HAWAIIAN WAR MOVIE

Former Game of Thrones star Joe Naufahu is with his best mate Beulah Koale in Malaysia and Spy has deduced the pair are there for more than just the laksa. Ni’ihau is new a film directed by Gabriel Robertson (the man with 85 EastEnders writing credits to his name). Set during World War II, it’s the true story of the Ni’ihau Incident, which occurred after native Hawaiian Ben Kanahele rescued Shigenori Nishikaichi, a Japanese Navy pilot who participated in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Naufahu and Koale have not yet been officially named in the movie, currently shooting in Malaysia, but last week posed with producer

Ken Petrie.

The film has already attracted media attention. Back in May, Zach McGowan, star of the US TV show

Shameless, was confirmed in the role of Kanahele leading to accusations of “whitewashing”.

But it’s our guess that if Naufahu can play the fantasy Dothraki warlord Khal Moro in Game of Thrones, he could quite possibly play the Japanese role of Nishikaichi.

Naufahu, 38, is currently starring in the racy NZ Herald WatchMe show, Stand Up

Girl, alongside Shoshana McCallum, who plays Jan, a sex worker who accidentally falls into stand-up comedy. The Expanse’s

Frankie Adams, and Westside’s Antonia Prebble are also in the web series.

As for Koale, we are not guessing his role in Ni’ihau but we are smelling award-season buzz when Thank You for

your Service, finally hits US theatres in October.

The directorial debut for American

Sniper screenwriter Jason Hall has been picking up Oscar-hype since the trailer was released on June 20. Koale is in a supporting role to the lead Miles Teller who plays a soldier returned from the Iraq War suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Fellow Kiwi actor Keisha Castle-Hughes is also in the movie — fingers crossed for a second Oscar nomination for her, and a first for Koale, who we hear is quite something in the film.