Initially posting an Instagram message saying simply, “I am devastated. Heartbroken. I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now,” Lenkov followed up with a lengthier post, addressing Wily directly:
“T, as I told you many times, I fell in love with you at the first audition. You came in with a towel on your head mopping up sweat, and I was smitten. You charmed me into making you a regular… on the show… and in my life. You were family. And I will miss you every day, brother.
“PS: when we spoke last week, we laughed at how right you were from Day 1. Five-0 was our dream job. And I was so lucky we got to share that magic together.”
Wily was born Teila Tuli on June 14, 1968, from Laie, Hawaii and of American Samoan descent. Before becoming an actor, he was a successful and popular sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist. After retiring from sumo wrestling, Wily began competing in Ultimate Fighting Champships. He competed as Teila Tuli in his first UFC match in November 1993.
His first notable acting role in a major film came in the 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he played a hotel worker who befriends Jason Segel's lead character Peter Bretter. Two years later, he landed a recurring role on Hawaii Five-0 as informant Kamekona, a character he would play on the series for the next ten years.
He played the same character in seven episodes of Magnum, P.I. from 2018 to 2020.
Wily is survived by his wife Halona and their two children.
