Oliver Stark Reflects On 100 Episodes of 9-1-1 & Talks Buck Leaning On His Support System

Through six seasons of 9-1-1, we’ve seen Evan “Buck” Buckley go through a lot.

Every character on the series has had their fair share of rough patches, but they’ve always bounced back even when it seemed impossible.

And from broken bones to family secrets to romantic heartbreak, and three minutes and seventeen seconds, Buck has come back even stronger.

9-1-1 Season 7 started with a sprawling disaster that will eventually take the 118 out to sea to help save two of their own, but when the disaster ends, the characters will again be pushed to the forefront.

The season will also be notable as the 100th episode will air on April 4, a milestone worthy of much fanfare.

With so much to chat about this season, we hopped on a Zoom call with series star Oliver Stark to reflect on 100 episodes and talk about the fan-favorite character he’s played since the series’ inception.

Stark is always a joy to speak with, and I could chat with him forever about Buck and the series, as he has such a unique and sincere perspective. You can check out the highlights of this fun conversation below.

Hi, Oliver, how are you?

I’m doing good, how about yourself?

I’m good. Thank you.

Nice to speak to you again.

Nice to speak to you, too. So, as the three-part season premiere wraps up next week, this will be the chance to see the 118 get into the action with the sinking cruise ship.

Can you tell me what it was like filming this disaster as opposed to some of those disasters of the past?

Yeah, I think the scale of this is bigger than anything we’ve done before, which in itself, I think, is saying a lot because, as we have seen, the beginning of season emergencies have tended to be particularly big, but I do think this is the biggest.

For us to walk onto those sets, and I truly do think I speak for all the cast here, we’re still mind-blown every time we see what has been created. The special effects teams, the production designers, and everybody that is a part of that, they really have pulled out all of the stops this time around.

So, it’s just a joy and a pleasure to get to walk onto those sets and live in those worlds.

We learned in the premiere that Buck and Natalia broke up. When it comes to his personal life, what do you think Buck has learned about himself through some of these past relationship failures that he can utilize to help himself in future relationships?

Yeah, he’s learning and has been learning for many years now to put himself first, and not in a selfish way, but in the way that his own happiness has to be a priority.

And then, from a place of happiness, you can start to compromise and find a happy relationship, but you have to have a place of being settled first.

And I think we’re seeing that more and more in him, and he’s less likely to turn himself into somebody he doesn’t want to be, and he’s more confident in the Buck that can move forward and evolve as a healthy human being.

Which kind of goes to my next question because when we talked during 9-1-1 Season 6 after the coma dream episode, you mentioned that Buck’s near-death experience caused him to look at life in a new way and to kind of start to question himself on a deeper level.

Is that something Buck is continuing to do this season?

Yeah, I think so. There’s certainly an element of, “I just want to experience life, and I want to grab life by the horns and take this wild ride.” And he’s certainly in a place where he’s open to living and stepping outside of his comfort zone and his box in search of the things that make him feel good.

And I absolutely attribute some of that to his near-death slash-death experience of last season.

Everybody is searching for happiness, which Buck worked on last season. We saw him saying yes to things and all these different things.

As he continues on that journey, and like you said before, of doing the things that make him happy, how will he utilize his support system, or will he utilize his support system as he looks to achieve that happiness he’s searching for?

Yeah, absolutely. He will.

We’ve seen how the 118 are a family inside of work but also outside of work, and he’ll definitely lean on some of them and open up to some of them, and maybe in a way that he feels a little bit nervous about at first because he’s not quite sure how some of his choices are going to be taken.

But no, he’s definitely going to lean on them, and I think that’s one of my favorite things about the 118 is the way they all step up for each other and come to each other’s aid and support each other through whatever it is they’re going through.

In the premiere, too, we saw Buck step in and talk to Christopher at Eddie’s request, and the audience was once again reminded of what a really lovely family dynamic the three of them have. And it’s really three separate dynamics.

There’s Buck and Eddie, there’s Buck and Chris, and then there’s the three of them together. What is it about that dynamic that you think is so special and resonates with the audience?

I think it plays on many different levels because I think you are 100% right there that the three dynamics are independent of each other. When the three of them are together, Buck takes on this kind of fun uncle role where he’s almost a good cop, and Eddie has to be a bad cop.

But then, when it’s just Buck and Christopher, it almost feels more like a quote, unquote, fatherly relationship. I think the conversation they had last episode, and I may be wrong when I say this, but I think it’s the first time we’ve seen Eddie ask Buck to have that kind of conversation with him.

He definitely has had them in the past. But I think it’s either been Christopher coming to Buck or Buck choosing to step in, but I think this was the first time we’ve seen Eddie request that Buck have that kind of conversation with Christopher. So that in itself is new.

It is nice to see them grow into different aspects of that relationship. But yeah, it’s that element of being really close to them but not close enough where Christopher doesn’t want to open up. Sometimes, it’s easier to open up to someone who’s not your direct parent.

So, Buck gets to kind of straddle the lines between that and play both parts.

We have the hundredth episode coming up. What can you tell us about the hour as it pertains to Buck and the team? I presume they’ll be decompressing from everything that happened with the cruise ship disaster.

Yeah. We go big, bold, and loud at the beginning of the season, and then it’s always nice those following episodes to bring it down a little bit and get in there with the characters, which is certainly what that hundredth episode is.

Obviously, we’re still on some emergency calls, but it’s a big character episode, and it’s fun. It’s funny, and it’s telling a story that I don’t think will be told quite in the way that it would be expected to be told. It’s lighthearted, and it’s fun. And for me, those are the best things about the 118.

We’ve been there through such heavy times and dark times, but my favorite episodes are always the ones where we have fun together and it’s lighthearted because then that means that when we do hit you hard, it feels like more of a hit.

So yeah, it’s easygoing, and it’s silly, and it’s the 118 at their very best.

A hundred episodes is a huge milestone, especially in today’s television landscape, where shows don’t always get that much time to flourish.

You’ve been there from the beginning, so can you reflect on the hundred episodes and what it means to you to be part of that and play such a beloved role?

I love this job. I love the people that I get to work with. I’m supremely grateful for the opportunity to have worked on this show. And you’re right, it is such a huge milestone and we do live in a time where television often isn’t given the chance to find its audience and grow.

And we’ve been very lucky to have always had such a strong following. This show means a lot to me, and a huge part of that is because of the people that I get to work with day in and day out.

We have become a family off-screen as much as these characters are a family on screen, and the fact that we have such a dedicated audience is just the cherry on top of that.

I’m hugely grateful for the past seven seasons, and I hope we get the chance to continue making it because it’s a real joy to be a part of.

Yeah, I’m hoping for another hundred. Just keep it going.

Well, I don’t know about another hundred, but we can certainly add a few more. [laughs]

Sure, sure. What do you think season one Buck would think about season seven Buck and where he’s at in life?

Wow. I think he’d be a little bit in disbelief. Season one Buck was very reckless and gung ho and often spoke before thinking and lept before looking, whereas there are still remnants of that in season seven Buck.

But I do think he’s calmed down a lot, and he’s a bit more methodical in the way he goes about things for the most part, anyway.

So, I think he would be somewhat shocked, but I think proud and excited that this is the person he was due to grow into because I think there has been growth, and it’s in the right direction. I think he’d be proud and excited.

Proud and excited. I like it.

Fan reaction to 9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 1 was universally positive. Everybody was happy to have the show back, and there is a lot of excitement and buzz around the season. In speaking to what you filmed so far, what can we expect from the next few episodes of the season?

As I touched upon earlier, two and three are big, three in particular, spectacle episodes. But it is a shorter season than usual, which I quite like because it means that every episode can have a lot put into it.

We’re about to start work on episode seven of the season, so I can’t speak to the end of the season, but I really love all of these episodes.

I think it’s difficult sometimes when you make 18 to make hit after hit after hit, but I really believe this season is filled with top-tier episodes that could go down as a lot of people’s favorites just as they are. So yeah, it’s a great season, and I’m excited for it to be out there into the world.

And are there any calls that you particularly liked that you filmed so far this season that you can tease?

Yes, in episode six, and it’s not cool in a traditional sense, but there’s some really out-of-the-box fun stuff that I got to take part in episode six. So that will be my safer answer.

***This interview was edited for length and clarity.***

You can watch 9-1-1 on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.

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