Captain Bobby Nash’s tragic death on 9-1-1’s two-part event this week left legions of fans heartbroken and in tears — and cast member Kenneth Choi was just as devastated.
Choi, who plays Howard ‘Chimney’ Han, opened up to Entertainment Weekly on Friday, April 18 about just how emotional he became when the popular character, played by his costar Peter Krause, was killed off.
“I was sobbing,” Choi, 53, who played a key role in the dramatic scenes that culminated in Nash’s demise, told the outlet.
“I mean, I f***ing filmed it and I was still sobbing uncontrollably with my friend for like three or four minutes to the point where I started to laugh at myself, because it was uncontrollable sobbing. I was laughing at myself saying, ‘I don’t know what is happening! I know this isn’t real! Why am I acting like this?’ But it was devastating to me.”
‘9-1-1’ Main Character Killed Off in Devastating 2-Part Event After 8 Years
Choi also reflected on the moment 9-1-1’s showrunner Tim Minear told him that they were planning to get rid of Nash, who had been at the center of the show since its inception in 2018. The actor said he didn’t want to believe it was actually happening and struggled to absorb the news.
“I just kind of went into those stages of grief. Denial, mostly: ‘This doesn’t make any sense. Why would you do that? You’re kind of killing off our father figure…’” Choi recalled.
He added: “And he explained creatively why he thought it was the right choice, and I fought him on it. And I continued to fight him on it. I fought him on it up until we kind of did the funeral stuff, because I was thinking, ‘Maybe they’ll pull it back. Maybe they’ll change their minds. Maybe they’ll reverse course.. But…yeah.”
‘9-1-1’ Burning Questions From Fans After Bobby Nash’s Shocking Death
The two-part 9-1-1 event, which aired Thursday, April 17, saw Nash and the 118 called to a research lab at the Southern California Institute of Technology, which had become a biohazard after being set on fire. The dire scenario led to Choi’s character Chimney contracting a deadly and rare virus, which could only be cured by a single vaccine.
When Chimney managed to get his hands on the cure — thanks to Buck (Oliver Stark) and Athena’s (Angela Bassett) efforts — Bobby hid the truth about his mask breaking so Chimney would take the vaccine for himself. It was revealed that Bobby had also become infected with the deadly virus, and sacrificed himself so Chimney could survive.
