9-1-1 Recasts Harry: Here’s the Story Behind the Season 7 Surprise
While the world collectively processed Buck’s sexual awakening in Thursday’s episode of 9-1-1, don’t miss another major development from the ABC show’s 100th episode: they recast Harry!
Athena was stunned when she woke up to find her son cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Not only did she think he was still living with Michael in Miami, but she barely recognized her grown-up son, now played by Elijah M. Cooper.
Marcanthonee Reis, who has played Harry since 9-1-1 debuted in 2018, “is ready to move on,” showrunner Tim Minear explained to TVLine. “I reached out to Marcanthonee, who hadn’t been around for a minute, and I pitched him this story. I think he liked the story, but he just wanted to do something new.”
Minear saw this as an opportunity to rethink the character, casting an actor who looked a little older. (“Ironically, I think the actors are around the same age,” Minear laughs.) “Part of this story is about not recognizing your own child, so it wasn’t like it was a pun or a joke,” he adds. “If you’re going to put a new actor in a beloved role, you want to acknowledge the fact that something has changed. So it felt like a natural way to introduce this new Harry into a story where Athena is saying, ‘I look at my child, and he’s grown up so much, and I don’t recognize him.’” That theme came up twice with Athena this week. At home, Harry has a warrant for his arrest due to a dispute with a convenience store owner. And in the field, Athena encounters a blind woman who mistook her son for an intruder before shooting him dead.
Although Harry avoided jail, he’s not completely out of trouble. He has to complete 100 hours of community service, which he’ll do under the supervision of his mother.
What did you think of the new Harry on 9-1-1? Rate the show’s 100th episode below, then leave a comment with your thoughts on the big hour.
