Not even the “9-1-1” cast was in the know when it came to Buck’s (Oliver Stark) sexuality. One day after the 100th episode of the procedural ended with Buck sharing a kiss with Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), cast member Angela Bassett revealed she was also very surprised.
“I just saw it today! I was a little behind, so I had to thankfully I could go to Hulu and catch up on it,” Bassett told Variety‘s Marc Malkin at the launch event for Hulu on Disney+. “He was quite the ladies’ man from the beginning — the wild card — so this is something new and surprising for him as well.”
Bassett, who has portrayed Sergeant Athena Grant-Nash alongside Stark since the drama’s 2018 debut, added that she heard about the kiss after it was done.
“So I asked him, I said, ‘How was it?’ He said, ‘When you close your eyes, it all feels the same,’” she said with a laugh.
Following Thursday’s episode, Stark opened up about the character’s sexuality, telling Variety that showrunner Tim Minear called him during the third episode of the season and asked him what he thought about the storyline and making his character bisexual.
“He had already been in contact with Lou, who plays Tommy — he wanted to know that he was on board before bringing it to me. So not with too much notice he said, ‘I think this is the most truthful way to continue Buck’s storyline.’ And I said, ‘I 100% agree,’” Stark said. “I think it’s deserved and I think it’s earned — and I am excited to to get the chance to tell it.”
The actor also shared that the kiss didn’t play out the way he thought it would, despite many conversations ahead of time. “The way that I felt shooting it wasn’t necessarily the way I had felt like Buck was going to react. It became far more emotional than I expected it to,” he shared. “But that’s one of the joys of this job, and of being an actor, is finding those moments as they happen and having the freedom to explore them and go with them.”
“9-1-1” airs on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.