9-1-1 star Bryan Safi on Josh’s tragic love life and why he’s ‘all in’ on a musical episode

9-1-1 fans don’t have long to wait for season 9, with filming set to begin later this month. As with every new season of the show, viewers have already started speculating about the nature of the big opening emergency (how do you top a bee-nado?!). 

(Warning: Spoilers for 9-1-1 season eight follow).

This year, there’s also the added tension surrounding the shocking and extremely controversial death of the 118 firehouse’s beloved captain, Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), and how 9-1-1 will handle the fallout. 

But enough of all that depressing stuff for now. In an attempt to stave off the gloomies for a little while longer, we caught up with 9-1-1 star Bryan Safi, who has played gay dispatcher Josh Russo since season 2. 

The actor and comedian – who is taking his show ‘Are You Mad At Me??’ to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe later this month – dished on Josh’s neglected love life, the coveted musical episode many fans have been dying to see, and being terrified of coming between Buck and Eddie…  

PinkNews: I wanted to talk to you about Josh’s romantic life, because it’s been pretty tragic. 

Bryan Safi: [Laughs]

PN: There was the guy in “May Day”, who Josh sort of asked out and then we never saw him again. He went on a date with a guy who we thought hate-crime’d him, and then it turned out he was actually holding the whole dispatch floor hostage. 

BS: That’s right. 

PN: Do you want to see Josh with someone on the show? Do you want to explore that more?

BS: From your lips to God’s ears, I do. Josh has spent a little too much time by himself. I think even you have picked up on that, by the way [laughs], in your article about who you’d want to hang out with at a gay bar. I think you’re onto something when Josh drinks that maybe he gets a little dark and a little whiny, because, see, his life is work, his friends are at work. I would like to see him have more of a social life, and maybe someone calming down his neuroses. So yeah, I would definitely love to explore that. And by the way, he does seem to be very in touch with himself and where he comes from, and confident about who he is. That gorgeous monologue about Glee that Tim Minear wrote for 9-1-1, to me, really spoke to what Josh has been through and where he is now, and it made me really proud to deliver that. But yes, I think Josh should have a love interest at this point. 

PN: Something that I really like as well is that recurring characters on 9-1-1 don’t usually get like their “Begins” episodes. But we did get that with Josh in a way, when we found out about the start of his work life and his relationship with Sue Blevins (Debra Christofferson). 

BS: That was really cool to get an origin episode like that. I was very honored about that. And by the way, I got to carry someone to safety from a fire! Everything on this show that I’ve done are things that I never thought I would do. That includes growing up and having dreams of being an actor. I never, ever thought that I would be [saving] lives, helping people out with any issue, from being stung by a bee to being stuck in an earthquake. Just never in my life did I think I would have this kind of opportunity. And it’s been really wild to see, and thrilling, because I think I was only supposed to be in two or three episodes. And now it’s been, like, 60-something.  

PN: Oh wow, really?!

BS: I know! Yeah! I think it was only supposed to be a one or two episodes sort of thing. But they’ve been so generous with me.

PN: And thank god! We love Josh. 

BS: Thank you. 

PN: So with Josh’s romantic life in mind, what do you think his idea of a perfect date would be?

BS: Oh, my God. To me, I do feel like Josh would bite off a little more than he could chew. You know how they say that a dinner date probably isn’t the first date you should go on, it should probably be something like coffee or drinks? Josh would go in on a full dinner date and then have a karaoke plan afterward. I think his first date would be really someone else’s third, but he’d be so excited. So dinner and karaoke.

PN: I love that, that’s perfect. What is your experience of filming 9-1-1 like, with you always being at dispatch? Because you’re just with Maddie and Sue, most of the time. Would you like to go out and do more of the rescuing stuff, or you’re happy on the phone?

BS: No, I would love to. I think it would be really cool for Josh to go out into the field more, whether it’s with Athena (Angela Bassett), or whether it’s with Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman). I think it’d be interesting to watch him do it, because he’d be really self-conscious about it at first. But Josh is such a perfectionist that he would really want to nail it, and I think he would thrive in those situations.

PN: Yeah, I would really love to see that. 

BS: Good! I’m glad. I hope everyone is hearing this, because I would love to see it too.

PN: I would really love to see more of Josh and Maddie’s (Jennifer Love Hewitt) friendship outside of work as well.

BS: What’s so wonderful is Jennifer and I do have a friendship outside of work. She is the most generous performer, the most generous person. She’s hilarious, she’s so smart, and she’s just been incredible to watch, because I’ve learned so much. So, yes, we do have a friendship outside of work, and I would love to see more of that too, because she’s one in a million. She really is.

PN: With your limited selection of screen partners that you’ve had, are there any other 9-1-1 characters or actors that you would really like to share more scenes with?

BS: Yeah, I love working with everyone there. I do. People get so nervous that I would ever come between Buck and Eddie. It’s not going to happen! So everyone, when I have a scene with Buck, just enjoy it. [Laughs] I’m not moving in on anyone’s territory! I’m not doing anything like that. But I love working with Oliver. I love working with Jennifer. Working with Angela is mind-blowing. You just are pinching yourself the entire time. 

PN: I bet. 

BS: That cast and crew is, and I’m not just saying this, the kindest, hardest working people, and everyone I’ve worked with on this show without exception has been just wonderful.

PN: That’s lovely to hear. So, with the ranking of 9-1-1 characters that would be fun to hang out with at a gay bar that we did…

BS: Obsessed.

PN: We ranked Josh at number 11 of 13, and we said that because we thought he’d be really annoying when he’d had too many cocktails. So I wanted to ask: do you agree? Yes or No? Why? Would you put him anywhere else?

BS: I agree with your ranking. When I read it I think the reason that I wasn’t defensive or upset about it at all is because it rang so true, and it made me belly laugh. It’s still on my main on Instagram, because it just felt so true. And then I remember Tracie [Thoms, who plays lesbian rocket scientist Karen Wilson] reached out, being like, ‘Who’s number one, who’s number one, who’s number one?’ I was like, ‘Go look, you’re going to be really happy about it.’ I agree with you. I want to pull it up again actually.

PN: Some people disagreed when we posted that. 

BS: What did they say? 

PN: Well, they were like, ‘How dare you, Josh should clearly be ranked higher. He’d be great at a gay bar.’ 

BS: I think it’s because, you know, I’m an out actor playing an out character, so people probably want more justice for him. But the truth is, I myself last about an hour at a bar, whether it be gay or not. I’m fun until I’m not, and then I’m ready to go home. I’m fun until I’m rrrrready to exit! So yes, you said: [reads from phone] ‘You know he’d be a nightmare the moment he got a cocktail in his hands. He’s chronically single, spends most of his time at work or complaining that he’s at work. He wouldn’t be able to shut up about whoever irked him last.’ [Laughs] It’s so dead on. Spot on! You’re right! Josh does, I think, hold grudges. So if someone wronged him, he would bury it and then one or two drinks in, it would be all he wanted to talk about. He would corner someone about it, like, ‘Can you believe they did this to me? Can you believe they wronged me? They put my job in jeopardy.’ No, nightmare. So I do agree with your ranking. I do. I’m with you.

PN: Thank you! I feel vindicated. 

BS: It was a genuine surprise at first, it was one of those things where I was shocked. And then when I read it, I thought, yeah, hard agree.

PN: Would you agree with Sue Blevins as number two, though?

BS: Absolutely. 

PN: Good.

BS: Debra, who plays Sue, she’s, like, a trained singer. She has an in-cred-ible voice, always on pitch. So already I’m in, because if there’s any musical element to the show ever, or if there’s a karaoke scene, whatever, she would crush it. She’s also incredibly supportive. And when you look at my origin episode, essentially, she saved my life. She’s one of the only people I really defer to in that job, and she’s kind and sweet and hilarious and dry and warm. I love her

PN: I feel like, for Josh, everyone is beneath Josh except for Sue.

BS: I agree. I agree.

PN: Well, you just mentioned a musical element to the show. This is a thing that quite a lot of people want to see. They want to see a 9-1-1, musical episode. Is that something you would actually want to happen? Would you want to be singing?

BS: I would love it. I would loooove it! It would be so fun. I would be all in on something like that. The great thing about me is, even if I don’t have the most amazing voice, I think I do, so there would be no stopping me. 

PN: Perfect, that’s all you need! 

BS: Just the confidence. It goes a long way.

Bryan Safi will be performing his show ‘Are You Mad At Me??’ at Underbelly Bristo Square: Friesian from 30 July-24 August at 5.20pm. Tickets are available here.