Around seven years ago, actor Callum Blue took a good look at his life and decided he needed a break from show business. After starring in popular television series and films including Dead Like Me, Smallville, and The Princess Diaries 2, Blue set out on the road unsure if he’d ever return to Hollywood. Then a guest role in Season 8 of ABC’s hit procedural 9-1-1 came along and changed everything.
“I just had a seven-year sabbatical from acting. I was on a TV show and a movie at the same time, and I looked at my life and myself and decided I wasn’t very happy, even though I had this success and money around me. I told my agents that I was going on a road trip and I never came back,” Blue told Decider over Zoom. “I’ve had bits and pieces here and there over the years that were just straight offers. But 9-1-1 is my first job back from that sabbatical… and it has literally made me fall in love with acting again.”
Blue made his 9-1-1 debut in the Season 8 premiere as actor Brad Torrence, the star of Hotshots, a firefighter show where Peter Krause’s Bobby now works on as a technical advisor. Though most of Blue’s scenes in the first four episode were filmed on the Hotshots set, he also got a front-row seat to the conclusion of Season 8’s big premiere emergency in Episode 3.
Episode 4 ends with Bobby returning to the 118 and Brian Thompson’s Captain Gerrard taking his place on set, but Blue assures us fans haven’t seen the last of his character or the Hotshots storyline just yet. For more 9-1-1 Season 8 teases, heartwarming on-set experiences, and behind-the-scenes insights, read our full interview with Blue below.
DECIDER: Before we dive into Season 8, tell me a bit about how you joined the show.
CALLUM BLUE: I actually just had a six or seven-year sabbatical from acting. About seven years ago, I was on a TV show and a movie at the same time, and I looked at my life and I looked at myself and decided I wasn’t very happy, even though I had this success and money around me. So I told my agents that I was going on a road trip and I never came back. [Laughs] I’ve had bits and pieces here and there over the years that were just straight offers. But this is my first job back from that sabbatical, so I didn’t even have any agents or managers. A friend of mine from 20 years ago, who produced one of my first movies, became a manager and she was like, “Don’t you want to come back into the business?” I was like, “I’m not too sure, to be honest. I’m really loving just sitting on a mountain in Palm Springs and meditating.” And she said, “I’m going to send auditions your way.” And I said, “OK, we’ll see what happens.” And then this audition came up and it has literally made me fall in love with acting again.
Oh my gosh! 9-1-1‘s power.
Yeah. I’m having such a good time and being on set again after all those years. And being around these high vibrational people and actors — it is just such a dream come true. So yeah, it was just an audition. She sent me a few auditions my way, and I put in on tape, and then suddenly I was on set.
Well Hotshots is hilarious. I love how it’s both extremely meta and gives you the opportunity to do this layered acting as Brad Torrence and as Captain Race Banner. Fans have been loving it, it looks like you’re having a blast, and I know Peter Krause is a big fan of Hotshots. What was it like working so closely on that?
It’s so amazing. I mean, I’ve been a fan of his since Six Feet Under. It’s so funny, I told him the other day that I was in a TV show called Dead Like Me on Showtime at the same time he was on Six Feet Under on HBO, and I would do these press conferences for Dead Like Me. And because it was all about death, they would ask me about the comparisons. I would spend more time talking about Six Feet Under than my show, and the people at Showtime would be like, “Come on, you’ve got to talk about our show more.” I’ve always been a fan, so working with him was so amazing. His excitement about this aspect of the storyline is just so contagious. He gives so much, there’s so much energy there, and we’re just having fun with it.
Aw, I love that. 9-1-1 is known for its disaster episodes and you got a front row seat the this large-scale premiere emergency. What was that like to behold?
First of all, I had no idea the scale of this show. When I turned up on set and they just off-the-cuff told me they were going to shut the freeway down with downtown in the background, I was like, “What kind of money do we have here?!” [Laughs] It was such a brilliant experience. And again, especially after having such a long time off — to be in that atmosphere where the budget allows them to play, and go big, and use their imaginations…being around that energy and the bigness of it, the scale of it, is so overwhelming and so amazing. I just feel very, very blessed to have been there specifically on at that time when we shut the whole freeway down. It was so fun.
You also got to share a scene in the stolen 119 truck with Peter and Oliver Stark. I loved the joke about your accent. How was it acting with your fellow Brit, Oliver? I saw he took a gorgeous photo of you on set, so I imagine you two hit it off.
We hit it off straight away. It must be the Brit thing. But immediately we were like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He jokingly said at one point, “It’s in my contract that there’s no other British people on the show.” [Laughs] So we laughed about that and then just hit it off. He is such an amazing, beautiful person. And it’s nerve-wracking coming into a cast that has been together for eight years. You’re trying to fit in, and trying to raise your level of acting and your vibration to them. I got a bit nervous at one point, and Oliver sent me the most beautiful text saying, “You’re doing a great job. It’s normal being nervous.” It’s such a giving cast, but especially me and him hit it off straight away. And that picture was so beautiful. He carries around this vintage camera and is snapping away, capturing the most beautiful moments on set. I didn’t even know he was taking that picture, so it’s a real candid.
His photography this season has been such a hit. It’s so generous of him to share and I hope we see more of it. I’m glad you two got to share that scene together, and I’m glad Brad got to say his catchphrase, “Let’s saddle up, boys!”
[Laughs] I’m not going to give too much away, but I get to say that a little bit more. I’m going to try to make that work. I try to make that catch on.
So we haven’t seen the last of Brad and Hotshots yet? I know earlier in the season Peter said Tim Minear loved the show within a show so much that he planned to milk it for a while.
Yeah. What they have run with in terms of Hotshots is going to blow your mind. It is so fun, so neat, and they’re really exploring this whole show within a show.
I hope we see Brad visit the 118. Maybe he gets his dream weekend hanging with the firefighters. Maybe there’s a Hotshots emergency that the 118 responds to. Or we get to go see the play he co-wrote. [Laughs]
I’m the same way. I can see so many possibilities with this storyline.
Well Brian Thomson’s Captain Gerrard has a very problematic past on the show, but it seems like he may be trying to turn over a new leaf since Buck saved his life. After he helps Hen nail Councilwoman Ortiz in Episode 4, he trades places with Bobby and is so starstruck by Brad. Do you think those two are going to get along? I’m sure Brad’s really going to miss Bobby…
I think that Brad can tell who’s a real hero and might be able to see straight through Gerrard, because he relates with him; the ego and the noise. The reason that Brad is latching on to Bobby is because he sees that divine masculine quality in him — the nurturer, and the protector, and the giver. So he’ll likely see that Gerard isn’t that. I think they may butt heads, and I don’t know if Brad will have any of this nonsense.
I can’t what to see what’s in store. Looking back at these first four episodes, what have you taken away from working on the show?
What comes to mind first is that I’m just awestruck at how this show and the actors and writers can balance action, high comedy, and the most beautiful, touching moments. It’s very rare that a show can explore and express all of those things in such a beautiful and brilliant way. I don’t know how they do it, but I find myself watching the show and being so impressed. It’s just unbelievable. And the one thing that I want to touch upon about being on set is how giving the cast is. I think — actually, I know — that’s the reason they are so successful. All of the actors lift each other up and they they’ve done that for me as well. They egg each other on and say, “That was brilliant.” It’s the most giving cast that I’ve ever been a part of. They are best friends and they are just laughing, and joking, and playing games constantly. It is so much fun for them to be there. And I think that is the secret of their success, because when you’re having fun with something, you find the joy and connections and relationships in something, then it’s got to be a success. What you’re seeing on screen is real behind the scenes as well.
Oh that’s every fan’s dream to hear. That’s so heartwarming. Speaking of fans, what do you have to say to the 9-1-1 fans who’ve warmly welcomed Brad?
I would like to say thank you. I get to express the spoiled brat little child in me that people can’t express in the real world because we’d be in a lot of trouble. That is the beauty of being an actor, we can have tantrums, but Brad’s heart is in the right place. The way he goes about things obviously wouldn’t work in the real world, but the beauty is I can express that and have fun with it. Thank you for embracing Brad. And just remember, his heart is in the right place, and his journey is one to watch, because we can all learn something.
Before we go, I’ve seen some 9-1-1 fans coming to the realization that you were in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Anne Hathaway recently announced Princess Diaries 3 is in the works. Even though you didn’t end up together, would you be open to returning as in some capacity as a fun little callback or something?
It was such an honor to be part of such a classic, beautiful movie. I remember when I was a baby watching Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews and maybe five or six years old just watching that and thinking, “I want to be in a Disney movie one day.” The fact that I ended up in my early 20s in a Disney movie with Julie Andrews, who played Mary Poppins, is like a dream come true. Manifestation is real. I am so honored to be a part of that. And to be a part of the third one? Of course! I would say, I can’t imagine how they would bring him back, because the joke was that they had no chemistry whatsoever. But whatever happens, I wish them all the luck and success in the world, and I’m so excited to see it. They’re great movies. And I’m so happy that Chris Pine and Anne Hathaway kind of went on to be two of the biggest movie stars in the world. I’m their biggest cheerleaders, and they were such sweet people.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of 9-1-1 Season 8 premiere Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.