Jay Hayden – Station 19

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects you have been working on?

A) We just wrapped three weeks ago on “Station 19” so I’ve been catching up on all the family time I missed out on. The shooting schedule was kind of crazy. Fire fighting takes a long time to shoot. Even though we shoot in Los Angeles, sometimes we’re shooting out of town. I’ve been kind of my wife’s assistant and letting her do all the things that she has been missing out on because her husband has been working every day, but it’s been great. I think we’re just going to enjoy our time before we go back to Season 2.

Q) How was your character Travis Montgomery originally described to you?

A) Travis was originally described to me as funny, charming and sometimes overprotective. He was strong and fast. I was like, “Oh! Cool!” When I went in and talked to Stacy [McKee] and Paris [Barclay] said, “You know the Travis character is gay?” I said, “I don’t really care.” [laughs] I said, “That doesn’t really go into the decision process. I know how to be overprotected and how to care about the people that I love around me. I believe I know how to be funny and charming. Why don’t I try that and if that essence is what you had in mind for Travis then let’s do this.” Luckily, it worked!

Q) Was there anything you added to Travis that wasn’t in his initial breakdown?

A) I think that there is a distrusting of people outside of the group that I kind of colored to Travis and kind of liked. It’s this whole take care of the group that maybe he’s lost family members or people that he’s loved that now that he has this fire fighter family he’s going to keep them safe at all costs. I feel like I’ve added a little bit of that in and I think it works for the character. And you know I always have to try to be funny! I’m trying! So, I think that Stacy lets me lean into that a little more than she first intended. She knew what she was getting into because she saw me on “The Catch,” which is another Shonda [Rhimes] series. So, Shonda, Stacy and Paris were like, “Look, we’re going to let you do what you do. Just try not to be sarcastic in every scene.”

Q) There is such a familial element to fire fighters. How did the cast create that bond?

A) I think that the great thing is that they sent us down for some fire fighter training before we started. We also did a week of rehearsals without cameras. We were just in a big conference room reading scenes and we workshopped some scenes. We talked to our director and producer Paris Barclay and Stacy. That started our bond. Then, we went for fire fighter training. You do that super physical training hard work as fire fighters and that kind of galvanizes you. Luckily enough, we needed to go up to Seattle and shoot exterior shots for that first episode since it was important to feature that great Seattle city. Going up there together was a little bit like going to Summer camp together. So, I feel like that kind of gave us that real family quality.

Q) Talk about working with costar Jaina Lee Ortiz.

A) I love her. I adore that woman. She is extremely hard working and extremely focused and dedicated. As you know, she has a lot to do on the show and she is carrying a lot on her shoulders. She does it with such grace and ease. Your number one sets the tone on a set. Your number one is showing up early and working late without complaining. She is always striving to make the show better and that trickles down – not only through the cast, but to the entire crew. I believe that a lot of what we are is because we have an amazing lead in Jaina.

Q) You mentioned that you didn’t initially know that Travis was an LGBT character, but when you found out did that draw you to the character more?

A) When I found that out, it was a thrill for me because I had never played a gay character before, but it was a completely awesome and interesting journey. I have friends that are gay in this town that as we watch TV have sometimes turned to me and expressed to me that they wished that all gay characters were mostly not portrayed as a certain stereotype. They asked me what this character was going to be like and I said, “He’s not going to be like anything. He’s just going to be a fire fighter. He’s going to run into buildings as people run out and he’s going to be grounded, sarcastic and love who he loves. That’s it. I’m not going to play into anything. I’m just going to be. I think that meant a lot to me and I really love the way that Stacey has written the character. I’m really having a ball doing it.

Q) What can you tease is in store coming into the season finale?

A) Listen, the season finale…Maybe you have a box of tissues nearby because is someone going down? Yeah! Probably someone is going down. That’s the Shonda way. That’s how we do it! You are going to see a little bit of grit in Travis. Remember in the pilot when Travis kind of yelled at Ben (Jason George) in the ambulance when he told him what the difference was between what Ben did in the hospital and what firefighters do? I think we’ll revisit that conversation in the finale. And that’s a great nugget that I just gave you!

Q) You are a part of social media. Have you been enjoying the instant fan feedback you receive to episodes?

A) I think with the whole Shondaland world, the fans are so amazingly awesome. The feedback is so overwhelmingly supportive, positive and say how much they love the show and character. They also pick up on so much – all those tiny Easter eggs that Stacey puts in the show and the very subtle relationship things. They find and notice and that means a lot to us as actors and storytellers because we want you to see all the little things that we layer in. I feel we have the best fans in the world and it’s been awesome getting their feedback. That’s why I love social media – you get to interact with people.

Q) This is your second series working with Shonda Rhimes and Shondaland. What makes working for with them so appealing to you?

A) Like I said before, the Shonda Rhimes kind of storytelling is so much about these personal relationships – the way people love, fight, bicker and spend their time together. That’s the storytelling that I like – the relationship stuff. As long as Shonda wants me around is as long as I’ll be in Shonda land.

Q) What would you like to say to fans of the series “Station 19?”

A) Thank you so much for going on this journey with us! We have miles yet to go. It’s going to be a little bit of a rollercoaster, but we’ll get through it. We’re really excited for you to see what we have in store for you in Season 2.