Aisha Hinds Breaks Down Her 9-1-1 Directing Experience and Hen’s Season 9 Journey – INTERVIEW

Aisha Hinds steps behind the camera to direct 9-1-1 Season 9 Episode 11 “Going Once, Going Twice.”

Spoiler Warning*

Aisha Hinds portrays Henrietta “Hen” Wilson on 9-1-1, which explores the high-pressure experiences of police officers, firefighters, and dispatchers, drawing from the real lives of first responders and the situations that they regularly face. We discussed the storytelling from her perspective as a director, her character’s big turning point in episode 9×11, filming the LAFD charity bachelor auction, and more.

Learning from her directorial debut

Is there one scene from your directorial debut that you felt was particularly challenging back then, but taught you something that you were able to apply to a scene in this new episode? Can you tell me which ones and how they compare?

Hinds: I think in my initial directorial debut, it’s always kind of the big set piece of the episode, and so in “Holy Mother of God,” the church was the big set piece, and quite a lot happened in that space, and it was integral to the storytelling. And so, just learning how to approach a big space and capturing all of the storytelling that needs to happen in that space. I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed in my first go around and almost feeling a little lost, but thankfully, I had so much support, and it turned out really well. We had incredible actors who were steady and told the story that we were trying to tell.

But this time, the big set piece was this big auction, and so I was able to take the things that I wish that I had done better in the first episode and apply it in this space and kind of approach the space a little bit more comfortably and confidently, and really utilize my helpers who are there to operate in their zone of genius. I had P.J. Russ, our DP, who was really instrumental in visualizing the space in a way that helps to bolster the storytelling, and him designing with our lighting designer and our production designer, just our amazing magicians, who really created a beautiful space that felt connected.

And so, though we had sort of five or six little mini-movies, mini-scenes within one big scene, they were able to create a space that felt super cohesive, but big enough to keep the action of one piece of storytelling separate, but still cohesive. I was grateful for that takeaway knowledge.

Who Hen is and always will be

Incredible work on both episodes. This one also had a really beautiful arc for Hen, which I was grateful to see. Her hard work has been paying off, but understandably, she’s hesitant to go back to the 118 and being a paramedic at all. Why do you think it was important to show that fear of losing herself, specifically with a storyline that deals with an illness like this?

Hinds: I think it’s important to remember that these incredible heroes that we know as first responders are also very fragile human beings, and at any moment, life can change, you know? And so, it was definitely rewarding to kind of take the journey and work through the trajectory of that arc with Hen and see her ultimately be triumphant in that, but not by herself, because she is bolstered, loved, and supported by her 118 family.

Even in grappling with the decision to go back and having that conversation with Chim, and him courageously even agreeing to support her in not coming back. Sometimes you need someone to give you permission to walk away, and that just might be enough to get you to come right back where you always belong. It’s like that crisis moment for Hen immediately showed her that she is that girl, and she will always be that girl. Muscle memory came kicking in, and she let it be known. Chim asked the question, “Who are you, if not a paramedic?” And Henrietta answered the question, “I am a paramedic,” in that car crash scene. And so, I’m grateful that she got to take that journey and walk out.

Do you think putting her in that sort of situation with the car accident would have been the only way she felt comfortable and confident going back, and why do you think that was what she needed?

Hinds: Yeah, I would argue that it is because I think that sometimes we can be so deeply bound, so far in our heads about things that we can talk ourselves in and out of things. Sometimes it takes that experience, that experiential wisdom, that crisis that shows you the character of who you are. And I think that that car crash reminded her of her character, like she didn’t have any time to think. All she had time to do was to save lives, and that let her know that that is who she is.

Back where she belongs

We end with Hen back on the job, finally. We have missed you. We have missed her. Can you preview her return and what the dynamics on the team are going to look like? We now have Harry, and last we saw, Hen was paired with Eddie.

Hinds: I think she is back with the 118, and the 118 continues to beautifully expand. I’m so thrilled to get to be with all of our older members, newer members, and we’re just all cohesively together out there at these emergencies once again, working to just save people’s lives in the community.

The LAFD charity bachelor auction

We had so many small character moments during the bachelor auction, which I loved. We had May winning a date with Ravi, Maddie bidding on behalf of Eddie – everyone has been waiting for the two of them to interact – and Buck’s huge presentation at the end. I can’t imagine how much fun that was to film.

What was it like to direct your co-stars in such a different setting, since a lot of the show consists of on-call situations, and when there are character-driven moments, they’re usually smaller? This was such a grand scale, and you were highlighting everyone.

Hinds: It was a lot of fun, and everyone was kind of looking forward to it. It was almost like we were on a class trip, and so we were all in this new location, and it was the lead-up to the auction and the space in which it would take place in. I think once we entered the space and saw what our production designers, our set dressers, our lighting designers, and everybody kind of created for us, it was like a kid in a candy store.

It literally was like we had showed up to an adventure park, and so it felt like we were having an adventure all day. We, to your point, did have all of these small little mini-scenes in different parts of the space and the area. I went in super early that day and had visited the location a few times before to kind of chart the path of where things would take place, how things would converge, where people would exist in the story, and what’s an appropriate way for one part of the space to speak to the other part of the space, because that was a key part of making sure it all kind of worked together. And so, it was really nice to kind of be in there, figure it out, and see that it all kind of worked again.

I can’t wait for the fans to see it. They’re so excited, and I’m like, whatever you’re thinking, it’s gonna be so much better.

Hinds: Yeah, it just feels like original recipe 9-1-1. You have the 118, you have our guys, you have our whole family in this space, and everyone’s just having a good time for a good cause.

An important message

We have a really beautiful voiceover from you towards the end about choosing to be the best version of yourself every day.

How do you apply that to yourself? I think it’s something that everyone needs to hear and be reminded of. So when you were recording or reading that voiceover, what was your initial reaction?

Hinds: I think it’s setting the intention to just have grace with yourself and to certainly approach each day with the hope of being 1% better than you were the day before. If that doesn’t occur, for some reason, just have grace and be present for what the day offers. It’s such a present and a blessing to be invited into the day, and sometimes the most beautiful surprise is not knowing what it’s going to be and just being able to receive it as it comes, and trust that every experience that you have is an opportunity to evolve, grow, and learn new information.

New episodes of 9-1-1 air on Thursdays at 8 PM EST on ABC.

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