David Hasselhoff on Playing the Same Name Game and Being Paid a Visit By SAMCRO

What’s in a name? Some famous faces will aim to find out in Same Name, a CBS series premiering Sunday at 9/8c, in which celebs “swap lives” with regular folk who share the [see show title].

Up first is David Hasselhoff, who in the opener trades places with David Haselhof, a 27-year-old electrical technician/landscaper from Lake Jackson, Texas. The Baywatch/Knight Rider alum shared a look at the series, as well as previewed his run-in with FX’s Sons of Anarchy.

TVLINE | Prior to Same Name, had you ever met another David Hasselhoff?
Never met a David Hasselhoff before in my life. I did see a “David Michael” on a gravestone once, which was kind of… weird. But here I ended up meeting two David Haselhofs – Sr. and Jr. — so I ended up becoming David Hasselhoff Middle. And then I ended up meeting, like, 56 Haselhofs which was very surreal. It was like, “Hi, I’m Duke Haselhof…” That one really got me.

TVLINE | What were the Haselhofs like?
They are very kind, hard-working people. They are very family-oriented, and they all get together and hang out, like my family does. Young David was very skeptical when he met me – in fact he apologized so many times, I had to tell him to stop! He’d say, “You know, I had this misconception….” What, that wasn’t a nice guy? He’d go, “Yeah!” We become very good friends and have been texting ever since.

TVLINE | What new experiences awaited you as member of these Haselhofs?
The new experience that awaited me was that I got to sing at a country bar, and the place was full!

TVLINE | I hope it was full of Germans.
Well, it wasn’t, and the funny part about that is one of my biggest songs in Germany is “Country Roads,” which is a huge hit over there. So I went out and sang that, and the place went nuts. It was endearing to see that I still have that audience. I grew up in Georgia and Florida, so I know what the South is like, but I never knew what it’s like to live a day-to-day life where the wife has a lawn-mowing business, the father cleans out 135,000-volt breakers….

TVLINE | And what adventures awaited the other David, as he dipped into your life?
Oh, man… He got his bell rung. I convinced him that I owned a tiger, so he kept looking for the tiger! [Laughs] But the best part was when he got to go out and get attacked by the paparazzi. He also had some funny stories to share about how he used my name to get into some clubs in Cancun. At the end, I flew him to Germany to show him what everybody [in the States] doesn’t really know. On one of my last [concert] nights, I walked him through the audience and we didn’t even make it to the stage!

TVLINE | What happens at the end of Same Name? Does America, like, vote on whether you get to reclaim your life…?
The way the show ends is we gave him a scholarship for his kid, and some $12,000 lawn mowers, because his mom can’t afford them…. And we end up crying. It turned out to be a great experience.

TVLINE | What can you share about your guest-starring role on Sons of Anarchy this fall?
I told everybody that I’m not going back to television unless you give me something drastic, so when they said, “You’re a porn king famous for having a big c–k,” I said, “I’m ready!” The cast treated me with amazing respect, because I think they all grew up watching Knight Rider. [When Jax and Bobby show up] they say to me, “We want to talk to Georgie.” I say to them, “I know what that means — you want to whack him. Why?” Jax says it has something to do with Luann and I get really pissed off. I tell them that Luann was my mentor, she was my friend, and she taught me there was more to my life than “being a big c–k.” I didn’t know who killed Luann until I found out from these guys, so hopefully they’ll bring me back to kill Tom Arnold!

TVLINE | Who did you get to work with the most?
I got to work the most with Charlie Hunnam and Mark Boone Junior, who plays Bobby. The funny part is that Charlie is from Newcastle [in England], and I just came back from there, so I’m going, “That guy has lost his accent, and that’s a tough accent.” But the whole thing was a blessing, because it’s a cool show and I got to hang out with one of the coolest guys ever, Ron Perlman. I had a blast!