Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Who Is Kaliko Kauahi? Everything to Know about the St. Denis Medical Star
Talented actress Kaliko Kauahi got her break on Superstore and now she's back in the comedy game with St. Denis Medical.
Comedic actress Kaliko Kauahi has been making people laugh out loud for years. Perhaps best known for her work on Superstore she's now gearing up to continue that streak in the upcoming NBC comedy St. Denis Medical.
She will be portraying Val, a bold staff member at the hospital who's tasked with handling the busy front desk and adhering to the many patients and their many needs.
Ahead of the highly anticipated series premiere on November 12, here is a look into Kauahi and how she got where she is in her career today.
Where is Kaliko Kauahi from?
Originally from Hawaii, Kauahi was born and raised in a small town (specifically Lawa’i), where there wasn’t much of an entertainment scene. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop the performer to-be from finding ways to immerse herself in acting.
“We really didn’t have theater where I’m from,” she explained to Long Island Press in 2020. “I actually come from a small island, but we would go to the movies, which was a few towns over when we could. My parents always took us when they had the chance.”
It wasn’t until she left the island and pursued her studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles that she began the trust that she too could be involved in the entertainment industry.
How Kaliko Kauahi’s began acting
By the time that Kauahi graduated from college and started taking acting seriously, she was already an adult and didn’t have a single TV credit on her resume. This took a toll on her, almost convincing the aspiring actress that it was too late to try.
“I didn’t start pursuing acting until my late 20s and I already felt like I was behind,” she previously shared to Geek Girl Authority. “It just took me that long to admit to myself that this is what I wanted to do and to get over the fear.”
Despite her late start in the field, she didn’t give up and continued taking classes and working on her craft.
Kaliko Kauahi considered changing her name
In the entertainment business, most of the celebrities you hear of are actually going by a stage name and not their birth name. Whether affected by the pressures of Hollywood or not wanting to have a similar name to another star, performers tend to change their names to make them easier for the public to say and remember.
Kauahi understood this, but she never went through with changing her name. If she was going to be known, she was going to be known with her Hawaiian heritage.
“My family would be livid if I ever changed my name and what would I change it to,” she told Hawaii News Now. "Kaliko Smith? There’s only so much you can do with a name like Kaliko Kauahi.”
Little did she know that her first big break would be portraying a beloved Hawaiian character.
Kaliko Kauahi’s Superstore Break
In the early years of her career, Kauahi managed to land brief appearances on several popular shows including Parks and Recreation and The Big Bang Theory.
But there was one series that she went on to book that completely altered her career, and that was, of course, Superstore.
She appeared in a total of 97 episodes as the character Sandra Kaluiokalani, a hilarious staff member at the Cloud 9 store that the show centered around.
Fans got to see Sandra’s entire journey from learning to break out of her social shell to her relationship with Jerry (Chris Grace). By the end of the series, she and Jerry were happily married.
After starting off as a reoccurring guest for the first four seasons, ahead of the Season 5 premiere, Kauahi was promoted to main cast member, a career-first for her.
Kaliko Kauahi’s unofficial Superstore reunion
While St. Denis Medical isn’t a spin-off of Superstore, the new comedy does serve as quite the reunion for the beloved show.
The series is co-created by Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer, who both worked on Superstore (Spitzer created the series).
The medical mockumentary also includes several cast members who used to star on Superstore, including actor Josh Lawson and special guest Nico Santos.
So, for fans who were hoping to see some of the Superstore stars reunite, this medical show brings some of them back together again.
Watch Kauahi in St.Denis Medical, premiering on November 12 on NBC. Watch episodes next-day on Peacock.
