Heavy
The Hallmark Channel has announced a new summer romance film called “Aloha Heart” and with it comes a new leading man for the network in actor Kanoa Goo.
Here’s what you need to know:
Kanoa Goo is Proud to be a Part of Advancing Asian & Pacific Islander Inclusion on Screen
According to his Hallmark Channel bio, actor Kanoa Goo is a native of Hawaii, though he left the islands for school and attended New York University before breaking into show business.
He current has recurring roles on ABC dramedy “The Rookie” and CBS’ new firefighter drama “Fire Country,” and he also starred in the critically-acclaimed film “I Was a Simple Man,” which earned rave reviews at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
This summer’s “Aloha Heart” will be Goo’s Hallmark Channel debut and his Hallmark bio says that he takes “great pride” in his mixed heritage and wants to take “leading roles that further Asian and Pacific Islander inclusion within the entertainment industry while contributing to his vibrant community’s visibility on screen.”
In an interview with Pop Culturalist, Goo said that the success of “Crazy Rich Asians” opened a lot of doors for API actors, giving producers confidence that actors of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage could be in leading roles.
“[T]he success of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ had a big impact on stepping into a new chapter in my career. I would argue that’s the case for a lot of other mixed and API actors. … That’s truly when I felt a palpable shift in opportunities that were being afforded to me, even just to read for those types of parts and actually compete for them,” said Goo.
He later added, “I just want to continue being a part of this positive moment of API representation in this industry and especially in these types of roles that weren’t being given. API actors weren’t even considered to lead a project. I just want to continue stepping into those shoes and those characters that aren’t just a supporting character or a sidekick for the main protagonist.”
‘Aloha Heart’ Stars Goo & Hallmark Veteran Taylor Cole
HallmarkTaylor Cole and Kanoa Goo
Goo is making his Hallmark debut opposite a familiar face for Hallmark Channel fans in actress Taylor Cole, who has starred in almost 20 Hallmark romance and mystery movies in the last 10 years.
In the film, Goo plays a native Hawaiian who manages a hotel and Cole plays a woman who visits Hawaii to be the maid of honor in her best friend’s wedding. They fall in love as they realize they can help make the resort more conservation-friendly.
The official description is as follows:
Manu (Goo) loves his Hawaiian homeland. His heart is in conservation, knowing full well his family’s hotel needs to make big changes to how the business operates. His family resists his costly suggestions, wanting to stay competitive with bigger resort hotels on the islands.
Sara Hamilton (Cole) is the best friend and maid of honor in her friend’s wedding, which is being held at Manu’s hotel. She has had trouble getting her foot into the world of environmental protection and is starting to lose hope she’ll be able to pursue what matters most to her.
When Sara and Manu meet, she has all kinds of suggestions for making the hotel a more sustainable business, but her overzealous approach only rubs Manu the wrong way. Leading up to the wedding, Manu and Sara find out they are in fact kindred spirits. Manu needs help getting his family on board to manage the business the right way, and Sara needs to balance her work passion with enjoying life that is too quickly passing by. In the partnership that forms, they discover they make the right kind of team, especially as an unexpected love for each other enriches their dream of making the world a better place.
The film premieres on Saturday, July 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times to kick off Hallmark’s “Summer Nights” programming, which will air all-new romance movies every Saturday through the end of August.