In the lineup, where floating surfers patiently wait for the ocean to rise before them, Keala Kennelly rarely found peers she could relate to, and even fewer when the waves were truly heavy.

It was the curse of a woman whose calling card was beautiful, fearless surfing.

But the pro surfer from Kaua'i found a kindred spirit — and a surprising new career — at the juncture of fact and fiction. For the past 10 months, Kennelly has been on the ride of her life, acting the part of surf shop girl Kai in HBO's strange surf-and-spirituality series "John From Cincinnati."

It's a role that Kennelly not only inspired, but took to with such conviction that she shelved her pro career and moved to Los Angeles to take the part.

The series is set in Imperial Beach, Calif., the last U.S. surf break before the Mexican border town of Tijuana. The show's creator, David Milch, has described the coastal town as a place of desperate criminals, murder and pollution. And surfers.

Kai is one of several characters who orbit the Yosts, a family of cursed yet talented surf legends. She's tough, crass and apparently unassailable.

But that's just her outside.

"I think she has had her share of hardships in her life," Kennelly said by phone from Los Angeles. "She has had her share of disappointment."

Kennelly's character, who appears in all 10 episodes, is also in love with a talented surfer who has become a heroin addict — Butchie Yost. Instead of turning pro, Kai chooses to be his guardian angel.

"I think her hard edge hides a really soft person inside," Kennelly said. "At her core she is just really sweet and compassionate."

CUTBACKS TO 'CUT!'

The world — and primarily the surfing world — knows the 28-year-old Kennelly as a professional surfer from Hawai'i who competed around the world from 1995 to last December, when she quit the tour to act full time.

To tackle her first serious role, she worked with an acting coach. She focused on her own list of disappointments to become Kai when the cameras roll.

"The way I prepared for this role — I had to, like, go back to my past and recall the times when I was going through hard times emotionally and was just a much harder person," Kennelly said.

It isn't hard to see how that happened.

As a youth, the blonde-haired Kennelly was a frequent target of Kaua'i bullies. But the tomboy in surf trunks was an honor roll student, too. She fought for respect and she fought for waves.

"Growing up in Hawai'i as a white kid, I got picked on quite a bit," she said. "And being a woman athlete in a chauvinist male-dominated sport, you get your fair share of hard knocks."

HBO called on Kennelly last summer.

"It kind of landed in her lap," said her father, Brian Kennelly of Hanalei. "As it progressed, she went from just kind of a bit part to a major part to lots of face time on screen.

"Her exposure has kind of accelerated as it went along. She's stoked."

GOOD ENERGY

The timing was perfect.

Kennelly was on the mend after a nasty wipeout in Fiji. She had crashed onto a coral head, injuring ligaments in her back and suffering bone contusions.

She also had reservations about the future of women's professional surfing because the tour had canceled contests at the more dangerous breaks, such as Tahiti's famed steamroller Teahupoo, that Kennelly preferred to ride.

A friend invited her to lunch with the show's writers, including Milch. They wanted her as a consultant.

But Milch saw something else, she said.

"He said 'I love your energy, I love your personality and you have a good soul. I feel I need a character like you on the show and you need to play it,' " Kennelly said. "I thought it was all Hollywood talk. People can say a lot of things and nothing ever happens."

A contract showed up in October.

A few weeks later, she finished second in the Billabong Maui Pro and announced her departure from the tour. Her hair was still wet when tour officials on Maui told her to put that in a letter.

Friends told her she was crazy.

"My hand was shaking when I signed it," she said. "To do something like that is totally outside my comfort zone and a big risk. Pro surfing and the tour has been everything I worked for my entire life, the goal I set for myself."

Kennelly worked on the show through June. Amid the exhaustion of 13-hour days, lengthy dialogue and a love scene, the surfer discovered she liked acting.

She also learned what it's like to be a working-class surfer — to hope there are waves on your days off.

"I have a whole new understanding and appreciation for the weekend warriors who only get to surf on their days off," Kennelly said. "I completely get it now. I will never drop in on another businessman."

KEALA KENNELLY

Age: 28

Occupation: Pro surfer-turned-actor

Residence: Grew up on Kaua'i, lived on O'ahu, relocated to Los Angeles to film the series

Started surfing: Age 5

Stance: Goofy foot

Pro career highlights: