Entertainment Weekly - 10.2019

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2019

VEN A DAY AT THE BEACH IS

cause for drama on this Fox

hit. For its third-season

premiere, 9-1-1 is wiping

out the Santa Monica Pier

with a massive tsunami—

and firefighter Buck (Oliver

Stark) is among those dropping the fun-

nel cake and running for dear life. “I

thought we had gone as big as you could

possibly go, but no, there’s more,” jokes

star Angela Bassett, referencing season 2’s

multi-episode earthquake premiere. The

effects and scale are so huge that produc-

tion is using the Mexico-based water tanks

James Cameron employed to film 1997’s

Titanic. “We re-created Santa Monica

streets in this tank, along with a piece of

the Santa Monica Pier,” says showrunner

and co-creator Tim Minear (American

Horror Story). “The tsunami hits, and

what’s left is the sign that says ‘Santa

Monica Pier’ and the top 30 percent of

the Ferris wheel sticking out of the ocean.”

Once that crisis is averted, though, things

are hardly calm for the newly married

Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena (Bassett).

The seventh episode of the season will

finally give viewers Athena’s origin story

and reveal what drove her to join the police.

“We’re all getting along well with this new

family, this new dynamic, and then, of

course in this 9-1-1 world, something hap-

pens,” teases Bassett. “This whole discovery

that just brings up her past and what has

made her who she is.” Adds Minear: “We

see a very young Athena and an event that

took place in the ’90s which has come back

to haunt her a little bit in the present day.

She unravels a mystery from her youth as

we tell that story in parallel timelines.”

Brace for impact. �

E

Michael Sheen, 50,

stars as a notorious

and prolific serial

killer whose son

uses his homicidal

heritage to help the

NYPD solve murder

cases. We talked to

Sheen about taking

on such a deadly

serious role.

What made you

want to be part of

this series?

What I want to see

in a pilot episode is

lots of possibility,

options, and things

to potentially

explore. I thought

the script was fasci-

nating: We have a

character who has

done some of the

most awful things

that a human being

can do and yet

seems to be a loving

father. He has all

these contradictory

things in him. I just

thought there was

so much under

the surface.

How is working

with Bellamy Young

(Scandal) and Tom

Payne (The Walking

Dead) as your

wife and son?

Tom has really

committed to it,

emotionally and

psychologically.

And Bellamy’s char-

acter is just won-

derful, and she’s

brilliant at playing

it. Watching it,

you can’t wait for

those characters

to have scenes

together.

The pilot sets up

a pretty twisted

gothic tale to

come. What can

you tease?

There’s repressed,

under-the-surface

horror and an

almost operatic

feel. Because of the

social circles that

the characters

move in, you can

imagine that if

Tennessee Williams

was going to write

a horror, he might

write this. There

are moments when

I sit back and go,

“That is really

daaark.” It’ll be

interesting to see

people’s reactions.

—RUTH KINANE

Michael

Sheen

PRODIGAL SON’S

New Drama

SEPT—23

9 pm � FOX

Returning

Drama

Season 3

SEPT— 23

8 PM ● FOX

STORY BY

Tim Stack

PRODIGAL SON

: MARK SELIGER/FOX