text YU SHING TING // photos HAROLD JULIAN
wardrobe KYLE KAGAMIDA // makeup + hair KATE HOLLINSHEAD creative direction GINA LAMBERT location SILVERLAKE CLOUD HOUSE

Here in the Aloha State, there’s a saying “Lucky We Live Hawai‘i.” For actress Kathleen Rose Perkins, joining the cast of Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. was her ticket to a life in paradise — on-screen and off.

On the show, which released its second season on Disney+ earlier this year, she portrays Dr. Clara Hannon, a career-driven mom juggling her duties as Chief of Medicine while raising three children with husband Benny Kameāloha (played by Jason Scott Lee).

Aside from fact that their daughter is 16-year-old prodigy Dr. Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha, they’re a typical local family — Benny runs a food truck selling shave ice and flowers, they live by the beach and enjoy surfing and Boogie Boarding, and they hang out at Zippy’s.

“We shot (the Boogie Boarding scene) at Waimanalo Beach which apparently is the best beach in the world to Boogie Board, and I had never done it before,” recalls Perkins. “He (stunt coordinator/assistant director Brian Keaulana) said, ‘We got you, don’t worry about it. Just go out there and we’re going to push you into the wave. You’re going to ride it and it’s going to be great,’ and I was like, OK.

“It was wonderful, and I thought if it’s that easy then why don’t I just go all the time? When I had a day off, I went back to the beach and tried to do it by myself and was like oh, you have to kick? And I need some flippers? There’s more to it.”

When the cameras were not rolling, Perkins, who spent five months in Hawai‘i for the first season followed by another four months for the second season, could likely be found shopping, hiking Ka‘au Crater and Ka‘ena Point, or eating her way through O‘ahu.

Among her favorite shops: Olive Boutique and Island Bungalow in Kailua, and We Are Iconic in Honolulu. As for food, the list is quite lengthy but very insightful.

“The Kaka‘ako Farmers Market was the best. Bar Māze was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Wasabi Bistro, they have a baked seafood papaya dish that is revolutionary,” she shares. “Kono’s kalua pork is my favorite. Jolene’s lobster roll is the best lobster roll I’ve ever had in my life. Uncle Clay’s shave ice is fantastic.

“And the bakeries … Breadshop, their baked goods are incredible, and Liliha Bakery. Musubi Cafe, just musubi, why isn’t that everywhere? Haleiwa Bowls, their acai bowls, why isn’t that everywhere? … The food ideas and things that happen in Hawai‘i are wonderful and they should have them everywhere.”

Born and raised in Michigan, Perkins discovered her passion for acting while in high school where she was involved in drama and choir. She earned a musical theater degree from Western Michigan University, and continued to do theater throughout the Midwest before heading to LA for “the big break.”

At 23, shortly after landing in the City of Angels, she was hired as a cruise ship dancer, and took off for a six-month world cruise starting in Israel and traveling halfway around the globe with Hawai‘i as one of the last ports, stopping by the Big Island and Honolulu. Then it was back to Tinseltown, where she has made her home for the past 25 years, currently residing in Altadena.

“I got back to LA and was like, OK, I’m going to try and get into the film and television business,” remembers Perkins. “It took me five or six years to break in. It’s doing all sorts of random day jobs, just trying to make ends meet and taking acting classes ... and finally I got a job on a pilot.

“(At the time) I was working at Merrill Lynch as the receptionist, and the day I quit that job was the day I was also fired from that job because I missed so many days for auditions, but I wouldn’t tell them it was for an audition, I would make up lies about why I needed to miss work, like, oh, I’m sick, or, oh, my boyfriend has a surgery, lying through my teeth to try to keep this job but also secretly wanting to get an acting job. That was 20 years ago, and I never looked back since.”

Since then, she’s had recurring roles on a number of TV shows, including ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, Disney+’s Big Shot, Netflix’s Colony and CBS’s NCIS: LA. She also played the lead role in the indie film Better Half, starred in Netflix’s I Am Not Okay with This and Showtime’s TV sitcom Episodes alongside Matt LeBlanc, and made numerous notable guest appearances in TV and film, including on Private Practice, Person of Interest, Gone Girl with Ben Affleck, and The Skeleton Twins opposite Kristen Wiig.

Now, she’s working on an independent comedy feature (details on the film weren’t available at press time), and she’s been venturing into the world of writing, with help from her longtime partner actor-turned-writer Christopher Moynihan. Together for 23 years, the Hollywood couple met on the set of a commercial that she was cast in and he was the lead actor.

“We’ve collaborated on a couple of things writing wise,” notes Perkins. “We worked a couple of times together. It’s a lot of fun and also hard. The goal definitely for me now is to see something that I’ve written, produced. I want to hear actors read the lines that I write, that would be amazing. I’m working on a couple of Christmas movies, those are just fun, and a pilot that I have in my head that I want to get out.”

In between work, Perkins is often occupied with her multiple hobbies. She cooks and bakes (her signature dishes include rack of ribs and tres leches cake), quilts (she was working on a baby quilt for her niece just before heading out the door for this photo shoot and interview), and recently started taking ‘ukulele lessons and is trying to reach 396 days on Duolingo to learn Italian. She also has an African Grey Parrot named Luke who she enjoys eating oatmeal with in the morning.

For fitness, she typically starts her day with a Beachbody workout at home (to ’80s dance music in the background), practices Taekwondo (she’s a 4th-degree black belt), is a “big hiker,” and enjoys visiting national parks across America (she’s up to 49 of the 63).

“Yeah it’s a little too much,” laughs Perkins. “It’s so funny because I told my husband (referring to Moynihan), I’d get an audition and I’d be like I don’t have time. I don’t have time to work or try and get a job because I’m so busy with all my hobbies.

“I’ll go crazy if I don’t keep my mind challenged with activities and I’m interested in so many things.”