‘Rescue HI-Surf’ EP Says Fox Series’ Hawaiian Lifeguard Rescues Had Its Actors ‘In the Elements’: ‘We’re Not Doing CGI’

When you see the cast of “Rescue HI-Surf” braving the rough waves of Oahu’s North Shore, that’s really them out on the water, executive producer John Wells said Tuesday night at a special preview of the new Fox drama.

“We’re not doing CGI. This is real. Our actors are in the elements,” he explained after the propulsive pilot episode screened at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Meryl Streep Center for Performing Artists.

Although stunt people do perform some of the “extreme” scenes, he explained that the majority of what audiences see is the real actors in real situations. “We needed to be in the water with the actors, watching them actually do it, and seeing their faces,” he said.

“If you want to try and create a world that people see as authentic and real, you can’t do it by using AI and CGI,” he told TheWrap in a separate interview. “The audience is very sophisticated. They pick up quickly if you’re trying to use those tricks.”

A key part of assembling the cast — which includes “9-1-1” alum Arielle Kebbel and Alex Aiono of “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D” —  was asking the all-important question: “How do you feel about the ocean?”

By the end of shooting the 19-episode first season, everyone in the cast qualified as lifeguards — and had even performed their own unplanned, real-life rescues. Wells estimated they saved 67 people. “You can’t be out on the water and see somebody who’s in trouble [and not act],” he explained. “We would stop and bring people in on the jet skis constantly.”

Wells, the veteran producer behind such stalwart hits as “ER” and “The West Wing,” cocreated the series with “Animal Kingdom” producer Matt Kaster, who based the series on his years-long bid to become a lifeguard on the punishing North Shore.

A water unit films the ocean scenes via boats, jet skis and “a fabulous little floating dock,” he explained.

The underwater scenes are captured by 60-something cinematographer Don King, who Wells described as “the foremost surf and underwater photographer in the world.” He touted the footage King shot for the series as “some of the most beautiful underwater photography ever seen.”

The water unit and cast had to be prepared to change up their shooting schedule at a moment’s notice if, say, a shark or whale was in the vicinity, or if the ocean simply wasn’t cooperating, which was, essentially, every day. Wells quoted one of the crew, who said, “The ocean is the real diva.”

The event was the first one held at SAG-AFTRA’s new performing arts center, which includes the Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson Screening Room. It’s located in the penthouse of the foundation’s mid-Wilshire headquarters.

“Rescue HI-Surf” premieres Sept. 22, and moves to its regular Monday night time period of 9 p.m. beginning Sept. 23.

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