9-1-1 Just Recast an Original Character — And We Almost Missed It!
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9-1-1 checked back in with Athena Grant’s son in the fourth episode of Season 7, and he looked a little different. Not only is Harry all grown up now, but he was recast entirely. Why was Harry recast on 9-1-1? Keep reading to find out.
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ABC’s 9-1-1 follows the heroic firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel at the Los Angeles Fire Department’s fictional Station 118. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, the procedural drama premiered in January 2018 and spawned the spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star. The show aired its first six seasons on FOX, but it was canceled by the network in May 2023 and picked up by ABC.
Angela Bassett stars as Athena Grant, a field sergeant for the Los Angeles Police Department. She was previously married to Michael Grant, whom she divorced in Season 2 after he came out as gay. The former couple share two children: daughter May and son Harry. Following her divorce, Athena began dating Bobby Nash (Peter Krause), the captain of Station 118. The pair eventually tied the knot in the Season 2 finale. Bobby also has two children from his previous relationship: son Robert Jr. and and daughter Brook.
Athena’s son Harry was originally portrayed by Marcanthonee Reis and the last time viewers saw him was in Season 5. When the show revisited the character during “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice that a new actor is now portraying Harry. Here’s everything we know about the recasting.
Why was Harry recast on 9-1-1?
Why was Harry recast on 9-1-1? Although the original actor, Marcanthonee Reis, was asked to return to the show for the Season 7 episode, he reportedly turned it down.
As showrunner Tim Minear told TVLine, Reis was “was sort of ready to move on.” The EP continued, “I reached out to Marcanthonee, who hadn’t been around for a minute, and I pitched him this story. I think he loved the story, but was just ready to do something new.”
In the episode, Athena was shocked to find her son making her breakfast one morning. Not only did she think Harry was still living in Miami with her ex, but she also barely recognized him now that he is all grown up. Minear explained that the decision to recast also played into the storyline, noting: “Part of this story is about not recognizing your own kid, so it also felt like not a pun and not a joke.” He continued, “If you’re going to bring in a new actor in a beloved role, you want to acknowledge the fact that something has changed. So it felt like an organic way to introduce this new Harry into a story where Athena is saying, ‘I look at my kid, he’s grown so much and I kind of don’t recognize him.’”
Back home in Miami, Harry had a warrant out for his arrest following a conflict with a convenience store owner. Although he managed to stay out of jail, he will have to complete 100 hours of community service and Athena will be keeping a close eye on him.
Harry is now played by Elijah M. Cooper, and we suspect we’ll be seeing more of him now that Harry is in hot water with both his mother and the law. Cooper is fairly new to acting, but he’s already scored guest roles in Evil, Chicago P.D., The Rookie and Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! He is also set to star in the upcoming second season of Disney+’s anthology series Goosebumps. Reis, for his part, has appeared in Grey’s Anatomy, Snowpiercer, Glee and Parenthood.
9-1-1 airs on Thursdays on ABC at 8/7c and streams on Hulu.
Watch ‘9-1-1’ on Hulu
For more on 9-1-1, check out this gallery on the cast’s salaries per episode.
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