Ryan Guzman
Disney/Christopher WillardRyan Guzman says his character, Eddie Diaz, is looking for “joy” in season 8 of 9-1-1 – and dancing in his underwear is just the beginning.
“It’s stepping outside his comfort zone, making himself feel awkward and uncomfortable and putting himself in positions that he probably wouldn’t want to be in before, and just getting a new perspective on life, to be honest,” Guzman, 37, told exclusively We weekly. “I mean, I think it’s really a retransmission in the mind before anything physical or environmental happens around him.”
On the Thursday, November 7 episode of 9-1-1 entitled “Confessions”, Eddie admitted his guilt for hurting son Christopher (Gavin McHugh) and eventually get him to move in? with his grandparents in Texas. But one or two conversations with a priest (Gavin Stenhouse) – and an assignment to recite a few Our Fathers – later Eddie searches for a life that goes beyond just caring for others.
Guzman told us that viewers can expect Eddie to lean toward a more “childlike behavior” in the upcoming episodes of Season 8, which will be filled with “more levity” and “a little bit more fun” for the character than what they would do. have seen before. However, that does not mean that everything will go smoothly.
“It doesn’t necessarily look great, or it doesn’t necessarily look perfect,” Guzman explained. “I think he’s dispelling that idea of what was there since Season 1 or Season 2. So I had a lot of fun with Eddie over the next few episodes.”
Guzman emphasized that much of Eddie’s journey has been about caring for others – both personally and professionally – which has ultimately taken its toll on him over the years.
“He comes from the military and has taken care of his regime, and has literally been a medic, bringing people together to go to 118 and take care of other individuals or take care of his ex-wife. [Shannon]and then she dies and now [he has his] son to take care of. It was always about someone else,” he explained. “It was always about responsibilities, and I know that from a personal point of view, too many responsibilities can weigh heavily on the soul, and it puts an end to that childish behavior, that mentality.”
A “balance,” Guzman said, is what Eddie is looking for going forward. “Which opens the door to more space for him to look inward and just be like, ‘Okay, let’s just take this burden, this weight of the world, off my shoulders and allow myself to just live.’ ” he added.
Where that story will take Eddie — and what “real life” even means — remains to be seen, but the character began his journey by symbolically letting go of something that some fans will surely miss: his mustache.
“[Our showrunner], Tim [Minear], and I had a conversation about what the mustache was and how we were going to work it into Eddie’s character, and him really hiding from himself and really not wanting to see himself became the overall theme,” Guzman shared. Us. “So as much as he tries to do new things and reinvent himself this season, that mustache really reinforced the fact that he’s saying, ‘No, I should be punished for what I’ve been through or what I’ve done to my ex- girlfriend did to my own son [Marisol] and my previous wife’s doppelgänger. ”
Guzman noted that the guilt that comes from hurting those around him “restrained” and “restrained him” – and a “moment of acceptance” came along with shaving his facial hair. “He has that moment where he looks at himself in the mirror and kind of just accepts himself,” Guzman added, “which is beautiful.”
Eddie didn’t just stop at a new face. “Confessions” also sees Eddie channeling his inner Tom Cruise with an epic Risky businessdance in style – complete with ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, the sock slide and, yes, the tighty-whiteys. Guzman said he heard about the scene from Minear about “a month and a half” before shooting it, and the actor — who became known for his dance moves after 2014’s Step Up All In — couldn’t have been more ready to strip down and press play.
“When they told me, I immediately thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to have so much fun with this. I haven’t danced in front of the camera for years.’ And then they kept coming to me asking, ‘Are you sure you have this? Are you sure you want to do this?’ But I embraced it,” he said. “I love that this is an opportunity for Eddie to really let loose in so many ways. Like, he sits in his clothes and shows the world what he’s got and dances around like Tom Cruise.
Guzman said he and Minear discussed that while Risky Business was clearly an inspiration, they didn’t want it to be a “shot for shot” remake. Instead, they wanted Eddie’s skills to reflect who he is as a character, and not who Guzman is as a dancer.
“I didn’t want to be too perfect! That was my concern,” Guzman said Us with a smile. “I was like, ‘Eddie’s not a professional dancer. Eddie is Eddie and he should just show how much fun he is having at that moment.” I think we did six or seven takes, every time [our director] Chad Lowe came up to me and said, ‘This is great. I like this so much.’ And that would give me a boost again.”
The best part for Guzman? There really was no way to screw it up. “There is no wrong answer, and you don’t have to find the right answer,” he said. “So I just did my thing and had fun with it.”
There was pressure in other areas, though, like making sure everything was — ahem, well-situated? – to keep Guzman comfortable.
“I feel sorry for it [head costume designer] Alayna Bell Prizeoh man,” Guzman said, laughing. “I’m sure there were so many notes about how much thigh I could show and what part of my underwear I could show. Because we did quite a bit of fitting. We did so many takes on it, like tying my shirt in my underwear, or a long, long shirt that looked like I was wearing Shaq’s shirt. But luckily we found the perfect match.”
As much fun as Eddie has in “Confessions,” his moment of joy is abruptly interrupted by a knock on the door, which ultimately turns out to be another heartbreak.Oliver Stark) who has just been dumped by his boyfriend Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) The two aren’t exchanging a single word at the moment, but Guzman said Eddie will eventually hear the details of Buck’s breakup and deal with it differently than expected.
“I think it’s another growth moment for Eddie’s character, because previously Eddie would take it upon himself to save Buck or help Buck,” Guzman explained, noting that his character is currently focused on “live in the moment”. above everything else. “There may be some guilt there, some residual guilt from Eddie’s past that says, ‘Oh well, I should still be there for my friend. Ah, I should still do this.” But I took this character in the opposite direction. I want him to focus more on giving of himself, and through that he can find a little more maturity and a little more of himself and anchor himself in that.”
Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman are well aware that 9-1-1 fans are hoping to see their characters, Buck and Eddie, get together — and they’ve opened up several times about whether there’s potential for a romance. “I’m open to it. You know, there’s obviously stuff there and there’s a chemistry between us,” Stark, that […]
Guzman added that Eddie’s new maturity will essentially be what Buck needs anyway. “I think that just gives Buck what he asks for,” he said. “He doesn’t ask for answers, he asks for an ear, he asks for comfort, he asks for space. So it’s not so much Eddie coming to Buck’s rescue or helping him, it’s just being there as a friend, being there as a brother, and finding the right community.”
But will Buck – or anyone else – help Eddie on his own journey to joy? The answer is a resounding “no” from Guzman, who said Eddie’s story is about discovering who he is, on his own terms.
“This is unique,” he explained. “Sometimes we just have to do our own thing, at our own pace, and figure it out for ourselves. No one will be able to live our lives for us. So for Eddie, it’s a bit of trial and error in this new spectrum of life and finding all the different colors that allow him to take the big pressure off himself and mess up if he wants to.
He quickly added: “Not at work, of course, but in his personal life.”
New episodes of 9-1-1 airs on ABC Thursdays at 8pm ET.