After Oliver Stark’s first day of filming one of 9-1-1’s most ambitious, high-scale disaster episodes — Season 3’s “Sink or Swim,” which showed a tsunami hitting the Santa Monica pier — he went back to his hotel room, hopped in a hot shower, and cried over the realization that he was living his dream. Four seasons later, he still experiences those overwhelming feelings of accomplishment and pride for his role on the hit first responder drama.
“Are you asking if I’m still crying in the shower?” Stark said with a chuckle during a Zoom call with Decider. “On occasion, but for different reasons.”
The 32-year-old actor who plays firefighter Evan “Buck” Buckley on 9-1-1, now in its seventh season, no longer sobs while he shampoos these days, but he “absolutely” has moments of immense gratitude for the show and its success.
“Especially over the last few weeks, there has obviously been a lot of attention on 9-1-1 — and I’ve been at the center of a lot of that,” Stark said. “It’s been amazing to be reminded of the cultural impact that a show like this can have. We have such a good time making it that it almost feels like this little project I go and make with my friends. You forget how many eyes are actually on it at the end of the day…it’s been a really beautiful reminder of the work that we’re doing.”
Since Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear’s procedural found a new home on ABC after Fox canceled it in 2023, 9-1-1‘s been having a banner year. Season 7 premiered with an epic three-episode homage to The Poseidon Adventure, sent the 118 on a call to the Bachelor mansion for a crossover, celebrated a historic 100th episode milestone, and dominated ratings as Nielsen’s top-rated primetime drama of the season among adults 18-49. Atop its list of Season 7 triumphs is the bisexual awakening of Stark’s character Buck, who shared a same-sex kiss with returning character Tommy Kinard (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) and subsequently came out to his sister and best friend in the midseason finale.
Though Stark only learned about the arc a few episodes before the monumental kiss, the actor, along with a significant portion of fans, felt the storyline was long overdue. When viewers first met Buck in Season 1, he was a womanizing, self-diagnosed sex addict with a wild side. Over the years he’s shown incredible growth, but still emerged from numerous romances with women feeling unfulfilled. While Buck’s formative relationships played out, the show continuously hinted that he wasn’t heterosexual in moments as small as Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) saying he had a “boy crush” on Eddie (Ryan Guzman) to scenes as in-your-face as that crossover episode convo between Buck and 9-1-1: Lone Star‘s TK. As crumbs piled up and seasons passed, fans feared the show was leading them on with no real intentions of making Buck canonically queer. Then came Tommy, and everything fell into place.
“I have a lot of trust in Tim Minear, our showrunner, so there weren’t really any stipulations or anything like that from me. As soon as he said it, I was so excited. We had this phone call and he asked me about the storyline, and I said. ‘Absolutely, I’m on board.’ And then I think it probably only took about 10 minutes before I sent him a follow-up text of ‘I’m so happy. I’m so excited,’” Stark said of Buck’s new romance. While he wasn’t consciously exploring Buck’s sexuality in earlier seasons, the actor admits he’s been more aware of that side of his character since Season 4. “Certainly in Season 7 I had decided, let me lean more into this. So when Tim brought this storyline to me, it was a lovely coincidence. Everything was lining up correctly.”
Tommy was introduced in Season 2, left the 118 for a job at LAFD Air Operations, and recently returned to help save Bobby (Peter Krause) and Athena (Angela Bassett) from their capsized cruise ship. With only three episodes filmed together in Season 7, Stark and Ferrigno Jr. haven’t had much time to get to know each other, though they hopped on a call the day before their characters kissed to discuss how the scene might play out.
“That [scene] didn’t really go the way that I thought it would, which is the lovely thing about this job, that you get to discover things in the moment,” Stark said. “I really enjoy [Lou]. I really enjoy working with him. I think he’s been a great addition to the show, and I look forward to — assuming Tommy sticks around for a while — continuing to develop that relationship with him on-screen and off-screen.”
After Buck and Tommy’s first date ended early, Buck came out to his sister and best friend in two moving scenes, creating a juxtaposition in tone that Stark loved. “It was much more lighthearted and wholesome with Maddie. She almost poked fun at him a little bit in a very sisterly way, and I liked that it felt fun and didn’t feel like this big, brave, heavy, deep coming out moment,” he said. “With Eddie, it did feel a little bit heavier, which I think was a really interesting choice…I really enjoyed that we got to show that coming out can feel like different things, depending on who you’re talking to, and that, thankfully in this case for Buck, there was a supportive end to both conversations.”
A majority of 9-1-1’s fandom embraced and celebrated Buck’s bisexuality following the kiss, but Stark went on Instagram to call out “the smaller group” of haters who were unhappy with the arc because of sheer homophobia or the belief that the storyline was written solely as fan service.
“He’s not suddenly the bisexual character. He’s the same character he was, but he also understands his bisexuality.”
“Tim as a writer is not a man who will ever write anything on anybody else’s terms. He’s only going to tell the story that he thinks is right to tell. If we were just doing it for the sake of it, I don’t think it would be positive representation at all. I think it would feel shoehorned in, and in actual fact, that will be counterproductive for sending a good message,” Stark told Decider. “I think this is a natural progression for the storytelling of Buck. He’s not suddenly bi just so that we can have a bi character. He’s uncovered this bisexual side of himself because that’s what was right for the character and for the storytelling, and I think that is credit to him being a fully fleshed and fully fledged character. He’s not suddenly the bisexual character. He’s the same character he was, but he also understands his bisexuality.”
When discussing Buck’s sexuality, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge the “Buddie” of it all — the fandom’s couple name for Buck and fellow 118 firefighter Eddie Diaz. Since Guzman joined the cast in Season 2, a large group of 9-1-1 fans began shipping a friends-to-lovers storyline between the besties, which Stark said has “built a specific bond” between him and Guzman over the years.
“In the earlier seasons we used to discuss it a lot, because we would have all these edits and fan pictures flood in and it was really fun to share those with each other. And then we moved away from that a little bit, because we were unclear if by watching these things and interacting with them, if we were feeding into a narrative that maybe was never going to happen, [and] if that was then maybe somewhat unfair to the audience,” Stark explained. Over the last couple of years, the co-stars decided it wasn’t their responsibility to manage those expectations and set out to make the most authentic show possible. “Then it’s not your property anymore. It’s the audience’s to consume and build what they want out of it. So we’ve loosened up a little bit on that. But I do think our bond has been strengthened by it.”
When asked if he’s ever watched a fan edit that’s gotten him behind the ship, Stark flashed a wide grin, giggled a bit, and said, “Oh, 100%. 100%. I watch certain edits and I think ‘Am I Team Buddie?’ because there are really talented editors out there. And you know how it is. You put the right song over it and you throw the right moments in, and I’m like, ‘Wait, I’m weeping in the shower.’”
“If they ended up taking Ryan’s character in that direction and it feels right for the story I’m always open to it.”
As Season 7 currently stands, Stark is excited to explore a budding romance with Tommy, but there’s no denying some of the moments that hinted at Buck’s bisexuality over the years were between him and Eddie. “I even said to [Tim Minear], there’s a scene in the first episode [of Season 7] where Eddie reveals that he’s going — or he mentions a first date, and it in fact ends up being Christopher’s first date. And Buck has this moment of “Oh. I thought things were going great with Marisol…’ So little moments where I felt like, ‘Is there scope to play with Buck?’” Stark said.
The actor may have been hesitant to declare himself Team Buddie in the past, but should the show naturally bring the character together down the line, he’ll happily join fans in celebrating.
“If they ended up taking Ryan’s character in that direction and it feels right for the story I’m always open to it. I’m always open to whatever feels like is the right path for these characters,” Stark said. If the storyline is written one day, he’s confident it will be the result of more than just fan service. “I think you can’t ever do it for those reasons. If you’re going to do it, it has to be because the story dictates that it should move in that direction. If that does end up being the case, then of course. Yeah. I’m all for it.”
With only five episodes left in the season and Maddie and Chimney’s wedding on the horizon, 9-1-1 might not have much time left to explore Buck’s new relationship this spring, but Stark is happy to share the spotlight.
“I try not to center — or I don’t want to center myself too much,” he told Decider. “Because there are fantastic actors and writers involved with the show across the board. Just to get to be a part of that is still a very surreal experience for me in general. I still go to work and look at my castmates, and I think, how am I here with all of you?”
The early Season 8 pickup shows there are plenty more stories left for Stark and the 9-1-1 team to tell, and with the positive Season 7 response, the actor is feeling reinvigorated.
“The fact that the audience is only growing shows that we’re doing good stuff and making really good choices that are having people become more and more invested,” Stark said. “It’s such a lovely show…And I’m very inspired by who these characters are.”
New episodes of 9-1-1 premiere Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.
