max gao with lou ferrigino jr. about season 7
“It was a discussion if I would be willing to have this romantic moment [with Buck], which would be very dissimilar to what I have been really doing thus far,” Ferrigno Jr. tells The Hollywood Reporter in his first official interview about his return to 9-1-1.”
The storyline between Buck and Tommy “evolved over time, but I knew that it was going to be with Oliver, and I’ve always been a fan of Oliver and his work,” Ferrigno Jr. says. “I think that it was going to be an experience that would be very beautiful and tender. It just goes beyond labels. It goes beyond names, groups, orientations. It’s two connected souls, and that’s what I wanted to achieve.”
I mean, who’s not attracted to Buck? He’s lovable. He’s a hot dude. He’s a hero. Tommy is just vibing [at first], and then all of a sudden, when he just got that cue [in episode four] — when Buck said, “I’ve been trying to get your attention,” and Tommy is like, “My attention?”
I briefly touched [Buck’s] chin to bring him in [for the first kiss] — and they’re very real situations. I’m putting myself in the situation: If it’s my friend and I’m here, and I’m going to go in for this kiss, that would just come about. But when I did the chin thing, [the fans] were on Twitter [asking me], “Was this scripted or not?” And then I just randomly chimed in because I was like, “No, it was my choice. Do you approve?” And then they were all like, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” And then basically they’re saying, “Thank you for being so gentle with Buck.”