“This is not fair, I don’t want her to be sad,” the star says of how her own denial mirrored her character’s journey on the Fox drama.
9-1-1: Lone Star’s Tommy Vega has been through a lot.
After suddenly losing her husband in the season 2 finale and letting go of her would-be fiancé Pastor Trevor a few episodes ago, the EMT (played by Gina Torres) has now been diagnosed with breast cancer — collapsing on Monday’s episode and relinquishing her position as captain to Nancy (Brianna Baker) so she can undergo treatment.
It’s a storyline that Torres tells Entertainment Weekly has lead to many “lovely” moments on the Fox drama’s fifth and final season, but the actress admits she initially had reservations about the health development.
“I was like, ‘Leave me alone. Leave Tommy alone! This is not fair. I don’t want her to be sad,'” she recalls of first hearing about Tommy’s cancer, a plot point co-showrunner and executive producer Rashad Raisani recently revealed to EW was former Lone Star actress Sierra McClain’s idea.
So what changed Torres’ mind? Here’s what she has to say about her emotional scenes with Baker and the twins who play Tommy’s daughter — as well as what’s to come for the 126 as they learn Tommy’s news.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what shifted that made you on board for the storyline?
GINA TORRES: They explained how they wanted to do it and what their vision of the arc was. I mean, you come when you’re called. So that’s kind of how I thought of it: “Let me just get in here and tell this story.”
It’s also given you a lot to do with Brianna Baker — taking Tommy and Nancy’s relationship to another level.
It’s lovely because we have all gotten so close working together on this show. So to be able to bring that closeness that we actually have in real life and apply it to the storyline was easy and lovely and really organic. These aren’t easy scenes to play. It requires staying in a certain frame of mind and being in your body in a different way — especially since we’re kind of untouchable on the show. We play these incredible heroes who go through stuff but they always seem to get through the hard stuff, and this was different. It was nice to explore all those moments with Nancy.
At first, Tommy acts like her cancer treatment is going to be like a visit to the dentist…
I think there’s probably a healthy dose of denial. I mean, as much as a medical professional can be in denial about a cancer diagnosis. She’s at odds with herself, because she knows as much as she does know and because of everything that her character has been through in the last couple of years…. She doesn’t have time for this. She literally does not have time or the bandwidth to deal with this right now, and so she chooses not to.
What was it like filming the scene in season 5, episode 7 when Tommy collapses in front of her twins (played by Kelsey and Skyler Yates)?
I was so proud of my girls. I was so proud of the work that they did. They were on it, every take. They had to handle prompts, they had to handle language, they had to talk to disembodied voices that were supposed to be the 911 callers. And, honestly, because I was just laying there, I was able to really listen like a fly on the wall. So really what I took away from that scene is the heavy lifting that they had to do — and they did it. They handled it so beautifully. I was so proud.
Co-showrunner Rashad Raisani has said there is sort of a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington episode as the firehouse rallies around Tommy. What else can you tease about the rest of the season?
Hrm. I guess I can just say that they circle. The 126 will circle around Tommy when she needs them most, and you see the family dynamic that they all have. So she’s not left alone — let me put it that way — which is lovely.
Rashad also said it was great working with Stand Up to Cancer again. That has to be rewarding.
Yeah, a hundred percent. Anything we can do to shed more light on cancer research and make sure that people get the testing that they need…. If we can do that, then it’s not just entertainment — that’s something special.
