Baywatch Stars Open to Reboot, Criticize Efron-Rock Movie’s Impact (Exclusive)

David Chokachi, Alexandra Paul, and Erika Eleniak reveal their ideas for the recently-announced Baywatch revival, if they’d be involved, and why they’re not sure it’ll still happen.

Is it finally time for TV’s most famous lifeguards to get back to the beach?

It’s been a long and winding road to get Baywatch back on TV, with a reboot announced from Fremantle earlier this year. But, according to the OG show’s stars, there may still be a hurdle or two standing in the way of that revival coming to fruition.

Ahead of the release of the ABC News docuseries After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, stars Alexandra Paul, David Chokachi, and Erika Eleniak (above, left to right) spoke with TooFab about the show’s potential return — letting us know they’re all in for reprising their roles, if it actually happens.

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“I’ve kind of aggressively– I’ve kind of pursued the producers for probably 10 years, saying, ‘Why aren’t we rebooting the show?’, probably once every six months,” Chokachi told TooFab. “Because every show from the ’90s went through that cycle and rebooted and it seemed like nine out of 10 were successful, or ran for a year or two, season or two.”

Reboot Hiccups

At one point, a revival was discussed and, per Chokachi, “they were on track to do it,” until a bomb dropped … a box office bomb. “And then the movie came out, with Zac Efron and The Rock, and it just didn’t help the brand at all,” he said, referencing the 2017 film that opened well below expectations.

“Nothing against those guys. Nothing against the movie. I thought it was kind of funny, but it had nothing to do with Baywatch itself,” Chokachi continued. “So, the idea of actually rebooting the show was completely shelved. They said they had to wait at least a minimum of two years for that to leave everybody’s mind.”

Earlier this year, Fremantle announced a reboot with Fox, with Chokachi speculating the show found renewed popularity from people watching it at home during Covid lockdowns. But with Fox also picking up its own lifeguard show; Rescue: HI-Surf, set to debut this September; the cast isn’t so sure their long-awaited revival is still happening.

“Fox already has a show that’s about lifeguards with John Wells that’s already well into production and they have a release date, so I don’t know what that means in terms of the Baywatch reboot,” said Chokachi. “I’m not sure of the how it’s going to roll out in relation to that other show, because whether or not Fox is gonna actually run with two lifeguarding shows, we’ll see.”

OGs Want In

If it does happen, however, Chokachi wants on — and has ideas about his character, Cody Madison.

“I wrote this whole storyline and this whole detailed arc of where my character has been and how my character kind of could reappear in the new show,” he said, adding that if they were to attempt to revive the show without any original cast members, “you’re cutting off a piece of your body.”

“You’re cutting off a limb because we have all this fan base that we would bring if they used any one of us or a couple of us,” he explained. “We also bring the history of the show, the legacy of the show from when the show was being watched by a billion people. You throw all new actors without that legacy in there, you’re taking a big risk, I think. Why wouldn’t you bring a few of us back, if people are interested?”

“I’m definitely interested. I’m in really good shape. I have a great storyline. I hope it works and I hope they get a chance to do it,” he confirmed. “I’m keen. I wanna throw on the red trunks again.”

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Paul echoes his sentiments, telling TooFab she “would love to work on the beach again.”

“I’m 61 now, but I would put on a bathing suit again. I don’t look the same … it’s not the wrinkles that bother me, it’s the sagging. But hey, you know what? I’m more accepting of myself even now than I was then,” she shared. “So I’m like, this is who I am. And so I would, I would love to be on a lifeguard show.”

Eleniak would be down, too, though she quipped she’d be “more comfortable in a lieutenant’s uniform” this time around. “Hopefully they’ll get it together,” she added.

Beach Diversity

Also in the doc, the show’s lack of diversity was explored in depth, as Baywatch was criticized in its day for focusing on mainly white — as well as blonde and busty — actors. That’s something both Paul and Eleniak said they’d like to see change if a reboot were to happen in the near future.

“I’d like to see more diversity. Which we did not have in the ’90s,” said Paul. “It would be great to see people of different races and probably also different body types too. Definitely different body types. So it wasn’t just the, well, for the most part, the singular look of Baywatch from the ’90s.”

“I feel very much the same. Diversity would be great,” added Eleniak. “And let’s get some reality in there. It would be really nice to see real lifeguards on the show. Good storylines, good plots would be amazing.”

In the doc, Billy Warlock said the only way to reboot it would be to “respect the job of the lifeguard” and, like Erika said, “keep it real.” He warned: “Don’t make it about the butt floss and the boobs!”

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun is streaming now on Hulu.

Source: TooFab