‘9-1-1’ Star Ryan Guzman Breaks Down Eddie’s Midseason Move To Texas: ‘He’s Found Self-Love Again’ (Exclusive)

The actor discusses what’s next for Eddie on the ABC drama, including a hopeful reunion with his son Christopher.

With the midseason return of 9-1-1, Season 8 has no shortage of shakeups in store. Llast year, Eddie (Ryan Guzman), after one-too-many painful and dismissive FaceTime chats with his son Christopher (Gavin McHugh), made the decision to journey to El Paso, Texas to reunite with his child. After a whirlwind series of events for the family (like a dalliance with the doppelganger to his late ex-wife, which Chris walked in on), Eddie faces a quandary over the state of his priorities.

In “Sob Stories,” Buck (Oliver Stark) must finally reckon with the gaping hole Eddie’s departure will leave in his life. And he expresses that tension as gracelessly as one might expect.

“What’s the cool term the kids use nowadays? Pick me?” Guzman tells Parade of how he views his onscreen bestie.

“The 118 is near and dear to Eddie. But when it comes to the 118 or Christopher, it’s Christopher all the way,” the actor continues, “And Buck being Buck, making everything about himself, tends to be possessive a little bit.”

Check out our exclusive interview with Guzman, who delves into Eddie’s growth over the course of seven seasons, his priorities and what’s next for the character

In the midseason finale, your character has a bit of a fatherhood crisis, reaching this epiphany while talking with character Brad Torrance. Can you talk me through how you believe Eddie naturally gets to the decision to move?

Over the course of seven years, we’ve seen Christopher grow up in front of our eyes, from a little boy to now a teenager. So I think that’s exactly what’s happening with Eddie. Eddie is starting to understand that Chris is growing up and he no longer needs him. The times that he was dependent on him are few and far between. Now, even though [Chris is] 14 years old, and he feels independent, Eddie is reminded that his fatherly duties are really important to him and a priority. So however messed up the situation was between him, Eddie and his doppelganger for his ex-wife and the chaos it caused, he’s owned up to it, and now he has to make amends for it. So it’s been really nice to see Eddie find some joy again with the whole dancing scene [homage to Risky Business]. But now that he’s found that self-love again, it’s time to get back into fatherhood and do what needs to be done.

In that episode, Buck is initially supportive, but we see that facade kind of drop a bit. The 118 is kind of like family to Eddie. But then again, Chris is his actual family. Could you expand on that tension?

The 118 is near and dear to Eddie. But when it comes to the 118 or Christopher, it’s Christopher all the way. And Buck being Buck, making everything about himself tends to be possessive a little bit. And I think, within this episode, we’ll see what that entails and how he’s helping–but not really helping–Eddie move. So I think it’s very hard for Eddie to move. But given his priorities, he has to pull the trigger.

Maybe in the past, if Eddie wasn’t so used to it, he might have exploded on Buck. But Eddie’s treating Buck almost like his second child. I got so many things going on in my life, I know my priority is to get back to my son and finally get this house rented out. And for whatever reason, my best friend is sabotaging. But instead of just going crazy about it, you just kind of [roll] with the punches.

In real life, you’re a father of two. How has that, if at all, informed your performance as a dad on screen?

I feel like sometimes I’m just a vessel. Actually, a lot of times I feel I’m just a vessel of what I’m learning and what I’m picking up from my own kids and applying into my acting. My two children are the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my entire life. So it’s evolved me in my acting in so many ways and reorganized the priorities for myself. So at one point in time I felt this incessant urge to try and be the next big movie star, TV star, or whatever it is. But now all I see is I just want to be the best dad I possibly can. I look forward to picking up my kids at school and spending time with them and teaching them how to take care of themselves. And because of that, I think just by proxy, being so close to it, now Eddie gets to get some of that as well. So it’s definitely given me more sympathy towards the character and allowed for more nuances and textures.

As an actor, can you preview what your presence on the show will look like? Will we get glimpses, will Eddie visit?

Oh man, I do not know. I’ll be in Texas for a bit. How or when or if I get back to L.A. is to be determined right now. But I know the bulk of my storyline is getting back into the swing of Texas, trying to establish any kind of job in Texas, and then again, reconnect with my son. Those are big enough tasks as is, and the 118 will be just fine without Eddie for now.

You filmed a role in the forthcoming action-thriller movie Midnight, now in post-production. Can you talk about your experience with that?

My experience was short and simple. I was there for maybe a week and a half or so. I got the privilege to work with Rosario Dawson, which, you know, is incredible. She’s one of those ones where you dream of working with because not only is she an incredible talent, but she’s an incredible person. At the very core of her, she’s just a very wholesome individual that wants everybody to succeed on set. So coming into that atmosphere, it was just like, all right, let’s play around with whatever character this is, because I got it last second.

But I play Herrera, who is a partner of hers. And they’re on special operations, so they do big stings. It was an opportunity to do a lot of action, shoot some guns, show off some more martial arts. And then, actually, I worked some of my art [into it], which I don’t know if I’ve ever done in any of my movies. We have this scene set up for taking down one of these bad guys, and I’ve not even met this guy yet. Bbut someone showed me a picture of him, and I just decided the night before to sketch him. I brought it to set, and I said, ‘Hey, what if we just use this?’ And next thing you know, they’re filming my art. So it was just so many beautiful opportunities to be part of Midnight. Milla Jovovich is in it. I’m over there just trying to be the third wheel and do my part. But everybody is an incredible actor. And I think it’s going to be a great, great movie.

As you mentioned, Eddie — as with every character on 9-1-1 — has changed immensely on the show. What do you think Eddie’s greatest evolution is?

I think the biggest thing was he came into the 118 not really expressive and held his emotions and his struggles closer to his sleeve. And then over the course of seven seasons, we saw the ultimate breakdown with him when he found out he lost some of the people that he served with, and from that moment, I think that was almost a release for him. It kind of allowed him to access certain things that he was holding back. It’s been a deconstruction over the last seven years, and then a reconstruction of him. So what I see with Eddie is him living in his vulnerabilities a little bit more confidently, allowing to trust himself a little bit more. And even within this last season when he’s dancing on the couch and everything, finding love for himself finally, without just giving all his love away to either a partner or to his son or to the 118, or saving somebody. So he’s coming around to the idea of a full life, rather than just so poignant on helping others and not helping himself out.