A week after 9-1-1 Season 7 brought the dreaded Doug Kendall (Brian Hallisay) back from the dead, showrunner Tim Minear resurrected another character who was killed off in Season 2.
In Season 7, Episode 7, “Ghost of a Second Chance,” Eddie’s late wife and Christopher’s mom appears in a touching flashback. But this time actor Devin Kelley did more than just reprise her role as Shannon Diaz, she also brought a brand new character named Kim to life in an unexpected doppelgänger storyline that finds Eddie exploring unresolved feelings and desperately seeking closure. Classic 9-1-1!
“Every time I come back, everyone looks at me and I’m like, ‘Never say die, baby.’ You can kill someone and then there can be life. That’s the beauty of TV Land,” Kelley told Decider over Zoom ahead of Kim’s big debut.
When her original 9-1-1 character Shannon passed away in Season 2 from injuries sustained in a car accident, Kelley admitted the death “hurt” her and fellow cast mates. Ultimately, she felt the decision was “for the betterment of the show” and would “make Eddie’s journey really, really interesting.” Now? “I just feel lucky to be able to come back in a different iteration to keep making it interesting,” Kelley said.
Hours before Kelley returned to 9-1-1 for the second time in Season 7, she spoke with Decider about her new character Kim, reuniting with Ryan Guzman and Gavin McHugh, her favorite Season 2 memories, the “beautiful mess” that awaits Eddie, and more.
DECIDER: We obviously have to start with Kim. [Laughs] 9-1-1 loves bringing characters back in creative ways, but you have the rare opportunity to return as a completely different character with a new look and a new storyline. What were your thoughts when you learned Tim Minear wanted to bring you back like this?
DEVIN KELLEY: First thought? I think I laughed first. [Laughs] I kind of find everything out through costumes, so wardrobe called and was like, “OK, you have to have a fitting tomorrow to be Kim.” And I was like, “Who?!” And she’s like, “Oh yeah, you’re a totally new person.” And what a gift as an actor. It’s such a testament to Tim’s creativity and Tim’s brain and the relationship that we have. He gave me my first job ever out of college, so I’ve known Tim for 15 years. (Sound familiar?) And this loyalty and this commitment and compatibility that we have is great. When I found out I was coming back as Kim, I was like, “Game on! How are we going to create this new person?” A lot of it was collaborating with wardrobe, and hair and makeup, and Tim and [executive producer and director] John Gray to craft a fully different human being, while still acknowledging that I’m very much the same actor who played Shannon. We had long days of hair and makeup tests and wardrobe figuring out how much of Shannon do we allow in. We found that along the way, but taking bangs off the face and not shopping at Free People anymore really did a lot for helping mine and create this character. [Laughs] That was a huge thing for me as an actor, to have the physical influence the internal approach.
You truly are so chic now.
Thank you so much. That alone, I was like, I’m fancy and I’m totally different person. I don’t need to do much as an actor, because you put me in a pair of denim platform heels and it’s going to change the way I do everything. [Laughs]
You’ve shared most of your scenes on the show with Ryan Guzman. What was it like working with him back in the day as Shannon and reuniting all these years later?
It felt like coming home. We had a home together as Shannon and Eddie, and we just get each other and laugh. We’re so happy to be around each other. It’s so easy. It’s like coming back to a relationship where we know each other very well and other’s ways of operating. We have a scene as Eddie and Shannon in tonight’s episode, and most of the crew has been the same for all of the seasons, but there were a couple new people and the director I hadn’t met yet, and they were just like, “Woah, your guys’ chemistry.” And we’re like, “Yep. We know how to do this. We’ve been here before. We’ve got it. Everyone stand back, we will run the show.”
I loved the inclusion of that scene, especially because it was a callback to that Christmas episode, which gave me one of the biggest happy cries of this show.
When we shot that day, Christopher comes out and sees Shannon, and I couldn’t not cry. But he totally went for the hug and I was in heels on the lawn and couldn’t stay upright, and we toppled. I don’t know if that’s the take they finally used, but we have a very cute puppy pile moment.
Later in tonight’s episode I knew what was coming with Eddie and Kim meeting at the restaurant, but I still gasped. Since Kim seems to be sticking around for a bit, can you tease what’s to come for her and Eddie?
All I can say is Eddie needs closure. He needs to be able to move on from Shannon in some way. And it looks as though Kim might serve the purpose in helping facilitate that.
We’ve also heard talk of a scene with Eddie that Ryan called “a perfect, beautiful disaster.” Do you think you were a part of that mystery scene?
[Laughs] I know what you’re talking about. And I’d say that sums it up pretty well. Yeah, it’s a beautiful mess. And that’s kind of what 9-1-1 is as a whole.
Do you think there’s a world in which Eddie’s relationship with Marisol survives this? Because it’s not looking good right now. He doesn’t appear to be handling the situation very well.
He’s not doing great. For all sides — it’s funny — us as the actors don’t really know anything going in. So there have been days when we’re all on set, and we’re all looking at each other going, “What do you know? What do you know? Who’s here to stay and who’s not?” We all get along so well as human beings and actors, but we’re aware that whatever Tim creates or whatever is on the page, we have to serve. But we’ve made jokes about a throuple, and maybe that would work. [Laughs] I think it would be cutting edge, so I’m in full support of it. Full power to all of us to being open, and loving, and very modern.
Going back to Shannon a bit, in the Season 7 premiere we she came back in a touching scene with Christopher. What did that mean to you? Because I know it was the first time you really got to revisit the show and these characters after so long.
It felt like such a gift because I put that in its box, just like Eddie put the letter in a box. That was a great run, and it’s done now. And what a joy to have the opportunity to come back and see the same crew and cast. It just felt like walking back into home where everyone’s like “OH HEY!” I’ve known John Gray, I worked with Tim Minear on the first show that I did, Chicago Code, so I’ve known him forever too. And he was directing that episode. The biggest thing was to see Gavin McHugh, who played Christopher, because he was very much a little boy when we started and this teenager came in. It was such a sweet family reunion between the three of us and when we did the scene for the first time, Gavin just turned around and looked at me and [gasped] and went, “Oh wow.” And so I hugged him and we had this moment of “We’re back. You’re back.” He kept trying to look at me during the scene and we were like, “We have to ignore each other. We can’t connect.” But he kept wanting to connect. I got to have full attention on him and give him so much love, and he was feeling that and trying to engage, and that’s not the point of the scene, but it was such a love bubble.
Oh my god, adorable. Shannon left the show in such a heartbreaking way. Were there any conversations back then about an alternate ending or a storyline that kept Shannon around — or at least alive — a little longer?
That’s a good question. Tim called me and warned me. It wasn’t like I was at a table read when I found out. So I knew. And everyone — from Eddie’s grandma on the show to Kenny, who plays Chim — was just like, “NOOOO!” Kenny, I remember in the ambulance when Shannon’s having her final moments, I remember he was crying. So I knew we were doing something right by the big reaction that people were having. Tim’s reasoning — you’ve gotta kill your darlings. So I felt like, this hurts, but this is for the betterment of the show and it’s going to make Eddie’s journey really, really interesting. I just feel lucky to be able to come back in a different iteration to keep making it [interesting].
You’re truly an architect in Eddie’s story.
Every time I come back, everyone looks at me and I’m like, “Never say die, baby.” You can kill someone and then there can be life. That’s the beauty of TV Land.
Thinking back to your start in Season 2, do you have a standout memory from auditions or a favorite scene that stuck with you?
Oh, my goodness. Something that’s pretty neat is the scene that Ryan and I have when we’re in the parking lot of the school and we cry and kiss and blah, blah, blah — that was the first scene that John Gray had directed on his own. We were just talking about this the other day when Ryan and I were having another scene very similar. It was mine and Ryan’s first time meeting ever, and it’s like, “Hi, we’ve been married, and now I’m gonna cry and tears and snot will go in your mouth.” And it was John’s first thing that he directed. I think that scene laid the groundwork for us to go somewhere really interesting, and it established who Shannon is. She’s in so much pain. So I think we were set up for a pretty beautiful and continuously heartbreaking journey. And that was also the scene that I auditioned with.
That was one of my favorite Shannon scenes, too. I feel like it was such an accurate depiction of internalized self-blame and pent up emotions being released. I’m curious since you left the show if you’ve kept up with it as a fan at all.
I haven’t fully kept up. When I found out I was coming back on I did a run through of so much. My favorite might have been the episode where the Renaissance faire is happening and the bees get in the knight armor. The creativity, it just keeps on delivering. [Laughs]
Would you be open to returning to the show in whatever iteration down the road? Have there been any talks with Tim about bringing you back in the future, or is it more of a wait and see scenario?
Always. Always. It feels so good to be back. It’s cozy. It’s familiar. Everyone is like family. I joked with Ryan on this last episode that I might come back as a guy named Carl next. [Laughs] It’s definitely a wait and see. When we were filming the premiere of this season John Gray was like, “Well, maybe you’ll come back…” and I was like, “OK. What else can they do?” And when we were filming this episode he was like, “I told you there’s a way.” So I leave everything open to a beautiful possibility.
Is there a dream scenario you’d like to see your characters in if you were to return in the future?
Oh, that’s a really good question. I think it would be great to be be here as Kim and see Eddie have a healthy, nourishing, wonderful, thriving relationship — one where Chris gets to have both parents. And something that I felt about Kim, I know she looks very sharp and very fancy, but there’s a lightness to her that I enjoyed playing, because Shannon was kind of fraught with postpartum, all these pressures, and all these stresses. Kim…I don’t know if she’s here for a long time, but she was here for a good time.
Going forward, as Shannon, what are your hopes for Christopher and Eddie?
Hmm. It’s interesting. As a woman, obviously I understand the mother to daughter teenage relationship, which can be very fraught. I think it’ll be interesting to watch Eddie navigate helping his son become the man that Eddie wants himself to be. And that’s gonna probably turn a mirror on him and he’ll question what he’s doing, because he’ll see himself in the eyes of his son.
And as Kim, is there anything else you want fans to know about 9-1-1‘s new character?
A little nugget I just found out is that Kim — because I didn’t know where the name came from — it is a wink to Kim Novak in Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
Oh that’s so interesting, and way better than what I thought you were going to say, which is that Tim really wanted to name a character after himself so he changed a letter.
[Laughs] Yes, I’m playing Kim Minear.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Want more 9-1-1? Be sure to read Decider’s interviews with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Oliver Stark, Peter Krause, and Brian Hallisay, along with the rest of our show coverage.
New episodes of 9-1-1 air weekly at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.
