The “Upload” actor, who is “super-allergic to horses,” recounted the experience at EW’s Brave Warriors panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

Robbie Amell learned how to ride a horse for Hawaii Five-0, only to be put on a 4-wheeler instead

The "Upload" actor, who is "super-allergic to horses," recounted the experience at EW's Brave Warriors panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at*  *with over five years of experience covering the latest in entertainment. A proud Kingston University alum, Emlyn has written about music, fandom, film, television, and awards for multiple outlets including MTV News, *Teen Vogue*, Bustle, BuzzFeed, *Paper Magazine*, Dazed, and NME. She joined EW in August 2022.

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Published on July 26, 2025 08:31PM EDT

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Robbie Amell on 'Hawaii Five-0'. Credit:

Yeehaw, cowboy? Robbie Amell is looking back at the time he learned how to ride a horse for one of his very first acting gigs, only for his newfound skills to be rendered unnecessary in the end.**

Appearing at **’s Brave Warriors panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, the *Upload* actor explained that he learned how to saddle up and ride after landing a role as a polo player on a 2012 episode of *Hawaii Five-0*. But when the time came to shoot his horseback scenes, they stuck him on the back of a four-wheeler instead.**

"When I first moved to L.A., I booked a role on *Hawaii Five-0*, and I was supposed to play a polo player," Amell recalled. "And I told them in the room, I was like, 'I have never played polo in my life, but I've been on a horse.' And I phoned my manager and I'm like, 'I'm not getting this, they want a polo player.' And he phoned me an hour later, he's like, 'You're going to Hawaii.'"

Robbie Amell, David Zayas, Derek Luh, Jamie Roy, and Babou Ceesay at EW's Brave Warriors panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.

So Amell started preparing for the part ASAP.

"I quickly got horseback-riding lessons at Griffith Park and found out I'm super-allergic to horses, got bucked off a horse, and bruised some ribs," he said. "I flew to Hawaii, I was like, 'Oh boy, let's see how this goes.' And the director's like, 'Cool. So we're gonna have you on the back of this four-wheeler. Keep going like this [with your fist raised in the air] so it looks like you're riding a horse.' And I was like, 'Of course.'"**

Thankfully, the sequence turned out great in the end — even if Amell didn't get the chance to showcase his equestrian abilities. "My mom phoned me when the episode came out, she's like, 'Oh my God, how did you ride that horse so well?'" he said. "And I'm like, 'Yeah, I took some lessons.'"

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Moderated by EW Editor-in-Chief Patrick Gomez, the Brave Warriors panel saw Amell accompanied by *Alien: Earth*'s Babou Ceesay, *Dexter: Resurrection*'s David Zayas, *Gen V*'s Derek Luh, and *Outlander: Blood of My Blood*'s* *Jamie Roy, the latter of whom was especially curious about filming with a "mechanical version" instead of a real horse.

"Is it not like, so tiring?" Roy asked, to which Amell replied, "It feels silly, for sure. You're faking the whole thing, but I couldn't believe how good it looked. I'm like, 'Oh, okay, I totally buy this.'"

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Amell also shouted out his "amazing stunt double" in one of his scenes, who performed a wild stunt while on horseback.**

"He has to lean forward and that horse takes off like a bat out of hell, and I was like, 'There's no world I could've learned that in any amount of time,'" he admitted. "But it's really fun when you get to immerse yourself in something and learn from the best people in the world at doing something." **

For his part, Roy revealed that he'd never ridden a horse prior to *Blood of My Blood* and had to attend the *Outlander* prequel's "two-week boot camp," where he learned how to properly sword-fight, ride, and speak in a Scottish accent. ("I'm still in character!" the Scottish actor quipped.)

David Zayas, Babou Ceesay, Jamie Roy, Derek Luh, and Robbie Amell joined EW's Brave Warriors panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.

"I think for me [what] clicked, especially with the horses, is that they're just kind of like big dogs," Roy mused. "In the sense that if you tell them what to do, they'll do it. But if you're not very confident or a wee bit tense, then they'll totally take advantage of you."**

He added, "Every horse I met on this show, they have personalities, and if they don't feel like working one day, then they won't. They'll just be like, 'I'm not gonna do it,' and walk the other way. So that was a steep learning curve."

***Check out more of EW's coverage from San Diego Comic-Con 2025.*****

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