Joining a cast of a show mid-season has to be an intimidating task, and coming onto a series that’s as big a hit as Fire Country must come with challenges. However, for Kanoa Goo, who was introduced late in Season 1 of Fire Country as Kyle, a rival for Max Thieriot’s Bode, his time on ABC’s The Rookie helped him prepare to join the CBS hit. So, he opened up to CinmeaBlend about working on the two hit network projects, and what it was like transitioning from one to the other.
As the 2022-2023 TV schedule has played out, fans have fallen in love with the cast of Fire Country. Kanoa Goo came into a fairly established ensemble as a long-time friend of Gabriela, and a possible love interest for the former Olympic diver. Goo, told us that because he had a small stint on The Rookie, that helped him hop into the CBS show as Kyle, saying:
I think it definitely prepared me in terms of just the practicality of stepping onto an existing show.
He also noted how his character on The Rookie served a similar purpose to his role on Fire Country, as someone who is brought in later to “shake things up.” Goo played Chris Sanford in 13 episodes of the ABC show in 2022. His character was an assistant distinct attorney, and the ex-boyfriend of one of the regular characters, Lucy Chen, who is played by Melissa O’Neil. Considering the similarities in his character, especially when it comes to being a former love interest, as well as the general experience of working as a recurring performer on a procedural, the actor noted how much The Rookie helped him jump into the world of Cal Fire, saying:
I think it prepared me just in terms of having an idea of what that set might feel like. Every set is different, right? But just knowing I was on a show that's very different, but also in a similar sort of world. I kind of I think mentally prepared me to step onto Fire Country.
While being on The Rookie helped Goo mentally prepare to join Fire Country, and both are hit procedurals, he also noted one of the big differences between the ABC police show and the CBS fire series. He told us that this big change came with how the cameras work on the set of Max Thieriot’s project, he explained:
Technically speaking what I think I took in right away on Fire Country is I love how there's something about the way it's shot with like, it's like everything's handheld, and it feels really intimate. I just feel it’s a little bit more raw than a lot of other network shows, and that I really liked because I like indie films and stuff like that. So just being on set and seeing the camera departments maneuvering around, there's just more freedom if you know they're tracking you with handheld cameras… I think it allows for a little bit more freedom to just sort of exist in the scene and trust that the cameras are gonna do what they need to do.
Watching Fire Country you can feel that difference. While the show has aspects that are used across a lot of procedurals, it’s also quite unique in a lot of ways. Hearing Goo explain the difference in camera movement between this show and The Rookie helps explain that raw vibe the series has that is so different from others.
Based on the first episode Kanoa Goo appeared in, it seems like Kyle could stick around for a while, and like his character on The Rookie, he could shake up one of the big relationships on the show. To see how Kyle impacts the Cal Fire community, you can check out new episodes of Fire Country every Friday on CBS (opens in new tab), and you can stream them the next day with a Paramount+ subscription. To watch Goo’s arc as Chris on The Rookie, you can stream the ABC show with a Hulu subscription.
