Gadget man:

MacGyver for a new generation.

It was a show that resonated with New Zealand’s No 8 fencing wire culture: MacGyver brought down big-time criminals and terrorists using a few bits and pieces of metal or string, duct tape and his trusty Swiss Army knife.

But MacGyver, now played by Lucas Till (X-Men’s Havok), has a lot more technology at his fingertips than his predecessor, says Justin Hires, who plays MacGyver’s best friend, struggling film director Wilt Bozer.

“You know, now you have iPhones, you have GPS, you have just all of these new things, new technology that you didn’t have back then, you know. Back then an Atari was the technology of the day.

“You know, they’re like, MacGyver is using a VCR. So now, you know, we’ve got blu-ray, we have streaming, we have all these different devices that he’s now able to tap into to create these exciting things to help solve these cases every week,” says Hires, best known as Detective James Carter in the television series Rush Hour.

Hires has a background in stand-up comedy and uses this talent to lighten the show.

“I think what’s great about Bozer is he kind of helps as the comic relief to the show. The show could get very intense, which is great.

“There’s a lot of action, there’s a lot of drama and, you know, anytime you have a lot of drama on the show it’s good to have some humour to kind of release all of that tension.”

And millennials can learn a lot from MacGyver, says Hires, whose character is a dab hand at creating prosthetic face masks for his buddy.

“I think the next generation of viewers can learn how to … do stuff and make stuff. I’m actually really excited to read these scripts and see how he uses the tools around him to build and create things.

“It’s a cool way to see science nowadays. I think that’s something that the newer viewers are going to appreciate and get from the show.”