OFF THE MAP (But On Our Radar)
After working with the best crew she’s ever been around, Valerie Cruz is hoping ABC picks up Off the Map, in which Hawaii subs for a South American jungle location, for a second season
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shows, including Criminal Minds, Eleventh Hour, Dollhouse, Grey’s Anatomy, Invasion and Las Vegas.
As Off The Map wraps filming for its first season, Cruz plans to spend some time in L.A., then it’s off to London, where her fiance is from, and then to South Africa, where she will meet her soon-to-be parents-in-law for the first time.
“After that I’m gonna have to decide between L.A. and New York, but that depends if I have to come back to Hawaii,” says Cruz. ” We haven’t gotten word yet whether Off The Map is coming back for a second season, but our viewership keeps increasing and it looks promising”
ABC announced that last week’s show of Off the Map averaged 5 million viewers and built its overall audience for the second week in a row.
The show, which is produced by Grey’s Anatomy’s Shondaland Productions, airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on KITV with eight episodes out of 13 aired so far.
As the cast anxiously awaits news on whether or not the show will return for another season, Cruz reflects on her time in Hawaii and the “amazing” people she worked with.
“I’ve never worked with a better crew in my entire profession, and I think that has a lot to do with Hawaii being Hawaii and the whole ohana sensibility,” she says. “Our local crew, which is a lot of the same people who had worked on Lost, and part of our crew is from L.A., they really became like family.”
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Cruz, who had been to Maui but never to Oahu before her job with Off the Map, says it was difficult finding housing when she first arrived on the island but eventually settled into a place in Kailua.
“Strangely my stepsister went to the University of Hawaii and married a man who is from here, so I have an Oahu connection but I’ve never been here myself,” she says. “They have since moved to Washington, D.C., but his family still lives here on the North Shore.”
The set of Off the Map is located at a remote site in Wahiawa. For Cruz, long filming hours have limited her time to explore the island, which she says is her only regret. But she has become a familiar face at some businesses around town.
“I love being in Kailua,” she says. “I love my Starbucks in Kailua and Lanikai Juice. I love to go to Starbucks every morning and seeing all the girls who work there. It makes me feel at home. I think it’s these little things that make you feel at home that make transitions to a new place easier.
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“I also have to give a shout out to the people at Waikiki Edition hotel. They treated all of us actors amazing. I think it’s a great hotel, the restaurant there is fantastic, and I just think they’re a real class act. And for being in the middle of Ala Moana Boulevard, I’ve gotten the best night’s sleep there compared to other places.”
“Also, I would be remiss not to mention the ahi tuna salad at the Kalapawai Cafe in Kailua - excellent wine list there as well. Also, best massage therapist in town is Chris Richardson -
amazing healer. And best workout is the hike at Mariners Ridge and Pilates at On Balance Studio in Kailua ...
Lisa will transform your whole body!”
As for what she orders at Starbucks, her latest drink is a half decaf Americano with a couple splashes of regular coffee, stirred hot.
For now, Cruz, who became engaged last Christmas, is enjoying time with her hubby-to-be, whose name she hasn’t revealed.
“I’m kind of keeping it under wraps,” she says. “I’m sure it’ll eventually be out there.”
She’s also reading a couple of scripts, adding that her dream role is playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret on Broadway, and, of course, waiting for news on Off the Map.
“I never felt so close to a crew or a cast as I have on this show so immediately, and I think that’s the best part about it,” she says. “I hope to God that we come back because it almost doesn’t feel like work.”
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