9-1-1 stars Aisha Hinds and Tracie Thoms love the life their characters, Hen and Karen, have built together — and now they’re ready to let loose and have a little fun.
“I mean, I just want some, like, heat, you know? I want to go to Disneyland,” Thoms, 49, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, October 17, while discussing season 8 of the hit ABC series. “Let’s just have some time with these kids where we just get to do normal family stuff. Without constantly fighting for just the right to be together, you know what I mean? We overcame so much, to try to have this family. We’ve been on every step of the journey.”
Thoms and Hinds, 48, have portrayed Karen and Hen, respectively, since the series began in 2018. The twosome have faced infertility, infidelity, family tragedy and a few dangerous exes. The struggle, in many ways, has felt relentless for the onscreen couple — and they are both ready for brighter days.
“Every moment of trying to do IVF, trying to have a child naturally and that [not working], how hard that was, and even we had our one little daughter [Nia] that we had to advocate for her going back to her mother, as painful as that was,” Thoms explained. “Every step of the way [it’s been hard]. I would just love for them to just be able to breathe and exist and be a loving family together.”
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Warning: Spoilers below for episode 4 of 9-1-1 season 8.
Thoms, it seems, might actually get her wish. On the latest installment of 9-1-1, which aired on Thursday, Hen and Karen fought to regain their foster license and custody of their foster daughter, Mara (Askyler Bell), as Councilwoman Olivia Ortiz (Veronica Falcón) — who blamed Hen for the death of her son — continued her plan to destroy their lives. While Veronica thought she had bested the duo (and broken Station 118 in the process), a last minute twist exposed her true intentions and put Mara back in Hen and Karen’s care.
With Ortiz gone — and Gerrard (Brian Thompson) taking a job at Hotshots so Bobby could return to his rightful post as 118 captain — there could be a clear path for Hen and Karen. As for the specifics of what they’d like that to look like, Thoms referenced the season 6 episode “Tomorrow,” which highlighted Hen and Karen’s love story before they had children, as an example. The duo also had a bone to pick with the famous karaoke scene from season 7’s bachelor party episode.
“I feel like we got robbed out of the karaoke moments that we were supposed to have,” Thoms said with a laugh, recalling how the couple left the bash early. “So I think that would be a lot of fun. I just love it whenever Karen and Hen get to, like, let loose a little bit because it’s so rare that they get to do it.”
When Us suggested a night partying with Evan “Buck” Buckley (Oliver Stark) for a possible “Henren” story line, Hinds and Thoms both agreed they’d “love” to see the trio out on the town together — especially if there’s singing involved.
“I’ve been behind the scenes advocating for Traci to let loose on those belts on the show,” Hinds said, referencing Thoms’ famous vocal chops. “It’s such a missed opportunity and it’s so not subtle. I’m like, ‘Why has Traci not been written to sing a song on this show?!’ I need it to happen right now.”
Thoms, for her part, quipped that it would be fun to discover Karen had “hidden talents” the audience never knew about.
“Like, ‘Oh, wait, you’re a rocket scientist, and you can sing a little bit!’” she said with a laugh. “I mean, I’m down for whatever. But, yeah, Aisha’s absolutely not subtle in her advocacy for me singing on the show. She just yells it out.”
Hen running for city council to replace Ortiz — and a very much desired “Karen Begins” episode — were also ideas thrown on the table. “I love that. I love that. bring it,” Hinds said before adding a polite call to action for showrunner Tim Minear: “Can you hear us, Tim? Are you listening?”
While the actresses are hopeful for happier times ahead, Hinds told Us there were plenty of aspects about Hen’s scenes with Councilwoman Ortiz that were fulfilling to play out, particularly getting to go head-to-head opposite Falcón, 58.
“Veronica Falcón was definitely a formidable nemesis for us,” she said. “She’s an incredible actress. And when she came in, it was low-key difficult to hate her because of the woman that she is, but then the evil that she operated with and led with in punishing us, and punishing Mara for something that wasn’t wholly Hen’s fault in terms of her son passing away, [changed things].”
“It was really, really difficult going in there and begging for her mercy and just seeing her not even be able to access a portion of her humanity to meet us where we needed to be met to bring our family back together,” Hinds continued. “And thankfully we had a community that was willing to stand behind us and make it happen, and [that] felt amazing in the end.”
Hinds noted that when it came to delivering Hen’s multiple speeches and pleas during episode 4, she focused on tapping into the “real emotions of the character” and remembering the onscreen family she and Thoms had built.
“Traci and I were friends before the show, and so when we learned that we had the opportunity to play partners and parents to these children, we jumped at every layer of emotion that that involved,” she explained. “And for the people who have been watching from the beginning, they’ve seen the journey that we have been on being foster parents and adopting [son] Denny and trying all kinds of alternative ways to basically build our family, [plus] dealing with the depths and of disappointments that we have to go through along that journey. So in that moment, I think the whole journey just swelled up within me.”
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Hinds added that there’s a “sense of desperation” to Hen’s pleas both in and out of the courtroom, as she is well aware that viewers see themselves in the dynamics of 9-1-1, and she feels a responsibility to deliver.
“So many people talk to me about how they watch this show as a family, and I think that always sticks in the back of my mind that we have families watching, multigenerations sitting together and watching television, which is kind of a lost art in this day and age where kids are on their phones, on their tablets, with their friends,” she said. “So knowing that there are still families tuned in, I think that always sticks with me.”
Much like the members of the 118, for Hinds and Thoms, the mantra is simple: “Family over everything,” they said.
9-1-1 airs on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
