9-1-1's Angela Bassett on Her Favorite Disaster and Nearly a Decade of Playing Athena

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for 9-1-1, Season 8 Episode 7, "Hotshots." Read at your own risk!]

Much like the rest of her co-stars on 9-1-1, Angela Bassett has come to realize that her real life has paralleled that of her character, Sgt. Athena Grant-Nash. Like Athena and her husband, fire captain Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), Bassett and her husband, Courtney B. Vance, are finally empty nesters, with their twin children, Slater and Bronwyn, now in the middle of their freshman year of college.

In this week's episode of the ABC procedural drama, Athena, LAPD's finest patrol officer, is forced to confront the inevitable passage of time in a different way. After successfully executing an undercover sting to catch all but one of a group of chat room users who conspired to rob a jewelry store, Athena comes face-to-face with the alleged mastermind behind the operation. But during a foot chase to catch the suspect, Athena pulls her hamstring, preventing her from making the arrest.

As if walking around with a not-so-noticeable limp wasn't enough, Athena is unhappy to learn that her boss, Elaine (Claudia Christian), has paired her up with probationary officer Matthew Sparks, the top recruit from the police academy (played by Zach Tinker) who specifically requested to ride with and study under Athena. Suddenly, while trying to keep up with Sparks, Athena has to face the fact that she is no longer as nimble as she once was.

"I think she's going to be faced with the reality that even though she still has the mental capacity, the instincts [and] the experience, physicality is physicality, and years wear that down," Bassett told TV Guide of her fierce character, whom she describes as a lone wolf at work. "So, she's really going to have to get past her hubris, her ego, and take into account what the next years [of her life] will be and how she can best continue to serve."

By the end of the episode, Athena seems to have found an answer. Athena and Sparks manage to track down the suspect at his place of work, a delivery company. But rather than join his superior in the patrol car, Sparks recklessly jumps on to the back of the truck that the suspect uses to get away. While Sparks manages to force the suspect to stop the truck before hitting a police barricade, Athena says she no longer wants to ride with Sparks, believing his overzealousness to be a potential liability on the streets.

Athena's suspicions are later proven correct. After pulling over a mother who refuses to cooperate with his and his new partner's orders, Sparks — who previously told Athena that he entered policing because he wanted to feel the same power that had left his alcoholic, abusive father scared out of his mind when the cops were called on him — accidentally pulls his gun rather than his taser out of his holster and shoots the woman. While the woman survives, Sparks' career is over before it ever really begins.

Despite her negative experience with Sparks, Athena tells Elaine that she wants to ride with more rookies because she now views it as her duty to help train and mentor the next generation of officers, many of whom she knows could fall prey to the systemic issues of policing like Sparks did. "I think [Athena] being a person serving not only her community, but [also] serving those in partnership with her, a potential partnership with her will mean a great deal," Bassett says.

In a rare, one-on-one interview about 9-1-1, Bassett opens up about the evolution of her onscreen counterpart, her thoughts on the show's most epic emergencies (including her reaction to showrunner Tim Minear telling her that Athena would have to land a plane on a freeway earlier this season) — and why, despite her growing slate of projects, she remains committed to playing Athena for the foreseeable future.

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In this week's episode, Athena comes to terms with the fact that while she may be losing half a step physically on the job, and she has a lot of wisdom to impart to the next generation of police officers to ensure that they don't enter that line of work for the wrong reasons. As you reflect on her journey up until this point, how do you think Athena has evolved personally and professionally over the years?

Angela Bassett: I think that when we first encountered Athena and her origin story, her backstory, we saw what propelled her to get into a life of service. But also, there was a great deal of pain associated with that. I think as it figures in this story, there's going to be, unbeknownst to her, some resolution to that [pain], some closure, finally, in terms of her first love, Emmett, who was senselessly killed on-site.

I think she's been a lone wolf, alone with her thoughts in her patrol car, relying on her instincts, her abilities, her way with people. She's just a very grounded individual — and I think she continues to be. She's a straight shooter, pulls no punches, but I think she's going to be faced with the reality that even though she still has the mental capacity, the instincts [and] the experience, physicality is physicality, and years wear that down. So, she's really going to have to get past her hubris, her ego, and take into account what the next years [of her life] will be and how she can best continue to serve.

I know she enjoys her work. She gets a great deal of satisfaction and meaning from it, so how can that continue? In what capacity can that continue? And at the end of this episode, she figures out that, perhaps, it is about passing it on, helping another [younger cop], lending a hand, and pulling someone up and allowing them to see and experience what she has. She's a good cop. And I think in every arena, there's room for the good, the bad, and the ugly. But in terms of this particular job, I think being a person serving not only her community, but [also] serving those in partnership with her, a potential partnership with her, will mean a great deal.

Since the show moved to ABC, you've been at the center of two huge emergencies: the capsized cruise ship and the plane landing on a Los Angeles freeway. At this point, is there any part of you that is still surprised whenever Tim calls and pitches you what he has planned for a premiere?

Bassett: Oh my gosh. [I'm] always surprised when he calls, and it's great having him at the helm of these disasters. Although, I have to say, I did enjoy the plane over the ship. [Laughs.]

I don't blame you!

Bassett: I enjoyed the wind over the rain, I guess. But yeah, it's been exciting, and it's also been a great challenge because when he told me, "Oh yeah, Athena's going to land a plane with a 9-year-old helping her — a 9-year-old gamer [laughs] — it was like, to my mind, "Are we going to buy that? Are we going to be able to believe that? How is that possible?" So it was a real pleasure to see how that was crafted and then to get in there with the tech advisor and really try. I really think I'm somewhat capable in a dire emergency. Tim Minear makes me believe that I can do anything.

Looking back at all eight seasons of the show, do you have a favorite major disaster? Was there one that you felt was particularly difficult for you to execute as an actor?

Bassett: Oh my gosh. Well, for me, absolutely, the plane has been the topper. The ship was a little physically uncomfortable, but it was also an enjoyable experience because we worked with a lot of actors — visiting actors or co-stars. So it was like we were our own little troop after a couple of months of building that cruise ship and destroying it as well. I really enjoyed the camaraderie that we had on that episode. 

Athena and Bobby's relationship has remained a steady cornerstone of the show from the very beginning. How do you think Athena's partnership with Bobby has shaped her as a person?

Bassett: I think with Bobby and Athena, she definitely has that soft place to land. He provides a great deal of patience and calm, although he has his issues in his past and his experience that he's dealing with, but they're very accepting of one another and what they've gone through — without judgment or condemnation. And that's what you look for in the world: someone who sees you and accepts you and allows you to grow at the pace that you need to, but they're there with a helping hand, should you need or ask for it, and a shoulder to cry on. 

You've truly never been busier professionally — you're returning for the next Mission Impossible, you shot Zero Day earlier this year, and you're producing a massive slate of projects with your husband, Courtney B. Vance. At this stage of your life and career, how do you go about choosing the kinds of stories you want to tell as an actor and a producer, and what continues to excite you creatively about returning to play Athena year after year?

Bassett: Well, I'm still excited about Athena and playing her because of the family that we have built, the stories that we tell, the way in which we connect with the community, with the public, with our fans. They see themselves in these people, and they see themselves as a part of our family, so I love that. I think that's just a very special thing, an incredible thing that we've been able to accomplish in the television landscape of things. Courtney and I look at projects that speak to us individually and collectively, and, ultimately, that just touch us in our guts. So we love history, we love biographies, comedy, drama, the whole slate. 

This is officially the longest you've ever played a single character. Eight seasons and over 110 episodes later, do you still have any unanswered questions about Athena? Is there something in particular about her life, her past, or her family that you're still hoping to explore in the near future?

Bassett: I'll really just leave that up to the writers and to Tim. It's interesting how a lot of it sometimes mirrors my own life in terms of, for example, the empty nest with my kids going off to college this year, and how husband and wife reconnect when [their kids'] voices, their energy and their vibe is not there. So it's been very interesting. Also, the whole idea of getting older and slowing down — I know last week I was dealing on set with my neck and the chiropractor. I was sleeping wrong on a plane and winding up with a crook in my neck that was debilitating for almost two weeks, but yet... the show must go on. So you do what you have to [in order to push through]. You take that Tylenol and you limp through. You land planes, you crusade, you serve and you protect, and you do those things that must go on and you do them without complaint. So I look forward to the next adventure with Athena, always.

9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.