(upbeat drum music)
- I'm Oliver Trevena, In Studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
Joined by this man, Oliver Stark.
- Hello.
- How are you?
- I'm doing well.
- Yeah?
- Thanks for having me here.
- This is great. Oliver and Oliver, British --
- It's going to be so easy.
- There's no novelty.
- A minute ago I did think, oh, what is his name,
genuinely, I thought. - Oh, you did.
- Because I just remember introducing and hearing
an Oliver, and now I'm like,
oh yeah, because it was another Oliver.
It just, yeah. - Sadly I think the viewers
will probably need subtitles on this once we get going.
- (laughs) Very possibly.
- Before we see how it goes.
Cause we were just talking before and it started
speeding up very quickly. - Yeah.
- So we slow it down.
- We'll take it easy.
- And speed it up. 9-1-1.
- 9-1-1. - 9-1-1.
- Straight in.
- Now, it's everything.
It's obviously a genre, emergency services,
it's been done before, but it's just out there,
in a way that I've never seen.
- Yeah, I think that the fact that it covers dispatchers,
police, and firefighters -- - [Oliver] In one.
- Yeah, kind of changing things up.
Cause, you know, we've got the fire shows,
we've got the cop shows,
it's also just nice to have that dispatcher one,
because they're really the first responders.
- [Oliver] Right, right.
- They're the people on the end of
the phone - [Oliver] Right.
- they're the people who are very highly trained
and coaching people through it before anyone gets there,
so I think it's really nice to include that.
- [Oliver] Right.
- And I think that's what makes it so unique as a show.
- And they go all out there.
Like, when you're watching it,
you're like, I mean, the stunts,
the chaos, I should say, - Yeah, yeah.
- It's all there.
- And it's not done by halves. - Right.
- It's like, if it's in the show,
we're going to do it.
We had a moment the other day where we had to
take this guy down from the top of a truck,
on a ladder, like carrying him on a backboard.
- [Oliver] Okay.
- And one of the First Ads, it was his first day on the job,
and he said, why don't we just lower him in from two feet,
and the director said, that's not how we do it on this show.
- Right, not on that show.
- When we do it, we make it happen.
And it's because the crew is like,
they're so talented, - Right.
- and they make it safe, and they make it real.
- Right. On that note, do you do all your own stunts?
Are you kind of an active --
- A good 80, 90% of them, like genuinely,
- Right.
- And we try to keep it, you know,
like the stunt people that we have make it very safe for us,
- [Oliver] Right.
- And then the more we are able to do,
the more it sells to an audience.
- [Oliver] Right.
- So, for example there's like a rollercoaster climbing
section in the second episode,
I climbed a rollercoaster,
I climbed the rollercoaster track to like 85 feet
in the air.
- How long have you wanted to do that for?
- It was amazing, honestly.
They were like, are you sure,
you don't have to do it.
I was like, no, no, I'm doing it.
- Right, right, right.
- I'm going up there.
So it was so much fun.
- Right.
- It's just getting to do things that you've
never been - Right.
- able to do before, you know?
- Yeah, you strike me as someone who will always
push to do it.
- Oh, absolutely, yeah.
They didn't let me do one thing,
which was like, repelling down a building
from the 15th floor.
- [ Oliver] Smart choice.
- And this was in the second episode,
and they were like, just in case,
they were like, if it was episode eight or nine...
- [Oliver] Season finale, you're in.
- We'd let you do it, because if you fall,
then we'll just write that in.
But that was the one thing they said, actually,
and I think that's a smart choice.
- [Oliver] Right.
- Because I think ego can get in the way sometimes
when you demand to do your own stuff.
- [Oliver] Right, right.
- And if you get hurt,
and the whole crew is out of a job for six months,
it's not worth it. - That's harsh.
- So it was the right decision.
- Now, Buck's, he's a bit of a bad boy, you know?
- Yeah.
- Likes to play by his own rules a bit.
And ladies man as well.
- At the start, yeah.
- Yeah, I mean he's still a ladies man.
- Well, sure, fair enough.
- Let's call it as it is. - Okay, okay.
(laughs)
- He hasn't changed that much.
- He's learning to reign it in, I think.
- Right.
- And I think he's maturing,
which is nice to me that we did start to see
that progression.
- Right.
- I think it could have got old very fast
if he was still just kind of, you know,
running around town.
- You say that with a grin, like there's some Oliver
crossover there as well.
(laughs)
I'm just saying.
- No, I'm a nice family man.
- Okay, perfect.
But back in the day, I'm sure,
going back to Henden,
Henden?
- Henden, yeah.
- Henden, there you go, there you go.
So we mentioned the finale,
I mean, what can we expect?
Lots of bangs, I'm sure.
- Well, yeah.
It's going to be a big kind of high-octane episode,
but also it really wraps up everybody's story,
which is nice.
It kind of puts an exclamation mark and a full stop,
or a period on everybody's little story
and everybody's little arc.
So it really does feel like an ending,
so then when we move forward into the second season
it's a whole new beginning.
- [Oliver] Right, right.
- So everything is wrapped up,
questions are answered
in a very nice, sweet way. - You and Abby.
- Absolutely, yeah.
- Cause that's lovely, what you two have going on.
I love it, it's great.
- I'm a big, big fan of that relationship.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Like, when it first started,
I didn't know where it was going to go,
we don't get that information. - [Oliver] Right.
- And I'm so happy that it turned into what it did.
- [Oliver] Amazing.
- And it's nice that people have responded to it.
- Yeah, yeah, it's nice.
It's not what you see... - Well, it's not.
- Every day in shows,
it's not what you'd expect, and that's what's nice about it.
- Absolutely.
I think it's refreshing to see on television,
because it's not explored enough,
but it's a relationship that happens in real life.
- [Oliver] Right.
- And it's a very common relationship,
we just don't see it on tv.
- [Oliver] Right.
- So, you know,
I think the fact we've gone down that route,
and it's not felt forced.
- [Oliver] Right.
- And I feel like I'm really on it.
And to play opposite Connie Britton, is, you know.
- She's amazing.
- She's beyond talented.
- And beautiful.
- Yeah, everything about her, she's wonderful.
- Yeah, that's amazing.
Getting to play that love interest.
I mean, I'm sure you didn't expect it a couple of years ago.
- I did not, a couple of years ago I was just
worried about where my next job was coming from.
- (laughs) Yeah.
- Let alone being on a show with Connie Britton,
Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, so now this is like a dream.
- It is. How was it going into this show?
Because you mentioned that cast.
- Yeah.
- It's so powerful.
- For me, when we first started,
I spent like the first two weeks just like
a deer in headlights, I think, just like,
this is a big deal.
- [Oliver] Right.
- And there was a really nice moment when that
kind of went away and I just settled into it.
Because they're all so lovely.
- [Oliver] Right.
- Like, genuinely, genuinely good people.
So that made that transition a lot easier for me.
And they've all been so welcoming,
that it hasn't felt like a big deal.
- [Oliver] Right.
- Even though it is, like, it hasn't felt like that.
Which is, I think, the best that it can go.
- Right. Loads of shows have that crossover,
or shows nowadays have some amazing guest stars.
If you could have anyone come in on 9-1-1 for an episode,
in season two, who would you like?
- Well, I would like Evan Peters to come an do an episode.
- [Oliver] Okay.
- Because he does so much of Ryan's stuff.
- [Oliver] I just saw him the other night, actually.
- Oh, really? Okay.
I don't know him. - He's amazing. He's great.
- I've never met him, but I think he's an incredibly
talented actor, and cause he does so many of Ryan's shows,
I think it would be really nice to see him come and do an...
- [Oliver] That could happen, yeah.
- Exactly, it's a possible one.
To come an do a little guest spot or whatever.
I mean, he's very busy I'm sure,
- [Oliver] Right.
- But if he gets a day and wants to come do a scene.
- But that's a very likely one.
Who's one if you could have anyone?
- Okay...
I would have, this is an impossible one,
this is not going to happen.
- You never know, though. - I don't think he's guesting
on tv anymore.
- It totally would, Oliver, you said yourself,
you didn't know you would be
with Connie Britton. - Fair enough.
I would have Michael Shannon to come in.
- Okay. Good one as well.
- Just because I would be there in awe.
- Right.
- Just kind of, standing back.
- He could just walk in and save the day.
- A little bit, yeah.
He could play my dad.
- He could play your dad. Or your brother, maybe.
- Probably my dad.
- I was trying to be nice to Michael.
- Sorry, Michael, if you're watching, Michael.
- I mean, I was trying to get him on the show.
(laughs)
If he's watching now, I'm not coming on the show.
- He could play my son.
Come play my brother, Michael, please.
- Amazing.
We're going to do THR's top five, five easy questions.
- Okay, I hope they are easy.
- They are, promise.
TV show you watched as a kid that you wish
you were in?
- Hustle. Which is a British show, do you remember that?
- I don't. I don't actually.
- It was a show...
- How long ago was this?
- 10, 15 years ago?
- I might have been over here, might have missed it.
- Oh, okay. It's about this kind of crew of,
like grifters, con-men. - [Oliver] Okay.
- But it was just like so,
it was like Ocean's Eleven put on television,
and they were all very sleek and cool.
- I'm going to have to watch this.
- No, it was great.
- Okay.
- It went for a number of seasons,
like four or five seasons. I loved it.
- All right, I'm watching that.
- Hustle.
- Okay, Hustle.
One word to describe your journey as an actor so far?
- Struggle.
- That's an honest one.
- Yeah.
- There you go.
Favorite movie soundtrack?
- Drive.
- Drive? That's a good one.
I would have guessed Lion King.
- That was number two on the list.
- Number two.
One actor... - If you said top two, then...
- I would have got it. You do love Lion King,
don't you, I can tell.
- Everybody loves Lion King.
- Everyone loves Lion King.
One actor who inspires you?
- I really like the way that Brad Pitt has gone
into producing. So I would say that.
To take his career from acting into producing really
cool, independent movies, I think I would say Brad Pitt,
for that reason.
- That's a good one, strong one.
We're in a new age of people binge-watching.
Last show you binge-watched?
- It's been a while because when we're shooting,
I find it really hard to watch anything else.
I think Ozark on Netflix.
The Jason Bateman season, which was like,
so unexpected every episode, so yeah.
- You had to keep watching it.
- Yeah.
- And then there were just moments were I was like,
what, like I had no idea that that was coming.
So yeah, probably Ozark.
- That's a good one. We wrap up on that.
Oliver Stark.
- All right, thank you for having me.
- 9-1-1, watch him.
Just a genius.
- See you there.