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Jack Lord called Steve McGarrett a gentle loner
"He can be tough as steel when necessary," the actor said of his character.
Every performer has their own method of acting. For Jack Lord, it was important that he fully understood his character before he stepped onto a television set.
The actor is best known for his performance as Detective Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O. The actor understood that his character was three-dimensional, prone to bouts of loneliness with an overwhelming sense of justice that drove the series.
“The clean line of our show is McGarrett’s striving for a clearly defined goal,” said Lord during an interview with The Herald. “He is a loner dedicated to getting crime out of the islands. What’s more, second place won’t do for this man. He is the representative of the detective breed - wholesome, clean-living, realistic, and honest. McGarrett is a very gentle guy who avoids trouble rather than seeks it, but he can be tough as steel when necessary.”
It was a character that Lord never thought he’d get an opportunity to play, as he had previously sworn off television. “I maintained that I would never do another television series,” said the actor. “And I kept proving my determination by turning down different series offers, good ones too.”
But when the script for Hawaii Five-O crossed his path, Lord knew he couldn’t refuse the part. “As I got into the script that had been sent to me, my heart began to pound,” recalled the actor. “It had all the elements I had always liked.”
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