Hunter McVey’s breakout role in the newest 9-1-1 installment “came out of the blue,” he said, adding, “no pun intended.”
McVey plays Blue Bennings on 9-1-1: Nashville, a high-action drama that premiered last month.
McVey landed his role on the show after he submitted an audition tape for a documentary that Murphy was working on, which led to his 9-1-1: Nashville audition. Now, he has “a completely new outlook” on life and on TV show production, “just learning how much goes into something like this and how much blood, sweat, tears, and time goes in from all 200 people involved to create something like this. It is magical to watch, and I’m happy some people are enjoying it half as much as I’m enjoying being part of it.”
“It was a whirlwind of emotions,” McVey said in a recent interview with iHeartCountry. He spent several 10-hour days working with his acting coach to prepare for the role, and has experienced “the wildest six months of my life.” Blue Bennings is “figuring it out,” McVey said of his character. “He’s not the most traditional guy from a sense, but he has a lot of qualities that admire and he’s a very loyal man and he wants to take care of his loved ones. It was something I really admire about Blue’s character.”
The Tennessee-born actor plays a firefighter cadet who finds himself learning about his complicated family history, particularly involving his parents, played by O’Donnell and Rimes. McVey’s role has demanded a range from deeply emotional, vulnerable storylines to high-intensity scenes and stunt work (which keeps his music ranging from meditation and healing frequencies to
“I asked them to let me do anything they’ll let me,” McVey said of his high-adrenaline stunts. “We get to work with extremely talented and professional stunt teams and stunt doubles that, if I’m in a situation where we’re in between them letting me do it or not, a lot of the times it works out because the stunt doubles on set with us will teach me how to do it properly, how to do it safely. We can run through some trials, see if I’m comfortable or not doing it. But I’m someone who really, really loves adrenaline, really loves high speeds. I love riding motorcycles. I love face and hair in the wind in high places. And one of my favorite moments was when we had saved the woman from the slide collapse…and I was up there about 50 feet or so up, just looking over Old Hickory and the sun was setting.
“I get these moments a lot, almost every day on set, where it’s just like, ‘pinch me,’” he continued. “Is this my real life? Is this my career? Is this my job? How cool is this? How blessed am I? …Every stunt that they allow me to do, I will do. It just goes into being in that moment so much where it feels incredibly real. And I think that may help show to the audience as well on how realistic some of those scenes are.”
McVey also credited the caliber of his cast mates — including Grammy-winning artist Rimes — with being “amazing…people that I get to learn from and watch on a daily basis.” He also applauded real first responders who spend time with the cast on set, and offer guidance to portray the profession on screen.
“I’ve learned that I couldn’t be a real first responder,” McVey admitted. “They are the true heroes that hopefully can be represented in a good light by what we’re doing because not only are most of the firefighters and first responders working their full-time job, they’re also coming to the set in their time off to either film with us or make sure that we know exactly what we’re doing in terms of the medical scenes, in terms of the firefighting scenes itself, the chiefs, the captains, and so, it’s a blessing to be able to learn from them. It’s a blessing to be able to be around people that are so selfless. …It’s phenomenal, and they’ve helped me a ton,” he added later. “They allow me to feel confident and know what I’m doing going into the scene, and then they’re so supportive and so nice and so genuine as well, where they’ve became family over a short period of time.
“I’m trying to focus on bringing my 100% best to the set every single day and trying to make the incredible audience and fans of the 9-1-1 universe proud,” McVey shared with iHeartCountry as he looked ahead to what’s next. “If I looked a year ago and guessed where I would be today, I would be completely far off. So, I don’t want to put any limiting beliefs or ceilings on it. But I want to focus on the projects at hand and release the reins of the outcomes and expectations and continuing to enjoy on a daily basis, be present and see what comes along. But I have a lot of hobbies. I like a lot of things. I love meeting new people. I love pushing myself. I love learning new things. So whatever life, God, the universe throws my way. It is going to be fun to see whatever it is.”
Earlier this year, Todd Chrisley received a pardon from the President. However, Patricia Altschul is a tougher sell. Unlike POTUS, this Southern Charm star refuses to absolve Todd of his verbal crimes. Instead, this queen honey bee is standing ten wealthy toes down, adamant that Charleston is not a place for a “felon” like Todd.
Todd and Patricia are the reality feud I never saw coming. Their tiny tit for tat started after Todd’s release from prison. “During the [post-prison] press conference, I had stated that we are doing a hotel and it’s going to be near Charleston, South Carolina,” Todd explained. In response, Patricia said, “Well, there goes the neighborhood.”
Well, Todd did not like that. So, he made several jests about Patricia, which mainly focused on her older age and her finances. Overall, it was gross.
So, recently clapping back via Decider, Pat quipped, “He’s very irrelevant. I said four words—there goes the neighborhood — and he went on, and he did a whole program about me. It was just a comment in passing.” Nevertheless, Patricia stands by her original stance, saying, “We just don’t need any more felons in Charleston.”
Todd and his wife, Julie Chrisley, were indicted on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States back in 2019. They swore they were innocent. Yet, they were still found guilty. In all, The Chrisleys: Back to Reality stars received a combined 19 years in federal prison, but thanks to their pardons, they walked out of their prison cells for good in May of this year.
And now, Ms. Pat wants them to heed her words and not walk toward her in Charleston.
Southern Charm Season 11 premieres on November 19, 2025, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock, or Hayu in Canada, the UK, and Ireland.