Like

the guy, well,

I did a TV show called Beyond the Break that we shot in Hawaii, which, and then, so Sean McNamara was directing Soul Surfer. And, right, was it Sean?

Dominique was one of the executive producers. Yeah, and Doug Schwartz, one of the Baywatch guys, was producing it, too.
So,

wow, I don't know. I don't know.
It's such a small world. Please tell him I said hello.
I will, because now

he's the president of Roundtable Entertainment. So maybe we can pitch the bail or they can help.
See?

All right. Come on, Don.
I'm telling you, he's going to listen to the other, but I'll definitely connect you guys.

So I was shooting that movie because it's such an emotional story, right? Yeah. By the way, if you guys didn't watch, go watch.
It's a great movie. It is.
Great movie. This girl is so brave.
Yeah.

Yeah. In real life.
In real life. I went on.
I did.

a diving show. It was like a kind of a reality show.
It was for Fox, but

basically they took a bunch of us. It was like Antonio Sabato Jr.
It was Bethany Hamilton, Terrell Owens, the football player,

Alexander Paul.

And

they took us for like four or five weeks, we were trained to be like divers, like real, like diving off certain, like,

so either individual diving or like platform dive, like high diving or synchronized. And it was like, and then the

end product was we were going to go compete against each other during this live taping in like South Carolina. And so I was with her a lot and we would be in the gym and

like work out. And it's so crazy because she has like a little bit of arm left,

in order to keep that, she has to do all these specific, like hook up like a strap and like do these like. I'm like, oh my God, that looks like it takes so much.
It's not like you just like leave it.

Like she has to exercise what's left of her arm and she's got a great attitude but um yeah because for people that don't know the story she was a real surfer she was surfing in hawaii and she got attacked by a shark she lost her arm and she went back to surfing yeah she's charging she's surfing like probably better than i mean talk about the human spirit right surf one armed is like I mean, you can't even imagine, especially in big waves, and she charges big waves.

So that's super ballsy. And like, I give her a ton of credit.
But

that was awesome I had written they so for my scene they were like okay you can you can because really what happens like

when you have a victim like that who's lost an arm you know there's all like a million things as the person who's like I was like in the ambulance doing all this stuff and actually the guy I worked with was Mike Newman because he was a firefighter so before we shot it the writers and directors said, yeah, go do, go work with Newman, come up with all your own dialogue, create all this business and we'll shoot it.

And hopefully, you know, so I came up with all this bitch and stuff where I'm doing all this like stuff where I'm stabilizing her before we get to the hospital. And we shot it all.
Yeah.

And then I see the final product and they use like 30 seconds of it. I'm like,

fucking kidding me, dude. Like it was so, it was straight up out of like a trauma room deal.

Like I was like, I had things in my mouth and I'm like doing, I'm like injecting her and then she goes into shock and I'm like, anyway, they only, but still it was fun

it was fun oh my god yeah it's it's definitely a great movie yeah other than than acting i want to mention because that's a really big deal to me uh you do fantastic work rescuing dogs thank you yeah i've been rescuing dogs my whole life i have to rescue animals to rescue babies how did you get into that

Well, I think the first time was,

I think at Best Friends Animal Society in 2000, they were doing this big pet adoption at La Brea Tar Pits area, and

they wanted actors to come walk dogs down a runway and try and like kind of say

sell them to the audience. Because if those dogs did not get adopted that day at that adoption, they were going to be euthanized the next day.
Oh my God. So I was like, of course.

And that was my first introduction to Best Friends. And I've been an ambassador kind of for them forever since.
And

at that same adoption, we were walking around and we found our first pit mix, right, and we rescued that one. That for that was the first one.
And then

I've just, I've been like, my mom and dad always had a dog. They had German shepherds for some reason.
That was a thing, but we always

had a dog. I just have an affinity for dogs.
Same

more than people. Look at my God.
My dog is nicer than you.

We designed this dog merch to help shelters. So 20%

of everything that the merchandise brings in, we we distribute to needy shelters. So I brought you some samples

for you and your family, and then I'll connect you with the site so you guys can, whatever you want, we'll send more your way because I really admire your work. There's a lot of great videos

on your Insta.

So when the fires happened, best friends actually asked, hey, will you come help load dogs? Because they were so smart.

Best friends,

Pause for Life Canine Rescue, Angel City Pitts,

they anticipated the problem and they started flying animals, pulling dogs out of the shelters and flying them to other places around the country that have space, which is always the case.

So this group, Wings of Rescue, which is like the number one animal transport, either during a natural disaster or if they're not flying during natural disasters, they're pulling.

from kill shelters and sending them to places like all. So

I, on the first day, I went and worked with them, it's always at a private airport, like in Burbank or Venice, because you got to drive all the rescue group cars onto the tarmac, unload, blah, blah, blah.

So, oh, it's amazing work. If you guys don't know what we're talking about, go check his Instagram.
I'm putting the link here on this episode.

And if you're listening to the audio episode, make sure you go to the YouTube to watch the interview so you can see his face.

Yeah, and so anyway, Wings of Rescue, as because he's like, I need one guy inside the Cigar area that that can work hard. And I work construction back east.
And you have to, you have to be like speed.

Like if you're not high speed.

And because the dogs are like, this is like a long day. They're stressed.

They've never flown. Yes.

We were, they were flying cross country. Yeah.
So you got to be like, if you're thinking about the dog, it's like life and health.

So I was like, I'll go do it, man. So it was me, the pilot, and him.
And he's just like telling you where to stack. And I was just like head down.

and then afterwards he's like seriously that's i've never had anybody work harder and then kind of half joking half serious like you ever want to come work for me or fly with us like um we would love to have you and he didn't even know i was from baywash and then afterwards he asked the lady he's like who was that guy she's like you don't know who that was that was the guy from like baywash and he's like you'd be shitting me and then read about a monkey because you're so down to earth yeah which is really cool i was there for the dogs yeah thank you that's the dogs are very grateful for sure they're such angels They actually asked me to become an official part of their flight crew.

And I've done, so twice now they have flown me. I fly commercially to Dallas.
And then the next morning, we load dogs onto their charter. And then I would fly with them.

And then, so we fly from the two trips. It was like Dallas to Maryland, drop dogs, then we to New Hampshire, drop dogs, and then up to Maine.

And then you get to Boston and then fly back to LA all in one day.

Amazing. It's like no sleep, but just, I love it.
It's always

Wings of Rescue.

And they're all, they run their operation all on donations. So like you should definitely oh yeah, I'll definitely put them on.
No, I saw their work because I have another,

I saw some other girl that was helping them during the fires and it caught my radar.

So I did tell my team, like, let's put them on the list, you know, of donations with our doggy collection because it's a really big deal to make it.

It is because they're really, they're doing like what's happening in Texas is so bad. Yeah.

And the dogs that I've handled and seen, like, there was one dog broke out of its crate. And the pilot, when we were in New Hampshire, was like, David, will you come deal with this?

I don't want to deal with this dog. It was like an 80-pound Pyrenees mix.
And I was like, yeah, dude, I got it. And

I had to get him out from the back, carry him down a six-foot stepladder. And then I just sat with him on the floor of the cargo plane all the way to Maine.
Oh, my God.

And he was like, just the biggest love. I was like, they just want love.
They just want love.

And I asked Rick, the president, his name's Rick Browd, is the president of Wings Rescue. I asked because he and his brother were on that flight.
And so Coda was the dog's name.

I said, how long would Coda have lived? He's like, Coda would have been euthanized within three days to three weeks. Oh, my God.
Because he was of his size only. Oh, my God.
That's horrible.

So you're like, probably out of all the dogs I've experienced in my life, the sweetest, most connected dog I've ever met. No.
Like, would have been killed. That's amazing.

That's such an inspiring story. Well, you do incredible work.
And for people that want to watch the documentary, it's on Hulu because I just watched it. It's very emotional, very special.

And what's next for you?

I'm shooting a movie right now called Commander Down, which is kind of interesting. Yeah, it's fun.

Let me know when it comes out. Yeah, but there's a movie that I'm really proud of that you have to check out.
It's called Married Alive. Married Alive.

They just finished finished post-production i'd say like it'd probably be released i'd hope by like summer midsummer but i think out of all like the years of my it was a very it's a long story but the i think it's the it was like

the best script the best character the best crew all these elements came together at once and just like

It's, it's, it's going to like blow people's minds.

Keep me posted because I'll definitely share. Yeah.
It's not like in none of its force.

It was written by and directed by Bruce Reisman, who's it's just one of those movies that has every element and every element is organic.

It's not so there's everything in there is like you're not once would you go, well, why is that? You would never, there's not a moment you will question. Love that.
That's beautiful.

That's like a story about how much I care about my son. And like, yeah, it's really fun.
Can't wait. Can't wait.

Make sure you let me know when it comes out because I'll share with my audience because they love you. Yes, yes.
This was so much fun. It was such an honor.

I know. We have to do it again because it's a rainy, cold day, and you drove all the way from Alibu to West Hollywood.
We are so grateful. Thank you so much.
Well, maybe next time we do

a Wings of Rescue flight that loads here. Yes.
You can come out. For sure.
Let me know. You can shoot some footage for yourself.
One million percent. It would be cool for people to see.

One million percent. I'm like a huge animal lover, huge dog.
Yeah, you would love it. It really feels like rewarding.
Well, we're connected. We're going to stay connected.

I feel we're going to do a lot of other fun things together. I hope so.
It was such an honor having you. Thank you.
And girls, you're welcome. Go watch the YouTube channel because he's too eye-candy.

And that song, that song, right on the they put the same song in the documentary, the Bay Watch.

Yeah, like I'll be there for you. It's so cute.
Debbie Gibson, I think, I know

saying it. Yeah.

Okay, David, thank you. This was incredible.
Guys, be safe out there. And I'll see you again very soon.
Yay, we did it. Thank you.

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