A reunion at the perfect time. It’s been nearly 20 years since Gina Torres worked with showrunner Tim Minear on Firefly. So when he called her about joining 9-1-1: Lone Star as a character he wrote with her in mind, she couldn’t have been more thrilled.

“I’d come back from shooting a pilot that will never see the light of day, and I kind of went into that place that we all did. ‘Will I ever work again? What’s that going to look like?'” Torres, 51, exclusively told Us Weekly, noting that it was when “everything was shutting down” due to the pandemic. “Then I got a call that Tim wanted to talk — and it was the best phone call of the year.”

The character is also someone that the actress can personally relate to.

“I couldn’t be happier about being on the show right now, to be working, to have this character to play. Tommy Vega is amazing,” the Pearson alum added. “At this point in my life, she mirrors so many of the things that I personally am going through — balancing work and home and wanting to bring your best to both but sometimes the ball is going to drop. I don’t know which one it’s going to be!”

In the spinoff, Tommy is a former paramedic captain who left the field eight years ago to raise her twin daughters. After her husband loses his job due to the pandemic, she heads back to work.

“Her heart is completely torn because the last time she was a badass in the field, she didn’t have them,” the New York native told Us. “She also remembers now how much she actually loves and is good at being in the field and being on the job.”

Torres felt that it was a “privilege” to be able to play a parent who is juggling many things at once and isn’t exactly sure how to do it.

As for how this season compares to the first, the Suits alum has three words: ” bigger, badder, better.”

Season 2 of 9-1-1: Lone Star premieres on Fox Monday, January 18, at 9 p.m. ET.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Emily Longeretta