 I'm Rusty Kamori and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game and many people find it inspiring and motivating and helps you keep the right mindset in dealing with life's challenges. My special guest today has over 150 TV and film credits to her name and she is currently on the hit TV show Magnum PI. She is Amy Hill and today we are going beyond acting. Hi Amy, welcome to the show. Hi, welcome. I know. Thank you. Welcome me to the show. I want to say welcome to the show. Wait a minute, it's not my show. It can be your show, Amy. Now, Amy, I know that you were born in South Dakota. Tell me about your background growing up. Well, I was born in Deadwood, South Dakota, which until that show was on HBO, nobody believed existed. And there were really very few people in town. There was one hospital, one stoplight, and I was on a farm that wasn't a working farm even. My dad worked in a gold mine in Leed, South Dakota. And it was a Finnish farming community. So there were some farms somewhere. And yeah, it was quite lonely. I didn't have anybody to play with. My brother was older than me and he wanted to do nothing with me. And so I had animals and horses and open plane. It was beautiful, but so all I had was my imagination. And that's something I used a lot. I watched TV, did a lot of playing in my imagination, creating characters, storylines. I imagined I was other people and my mother was concerned for my mental health. And then we moved to Seattle when I was six. And that's where I was raised in Seattle. And it was good because there were other people around. And, you know, I mean, we were kind of, there weren't people who were multiracial, though. It was another thing to deal with growing up in Seattle. Well, Amy, your mom is Japanese and your dad is Finnish. Correct. What's the most important thing you learned from your parents? Well, I think, you know, my dad was, he had a really good, they both had really good work ethics, which is something that I think I learned early was that the heart of your, you know, if you work hard, you're rewarded. So my dad worked very hard. He was a good person, really a good person. So honest and just a delightful man. But, you know, he was sort of hindered, I think, in some ways by the way he grew up in, in Deadwood. So he didn't have big ambitions. He just had ambitions to make a living. Where my mother, in some fashion, because she was Japanese, she always expected us to do better than she ever did, do better than my dad and her had done in life. So, you know, there was always this specter of failure with her. So I worked really hard, I think, to do well, because I didn't want to fail my mother. Where my father, if I just, you know, survived, it would be okay. But with my mother, who's Japanese, it was like, no, no. So whatever accomplishments I made growing up, she would always be like, well, that's fine. But what about, you know, this? So when I first got a television show, she said, when are you going to Broadway? You know, I mean, it was always, there was one more thing I had to do to win her, you know, respect. Now, Amy, how did you get interested in acting? How did it all start? Well, it started in Deadwood. I mean, I didn't know I was acting. I just was creating characters and, you know, writing scripts in my head. So that's where it started, I think. And that was always the safe place to go. Even in Seattle, because I didn't, you know, I wasn't really fully accepted by the community of kids because I was. Papa. That wasn't even a word when I was six. But, you know, I wasn't like the other kids. So I, you know, did that same thing. I created characters I performed for the Italians across the street. And they literally sat in their picture window watching me on the front porch performing. Like I was a television show that was. There for their entertainment. And I thought of them as my audience as well. So it was really, you know, something that just came naturally to me, but I never felt safe telling anybody that I wanted to be. An actor, because I never saw. Well, rarely saw anybody that looked like me on television. Until Nancy. Then everything changed. But by high school, I felt safe enough to be able to. Take some drama classes, get into theater and, you know, within a very short period of time, I was in every play. On stage and then I started doing community theater in Seattle and it was just, you couldn't stop me. And then I moved to after graduating from high school, I moved to Tokyo to go to university. And in Tokyo, I started doing, you know, radio and television and other things. It was great. Well, I like hearing all of that. And, and Amy, how, so how did your role come about on Magnum PI? Well, it's interesting because my daughter and I would visit Hawaii at least twice a year. It was our, one of our favorite places to come visit because we have a lot of friends here and it just felt comfortable. And it was like immediately you get off the plane and you're all your worries and cares disappear. It's just lovely. So my daughter, her first choice university was University of Hawaii and she got in. And after she got in, we were making our plans to, you know, settle her in fly here, get her into the dorms. And about two weeks before that, I got a call from my agent saying that Peter Lenkoff wanted to have a meeting with me. And I said, Oh, I didn't even know Magnum PI was going to be shooting. I didn't know anything about Magnum PI. I never even saw the first one. Anyway, so I had a meeting with him and he said, yeah, we're doing this show Magnum PI, the reboot. And we're going to have this character who is the cultural curator of the show and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, talk for like 20 minutes. And then he said, are you interested in doing it? And I said, when do you need me? And he says next week. So it was very short notice. And I said, yes. It was easy. That was, that's perfect. I'm glad it worked out like that. And Amy, you know, I was fortunate to go to many, many sunset on the beach premieres. And, you know, I want to know how you enjoyed yourself at sunset on the beach. It's a phenomenon that's specific to Hawaii. And to Hawaii 50 and Magnum PI. It's something that I've never experienced. I've been on other series. I've been to other premiers. There's nothing like this because they have events beforehand where. Fans from around the world will come and you have like, there was a pancake breakfast that you had at wine. My Lana cafe. With some of your fans. And then people are on the beach from all over the world. Screaming and yelling. It's just, it's like the Oscars or so. It's bizarre and wonderful at the same time. So it's good. You get to meet your fans. And the first sunset, nobody knew us because no, we hadn't even premiered the show yet. So they're like, Oh, hi. Who are you? But the second year was really fun because they had seen the show and they knew all of our characters. Now, Amy, how are you guys adapting to the COVID-19 situation on set now? Well, the reason we started in September is that's when I think everybody had figured out what the set protocols would be to make it, make sure that it was safe. Because I think, you know, actors were just as concerned as anybody else that they'd be in a safe environment. Nobody wants to go to work and get sick and die. So we were sure that everything had been set. We were sure that it was safe. We were sure that it was safe. We were sure that it was safe in terms of safety and. And it's great. It feels like we're in a, we're in the safest place on the island being on that set. We get tested constantly. We have somebody's. We have those. The hand sanitizer is everywhere. We have masks. You know, we have so much and shield space shields. We are so safe. Except for the actors, you know, we have to be close, but as soon as they yell cut masks, go back on everybody, you know, make sure that we're sanitized and it's fantastic. Oh, that's great to hear. And Amy, you know, it seems like your co-actors, I mean, you guys all have such great chemistry on, you know, on TV. Why is that? You know, I think that's one of the things that Peter Lenkoff did. Particularly well for our show, at least is cast people that were. Grounded in a sense of reality of their own lives. They're not there. Nobody is there to be a celebrity. They're all there to do a job. Jay, of course, being the star of the show, he's the one who really sets, I think, the tone. And he is so wonderful to work with. He works the hardest because he's in everything. And you'd think he'd be a little, you know, snippy, but he's not, you know, he's exhausted. He naps a lot, you know, between takes and setups, but he's always got a good sense of humor. He's always quick to take care of other people. He's really lovely to work with. And Purdy, Pernitta is all equally because she's British. British people are so easy to work with. They have no ego. They're just so self-effacing and wonderful. And she's also super smart. Both of them are super smart. They work really hard, great sense of humor, lovely people and caring. They care about everyone. Equally, you know, crew, cast, everybody. They love and care. And they are concerned with making it a family. And the rest of the cast is the same. They're all just great people. And we enjoy each other's company. We hang out outside of the set, not right now as much. But, you know, I don't know what to do. Maybe they do, but I'm not doing anything. I still, I still just go home. So, yeah, we're really lucky. No, I like, I like that. And Amy, you know, in terms of your character roles, how much input are you able to give to the writers and producers about how you want your character to be portrayed? Well, sort of, well, it happens sometimes you have a lot of input and sometimes you don't know what they want from you. They don't know why they asked you to be in this thing. Well, they say, we want you. And you think, okay, what do I, and so you sort of create your own character. So in this case, he said, we want you to play this character. So I started creating something. And then when I got to the set, I remember that he changed my name from some Japanese name to a Samoan name. And I was like, well, that's, you know, that's a different person. So sometimes I feel like writers or creators aren't aware of the process of creating a character as an actor. So I had to make a quick adjustment in terms of who I am. And now I'm sort of in that space where it's a collaboration, I guess, when I get a script, it informs me of who my character is more than normal. This is giving me more information. So like, you know, apparently my character has been in jail several times because I'm doing an episode where I say, you know, this is not my first time in bracelets. So I think, oh, I guess I've been in jail a lot. So you find out things and it's kind of fun as an actor to sort of build this person as you go along. I mean, there's a center core of who I am. And in some shows, like when I did Unreal in Vancouver, this character had the same, nobody told me anything. So I had to sort of create my own reality. And then it manifested itself in the script as I went along and I went out. I'm so good. I mean, I watched your featured episode last season where you got kidnapped. You get kidnapped a lot. I do. That was a really cool intense episode and how Kumu was showing empathy for kind of understanding why the kidnapper was kidnapping you. How was it filming that episode? It was good. It was kind of funny. It's kind of funny to me too, because I've never really done a picture car before. I mean, you know, the driving. So that was one of the hardest things is like acting and driving at the same time. So because I was like driving, because I had a big stuff was going on. And the director kept saying, you know, you're moving the wheel in the awful lot. Just keep your hands on the wheel. Don't move. And I was like, oh, because I'm like, ah, ah. And I was like, that the car would have been like act, would have gone off the road because I was driving so maniacally. And so those are things that are fun, fun as you go. But acting, it's the business and the acting sometimes it's the hard to coordinate. Amy, I also remember watching you on a Seinfeld episode when you played Frank Costanza's a long, love interest, and it was so cool to see you on that. It was great, oh my God. That was a dream, working with Jerry Stiller, and you know what? I think meeting him and working with him was better than anybody else on the show. Often I'm not that impressed with contemporaries, you know, like Jerry, they're my age, they're my contemporaries. I think, oh, they're great, but I'm not like, oh. But people I used to watch when I was a kid, you know, in black and white on television in my living room, it's like stunning when you meet them, can't believe you're in the same space as they are. And he was so sweet, and he loved rehearsing. He wanted to rehearse all day, because he's older. So he'd say, you wanna do another rehearsal? You wanna rehearse? You wanna rehearse? I'd be like, yes. Because in between rehearsing, he'd tell stories, you know, about the old days. So great. Now, Amy, you know, in my books, Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, I talk a lot about achieving and sustaining success, and you're someone that definitely goes beyond the lines. I mean, your career is amazing, and people tend to define success in different ways. How do you define success? You know, early on in San Francisco, I remember writing a list of goals, and my goals were not around, you know, like financial success or celebrity. It was really around having the respect of my peers as an actor, and I feel like I've attained that. And also, you know, being able to work, and I've attained that. And having an agent, I remember writing that, having an agent who understood who I was, and I had a good relationship with. And you know, it isn't about how much work they get from me or anything, it's just having somebody that I can have a conversation with who knows who I am as an actor and artist, and I have that. So, it's really, for me, success is being able to do the work, having, and if I don't, if somebody doesn't hire me, I've learned now that I can also create my own work by doing the solo shows. So you're not, you're not limited by anything. If you're a creative person, you can do it, and sometimes people want you to do it for them. And it's great. So, I've had a very successful career, and I think though, now that I have a child who is now in college, really the most success I've achieved is, I think, raising a daughter who I am proud of. That's fantastic. And Amy, I mean, I find it super incredible that, I mean, you have, like I said earlier, over 150 TV and film credits to your name. When you reflect back on your career, why are you successful? Well, my success is probably based in, what I learned, well, from my family, my mother, who was always reinventing herself. I mean, she married the GI, the enemy, and moved to Deadwood, South Dakota with him, and had to sort of reinvent herself many times along the way and faced a lot of challenges in her own country in Japan, and then, you know, in her time here in the United States. But when I lived in San Francisco, I studied improv and basically the improv teacher I had had, it's like an approach to life, saying yes to life. If you don't say yes, you'll never see what's on the other side of that door. Yes and is creating, you know, your future. If you say no, that's the end of your future. And you have to learn to look forward to that and not fear it, which is another lesson I learned moving forward because you don't know as an actor ever, if you're never gonna, you may never work again ever. Every job ends and you think, okay, that's it. So you have to look forward to what the possibilities are. I mean, I never knew that I would be a series regular on anything. I never knew their voice jobs even existed. I didn't know half of the things that I've done would ever come my way, but I've always said yes. And so that's really important. And always the other thing in improv is to be the best person you can be. Whether you're playing a character who's stupid, you're the smartest stupid person ever. You have to just, you're limited by the knowledge you have, but you never think you're stupid. You know what I mean? So that's another thing and listening, listening. If you listen, you don't have to act so hard that people, you're informed by what people tell you. So listening is also really important. So these are the things that are keys. Yeah and Amy, a lot of my actor friends, they tell me that they've heard the word no so many times, you know, after going to auditions. Have you heard the word no? Yes, many, many times. But so I try to approach each audition as a performance in itself. So I go in and I perform and whether they say yes or no, it doesn't matter because I've, you know, I've satisfied my own needs. Yeah, I think that's a good perspective to have because it's all about mindset. I'm always, you know, coaching my players about having the right mindset and looking forward to challenges. And I wanna know, Amy, what is a big obstacle that you faced in your life that you had to overcome? Well, I think in many ways growing up, it's always been not fitting into somebody's idea who I should be. So, you know, growing up in Seattle, I was multiracial and, you know, I don't know how people perceive me but it wasn't always kind. And then when I moved to San Francisco, there was also, you know, some perceptions of why, you know, I always felt like there was a part of me that people couldn't accept. So, you know, you sort of think, well, there aren't real high expectations of me, so what the hell, I'll just do whatever I'm doing. You know, I'm not in jail. Like my mother would say sometimes, oh, I don't know. And I'd say, mom, why are you complaining? I'm not in jail. Because I think in some ways, you know, the expectations of people who are multiracial weren't so good. And then when I moved to Los Angeles, I go to auditions and, you know, directors and say, you don't look Japanese. Or they'd say, just, you know, nobody expect, I wasn't, I didn't look like somebody who would work ever. But I never perceived myself as somebody who wouldn't work. I knew that I would always have theater. I would always, you know, I just always just kept going. There you go. Yeah. It's the old adage. You know, many times, what do they say? The beginning is who's Amy Hill? Get me Amy Hill. And then I guess who's Amy Hill. Which I don't care. Amy, was there a turning point in your career that really vaulted you to the, that higher level of acting and success? Well, actually, you know, doing the solo show was the big turning point. I think personally, it was a huge turning point because I had taken the power to create in my own hands. And it turned into a huge success and everybody came to see the show. They were all like all the networks. And it's really a lesson in, you know, you're the one who's gonna be writing your own story. You're the one who's creating your own opportunities. So, and it wasn't intended that way. I just wanted to tell my story. I had a passion for this story and I just wanted to get it out. And it became a huge success and it led to a lot of opportunities. And the first series that I did, All American Girl came sort of out of that experience. And then it was, you know, just one job after another. It was great. Now, Amy, if you could choose a co-star to work with in the future, someone that you haven't worked with yet, who would that actor be? I'd like to work with Meryl Streep. I'd like to be, yeah. I'd like to hang out with her because I think I've met her. I did a show at Lincoln Center and she came to see it with her daughter. And I think she just seems like a cool person and she'd be somebody who would be fun to play with. Wow, that's well. She's definitely legendary. We need her to watch this show so that we can make that happen. Exactly. And Amy, I want to ask you one more question before we move on. What gives you fulfillment? My fulfillment comes with, I think making someone feel better about themselves in some fashion. So whether it's shows that I've done, performances I've done, things that have been out there. My solo show, when I toured the country and Canada, it really affected people. It made them think about their own lives. It made them feel better about who they were or curious about who they were. So those are the things. I mean, I think there's a part of me that is an activist of sorts. I want to make a difference in the world. Performing is something I love to do and writing is something I love to do. So if I can do it and make somebody shift to the way they think, that's huge. Well, Amy, you definitely go beyond the lines and I want to thank you for taking time in your schedule to join me on the show today. Thank you. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Amy and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence. And to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.