9-1-1’s Jennifer Love Hewitt was thrilled to hear that Oliver Stark’s character, Buck, would be coming out as bisexual during the show’s seventh season — and wanted to ensure that her character, Maddie, absorbed the news in a way that honored the story line.
“I was really excited about it,” Hewitt, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly about Buck’s sexual awakening. “My first reaction when I knew that it was happening was I just wanted to make sure that Maddie was going to react the way that I wanted her to, which was to be a mom, a big sister, and a support to say, ‘This is big, are we taking this all in? And is this really what’s in our brain and our heart? And how are we doing?’ Doing the check-in, but also saying, ‘Tell me about the hot guy’ and ‘OK, this is the new norm, I’m psyched.’”
Hewitt has played Stark’s on-screen sister since she joined the ensemble cast in season 2. Although the pair were introduced as estranged siblings, they have since become each other’s safe space and a fan-favorite dynamic of the series.
Luckily for Hewitt, 9-1-1 showrunner Tim Minear promised that Maddie would react to Buck’s big news “exactly the way” she hoped, and Hewitt was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Now, she’s excited to see how Maddie will navigate this next chapter with her brother, telling Us, “I look forward to exploring more over the new season. And I hope that we do.”
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Buck realized he was bisexual after having his first same-sex kiss with Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) on the show’s 100th episode in April. Maddie was the first of Buck’s inner circle to learn the news, as she picked up on a “he” pronoun while Buck was describing a recent date gone wrong.
While some fans thought Maddie was taken aback by her brother’s reveal, Hewitt sees it differently, saying both she and her character were not “surprised.”
“I just think that it was so brave of him to just say it out loud and to explore that in himself and to be there and be that person,” she gushed. “I think that Buck has always been somebody who’s never really settled into who he is as a person. And I think it’s exciting to see him maybe getting some answers in that. I feel excited for him as a friend and as a big sister.”
Playing a big sister to Buck, Hewitt said, is one of her favorite things about the role of Maddie, as she gets to act as both a sibling and “a mother” to her little brother after years of conflict with their mom and dad.
“They have obviously been through a lot with their parents,” she said of Maddie and Buck’s deepened bond over the years. “But I also love that now their parents have started to grow because Buck and Maddie have grown so close and sort of allowed them that.”
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Hewitt is also happy to have a scene partner in Stark, whom she feels just as protective of in real life as she does on screen.
“It’s just a joy to be able to work with Oliver and do that relationship,” she told Us. “I love being his sister. I really do. And I feel like in real life, I’m sort of like a sister to him. So it’s great. I just love it.”
New episodes of 9-1-1 air on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
