‘9-1-1’ Actor Peter Krause Reveals Why He Joined Ryan Murphy’s New Show

Hollywood actor Peter Krause is starring as one of the lead characters in Fox’s all-new procedural drama, “9-1-1.” Ahead of the show’s premiere this week, the 52-year-old has revealed why he accepted show creator Ryan Murphy’s proposal to do the series right away.

According to Krause, it took just one meeting for Murphy to convince him to take the role of fire captain Bobby Nash. “Given Ryan’s history and the way he described it, I knew it wouldn’t be the standard type of emergency show,” he told Yahoo Entertainment. “It felt new to me. And, as described, it would be something that I would enjoy watching as well.”

Speaking more on the meeting that took place between him and Murphy, Krause said it lasted for a while because the renowned screenwriter-producer explained thoroughly his vision for the new series and the character that was then being offered to the actor.

Krause admitted that part of the reason why he took the role was because he wants to do a variety of things as an actor and Bobby Nash’s role is something that he has never done before. “As described to me, the character was equally as rich as Nate Fisher on ‘Six Feet Under.’” He then added that the ingredients of the total tone of the series — namely the “adrenalized” action, psychological investigation, introspection of characters and fair amount of comedy — appealed to him.

Though Krause is pleased with his involvement in the series, he couldn’t help but compare it with his previous gigs on “Parenthood” and “Dirty Sexy Money.” He says acting as a first responder is more physically demanding for him. “I’m physically exhausted. I’m emotionally spent some days, but I’m having the time of my life.”

Given that portraying a firefighter is something new to Krause, he says he continuously works to learn more about the job. He is thankful that they have firemen and medics as consultants, so he grabs the chance to talk to them daily on how he should respond to a certain emergency situation.

Krause is joined by Angela Bassett, who plays field sergeant Athena Grant, and Connie Britton, who is starring as 911 operator Abby Clark. The three stars are the leads of Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s latest project. The Murphy-Falchuk tandem is responsible for bringing “Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “Scream Queens” and “American Crime Story” to the small screen.

“9-1-1” is scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, Jan. 3, at 9 p.m. EST on Fox.