Fox drama co-creator Rashad Raisani breaks down the tense upcoming episodes for character Gina Torres.
Sierra McClain’s Grace may no longer be on 9-1-1: Lone Star, but the actress’s presence is still felt on set.
In Monday’s episode of the Fox first responder drama, paramedic Nancy (Brianna Baker) is tested for breast cancer after her boss, Tommy (Gina Torres), notices a lump in a nude photo Nancy accidentally sent to the entire fire department. But, in the final moments of season 5, episode 6, it’s revealed that while Nancy’s lump is fine, Tommy, who was tested in solidarity, is not.
“We didn’t want to go too directly into Tommy’s cancer,” 9-1-1: Lone Star co-director Rashad Raisani told Entertainment Weekly, noting that they chose to focus the story on Baker first, adding that the creative team was looking for more ways to “explore Nancy’s backstory in a deep way.” (Raisani previously revealed that the nude photo scandal was inspired by a local newscaster who discovered her thyroid cancer early thanks to a viewer who wrote in after discovering a lump in her neck.) But as for Tommy having cancer in the first place, that idea actually came from a conversation between McClain and Raisani before she left the show ahead of its fifth and current final season.
“She and I are very close, and we met to talk about her character, but then she brought up Gina,” Raisani said of her conversation with McClain. “She said, ‘I think Gina Torres is just a special actress and she could take on a role that would be even bigger than anything we’ve ever done for anyone, with more depth and more risk.’ And she said, ‘I mean, I don’t want to speak for another character, but what if she found out she had breast cancer?’ And I just thought, ‘Oh, that’s a genius introduction.’
Raisani sees this cancer storyline as a way to “begin the arcs of both Tommy and Nancy for this series, not to be conceited, but Tommy is going to have to face this monster of cancer. It’s going to affect everyone.”
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free daily newsletter to get the latest TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Tommy’s cancer not only helped McClain stay on the show, but it also marked the return of 9-1-1: Lone Star in partnership with Stand Up to Cancer. “They’re an incredible organization,” Raisani said. “They helped us so much with Owen’s cancer story in the first few seasons. And then, since he’s been in remission and has beaten cancer, we haven’t worked with them in the same way that we loved to in our early years,” he continued of the nonprofit, which they also found a way to briefly feature in season 4. “They’ve worked very closely with us, episode by episode, to make sure that we’re using the right terminology and treatments and all of these things accurately and appropriately, and hopefully we’re telling them with as much humanity as we can. We’re so grateful to have them involved again.”
