It looks like Callum Blue is staying on 911 a bit longer and likely causing a lot of fuss!
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for 911 Season 8
When 911 Season 8 began, Bobby was retired from the 118 and replaced by the tyrannical Gerrard (Brian Thompson). Bobby had gotten a job as a consultant for an emergency TV show called Hotshots that allowed 911 to poke a little fun at itself. A bit was Bobby trying to keep the show realistic, ignoring all the crazy antics he'd gotten into on the job.
Bobby bonded with the lead actor, Brad (Callum Blue), a slightly arrogant British actor who liked Bobby. Brad even helped the team when they aided Athena in landing a damaged airplane. Brad offered Bobby a full-time job on the show. Instead, Bobby arranged for Gerrard to take on the consultant role while he returned to the 118.
The latest episode had the team called on a real emergency on the Hotshots set with a stunt gone wrong. Brad and Gerrard were having issues, no surprise, given the two egos involved. Brad wanted Bobby to come back with the pair going out for dinner. Brad got into a shouting match with a waitress over a minor mistake with his order and Bobby was caught on video telling Brad to shut up or Bobby would hit him.
Bobby figured that was the end of his time in Hollywood, so quite surprised when Brad showed up at the station. Brad said he was impressed by Bobby, loving how, at last, someone was "real" enough around him and Bobby was a true firefighter. While the Hotshots producers put his character into a coma until the scandal died out, Brad had arranged to follow Bobby on the job for research, meaning he was hanging around the station.
So just how long will Callum Blue be on 911?
What's coming for Brad on 911?
Speaking to TV Insider, Callum Blue expressed surprise at how what he thought was going to be a brief role is now becoming more regular.
"It was a surprise and a shock to me—and I think everybody—that he's still around for sure. Because when I first auditioned it was for a guest star, which means mostly one episode, and then it just kept going and going and going. I'm a little bit on a parallel with Brad because as soon as I got to that set, and I felt the high vibration of the set and how brilliant the writers were and how beautiful the actors were and everything, I did kind of think in my head, I'm going to manifest some more of this because this feels good. And I'm a pretty good manifester. So it started to happen and I'm very, very happy that it did."
Naturally, the team is going to have to adjust to Brad hanging out with them and even riding with them on emergencies. Blue says that Brad likes Bobby because of how "real" he is compared to the people he hangs out with. However, there's an issue in that Brad is still a pretty brash and arrogant actor who may cause trouble.
"I don't think Brad even knows what is real at all. I think for Brad, everything is an act. Everything is a performance, and like all of us, I think it's the human journey, he is searching for that something that is real and authentic and feels like he is worthy in the world. And that's what we're exploring. So on the surface, it's this kind of clownish character, funny and big and brash. But what the writers have done, which I'm so full of appreciation for, is they've explored the inner world of him as well. And that's what we get to see in the next couple of episodes. Brad is used to being number one on the call sheet. Brad is used to being the star, and that's where the chaos ensues because when you've got somebody with an ego that big who wants to be the star, and it's all about him trying to be a hero saving people, that is a bit of a conundrum, to say the least."
Blue teases a coming scene between Brad and Eddie that he claims is "poignant" and may shed more light on Brad. He says the fun will be his British actor clashing with the down-to-earth firemen and paramedics and still seeing Bobby as a friend. Bobby will be trying to keep the guy out of trouble and the worry Brad may confuse fiction with reality.
So it appears Brad will be sticking around 911 for a while and likely causing some headaches but providing more fun for the series.
911 Season 8 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.