The ABC drama lead reflects on her police officer character aging and wanting an assist in the field.
Sometimes art imitates life — even if you don’t want it to.
“Last week, with Athena, it was her hamstring. With Angela, it was my neck,” Angela Bassett tells Entertainment Weekly, comparing her injury to that of her 9-1-1 character, Athena. “But the show must go on. So she carried on and so did I.”
The 66-year-old laughs off her own neck issues, but she believes Athena’s physical constraints are beginning to change the Los Angeles police sergeant’s thoughts about taking on a partner.
Being assigned a rookie didn’t go so well on last week’s episode, ending with her new partner (played by Zach Tinker) facing legal issues after shooting an unarmed mom. But, Bassett says, “I’m wondering, will he be the last? At the end of the episode, she’s sort of open to the idea of it. Athena doesn’t want to admit that she’s slowing down, so she fights it. But she’s realistic and pragmatic, ultimately — just once she gets past her ego and her stubbornness.”
The star reveals she and the 9-1-1 team “talked about maybe bringing on a partner for Athena maybe about three years ago, during one of the hiatuses. So I was sort of looking forward to that, but then it never happened.”
A partner at work may free Athena up for more time with her partner at home, Bobby (Peter Krause).
“You know, life doesn’t slow down. It’s always something every day,” Bassett says of life for the first responders, who have been figuring out their next move after their house burned down at the end of season 7. “I’m wondering when we’re going to be settled in our nest!”
But first, there’s the midseason finale, which Bassett teases will feature Athena in a “very exciting story that deals with a moral crusader in our community, someone who considers himself a cop, but a cart cop, C-A-R-T.”
And what exactly is that? “You know when you go to Trader Joe’s and carts are all over the parking lot and you’re rushing to get in your car and you neglect to take your cart back to the corral? Well, this young crusader is out for justice because that’s just the beginning, in his estimation, of moral decay. I’m investigating a case that involves him. And surprisingly, he and I have a little bit in common…. Although he really does try to insist that people do the right thing and that’s something you can’t do, because then folk tend to double down.”
