Surf’s up — again — for David Chokachi.
The actor known for playing Cody Madison on Baywatch‘s sixth through ninth seasons is returning for a recurring role in Fox’s reboot of the lifeguard drama, scheduled to launch as part of the 2026-2027 television season.
Per a logline, “OG heartthrob Cody Madison is returning to the beach. Cody runs The Shoreline, the unofficially official Baywatch bar-and-grill, and still puts on the red trunks for the occasional shift saving lives. He’s a mentor to and a friend, providing a second home for his fellow lifeguards… and always offering free wings after a big save.”
Chokachi’s casting comes just days after news emerged that the show will be headlined by Suits LA star Stephen Amell, who’s being tapped to play an adult Hobie Buchannon — all grown up from his wild-child days on the original series (where he was played by Jeremy Jackson from 1991 to 1999).
Pearson Television/ Courtesy: Everett Collection
Hobie is now a Baywatch captain, following in the footsteps of his legendary father, Mitch (played by David Hasselhoff in the original). The series kicks off as Hobie’s world is turned upside down when Charlie, the daughter he never knew, shows up on his doorstep, eager to carry on the Buchannon family legacy and become a Baywatch lifeguard alongside her dad.
The show is slated to start shooting this spring at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, as well as on the Fox Studio Lot. Chokachi’s casting marks the first official return of one of the original stars for the reboot.
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
The original Baywatch debuted in 1989 and would eventually become the most-watched show in the world. Airing in more than 200 countries and reaching more than a billion viewers every week at its peak, the beachy series starred Hasselhoff as Mitch, the dedicated leader of a group of lifeguards at Malibu Beach. In addition to the Hoff, the show boosted the careers of alums like Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, Jason Momoa, and Yasmine Bleeth.
It’s yet not known if Anderson, Hasselhoff, or other familiar faces besides Chokachi will have parts to play in the reboot — but if asked, Electra has said she’d be interested.
“It could be fun” to join the cast of the reboot, she told TMZ last year. But Electra might have a stipulation: “I don’t know if I’d want to be in the water.”
She added, “It’s the ocean, you know? I love being around the ocean. Working in it is very different. When you’re working in the ocean, it is very complicated.”
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The new Baywatch is being co-produced by Fox Entertainment and Fremantle, with Matt Nix (Burn Notice, The Gifted) serving as showrunner and executive producer alongside EPs Michael Berk, McG, Greg Bonann, Doug Schwartz, Dante Di Loreto, and Mike Horowitz. McG will also direct the premiere episode.