THE BUCK STOPS HERE
Oliver Stark talks about his ill-fated May-December romance on TV’s 9-1-1
Did you hear the one about the giant snake that tried to choke its owner to death? How about the one about the baby that got stuck in a drain pipe?
Both emergencies have been featured on the television series 9-1-1, and both are based on reallife cases. Honest.
The show, which centres on the first responders thrust into situations like these, returns with a two-part season 2 première airing Sunday and Monday on Global/Fox. And you can bet there’ll be more strange scenarios in store.
Oliver Stark, who plays firefighter Evan (Buck), Buckley, spoke about his favourite onscreen 911 call, Buck’s MayDecember romance with Connie Britton’s character and fans’ unexpected reaction to his facial birthmark:
Q The show has done some crazy 911 calls — like the baby stuck in a pipe or the bouncy house that blew away. Any stand out for you?
A One of the most fun ones was when we did a full-moon episode and me and Peter Krause’s character had to go to a maternity yoga class and three women went into labour. The statistics are that more women give birth on a full moon, so even that was grounded in reality.
Q Connie Britton, who played Abby, left at the end of season 1. What was your initial reaction to her character’s relationship with Buck — older woman, younger man?
A At one point I was like, “I don’t want to answer any questions about that, because if it was the opposite, we wouldn’t be asked that.” But now I’m like, “We should talk about it — why is it strange?” It is a relationship that’s often seen in real life — it’s just not often seen on television.
I don’t even know if that was always the plan — I think we were going to meet and they left it to see how we clicked. I think it was great that Buck never once mentioned the age thing. That was a really important and empowering thing for the story, that it was never an issue, never needed to be spoken about.
Q Can you tease what’s ahead for season 2 ?
A I know they’re trying to get Connie to come back and guest in a couple of episodes, and I know that Buck’s going to be recovering from that loss because he opened himself for the first time and started understanding intimacy for the first time in his life. To have that ripped away from him, there’s got to be a grieving period and I think it’ll be interesting to see if he falls back into his old habits, or if he’s grown from the experience.
Q Jennifer Love Hewitt is joining the cast this season as Buck’s older sister. How has that transition been?
A When we first met, we immediately fell into a brotherly-sisterly relationship where we were just making fun of each other, so I’m looking forward to playing opposite her and to see what that storyline turns out to be.
Q A lot of people have commented on your facial birthmark, which we don’t typically see on television — have you been surprised by the reaction?
A I was, because I’ve had it out on TV before and nobody’s ever really had comments. Someone once tweeted me to ask if I had eye herpes, which I didn’t. But on this show, they were like, “Let’s have it out and let’s reference it.”
I’ve never been insecure about it so I’ve never really given it too much thought, but I’ve had people tweeting me and messaging me like, “My eight-year-old son has this on his face and seeing you on TV with yours has really given him some confidence.”
I think people should embrace the things that are different about us. I’ve always, whenever I’ve done a job, campaigned to have it out. When it’s covered up, I don’t quite recognize myself.