For 9-1-1‘s Jennifer Love Hewitt, the title of Season 8, Episode 10, “Voices,” runs deeper than the voices in Detective Amber Braeburn’s (Abigail Spencer) head.
After Episode 9 ended with the jaw-dropping twist that Braeburn kidnapped a pregnant Maddie (Hewitt), Episode 10 shows her chained up in Braeburn’s basement as the detective/serial killer battles dissociative identity disorder. While one consciousness (Amber) is compelled to kill, another consciousness (Peter) desperately fights the urge. With her and her baby’s lives at stake, Maddie embraces her inner dispatcher and uses her voice to navigate the terrifying situation. Before the episode ends, Braeburn slashes Maddie’s throat in a violent attempt to take her voice from her, and though she makes it out alive, physical and emotional scars will remain.
“For the TV audience, it will be a slashing of the throat. For me, it was Braeburn saying, ‘I’m going to take everything from you,’” Hewitt, who fittingly lost her own voice while filming the intense installment, told Decider. “Maddie’s ability to be a dispatcher and have that voice and that connection with people on the phone saved her life. It saved her life from Doug, and it saved her life in finding her Chimney, and letting her be a mother, and all these things. I said the whole time we were doing the episode that I felt like Maddie was [Ariel from] The Little Mermaid and Braeburn was the sea witch. Taking her voice is the ultimate ‘F you.’”
While Hewitt promises “it won’t be a super smooth transition” for Maddie to recover from the trauma of Episode 10, the actor is incredibly grateful her character survived. “Because I’m human, there was a phone call made to be like, ‘Am I OK? Do I still have a job? Am I coming back? What’s happening?’” Hewitt revealed. “And once I knew that was good, I was like, ‘OK! We’ll see what happens.’”
Read on for Hewitt’s full conversation with Decider to hear her unpack the monumental Maddie episode, tease additional upcoming Season 8 storylines, and more.
You reunited with your pal Abigail Spencer in these two episodes. What was it like working together again? And do you think your Ghost Whisperer history helped develop the unique dynamic and level of trust required for 8×10?
Oh my goodness, yeah. I was really excited when I found out it was her. We were super excited to see each other again. It was great. I’m a fan of hers as an actor. She’s tremendous. And Jen Lynch, who directs the episodes, is one of my favorite people on the planet. Tim, I would do anything he asked me to do, because I trust him so much. But knowing that it was Abigail, we very quickly promised each other that we would be well taken care of, and that I would have her and she would have me. That was going to be the way that it was. So because we had that trust, I think we were able to really push it as far as we possibly could, physically, emotionally, and mentally over the ten days of filming.
That’s a lot of days!
Yeah, I’m just really glad that it was her that took me in that basement.
You’ve said this was the craziest thing you’ve done on the show. Tim called it “the scariest episode ever.” Even your husband agreed it was worse than Doug kidnapping Maddie. What was the scariest part of the episode for you as an actor? Was there something you really wanted to get right?
I think for me, the scariest part was, how do I make this feel different? How is this monster different for Maddie than the Doug monster? How does this kidnaping sit differently in her physically, mentally, and emotionally? I really wanted to show growth in her in that basement. So I hope that we did that. For me, I always want — for Tim, and for the show, and for the audience — to be able to step up to the plate and do what’s asked of me, and add more to it if I can. So that’s what I was really trying to do. I was trying to show that Maddie somehow feels comfortable in the survivor/fighter place, because I do think that’s who she is. But I wanted her this time to be angrier, to be feistier. I called her a little feral alley cat in the basement. I wanted to show that in Big Bear, she found it hard to fight at times. And in this, she was fighting from the second she was put in there until the second she got out, no matter what happened to her. And so hopefully we were able to do that.
Absolutely. And from Maddie’s pregnancy rule to the mention of Jee-Yun in last week’s 911 call, I do feel like you’re consistently making suggestions that help make her storyline feel more authentic.
Thank you so much. That [line in that 911 call] was an important thing. And a lot of people have picked up on that moment. It means a lot to me, because I do think that Maddie is a mom, and any moms out there know that you don’t mess with our kids.
One of the most chilling scenes in 8×10 is when Amber and Peter start fighting each other and Maddie offers to help. The back and forth between you and Abigail is so intense.
Abigail had many people to find. I played one part in this episode. She played like 19. [Laughs] So I was just there to give her space to find out who Peter was. And I think she did it brilliantly. I was just really proud to be the person that got to be with her in this episode and hold her up that way. For me, the Peter moment was really Maddie realizing how much being a dispatcher could help her in that moment. Whether it’s a good quality or a bad quality, Maddie has an uncanny way of seeing and being able to find empathy in the worst people in the world. And it’s what helps her a lot. She saw it in Doug. And it got her out of that. And I think in that moment, she realized if she could find empathy for this hurting human — who obviously had a lot going on inside — and she could tap into that somehow, maybe she’d be able to get herself out of there. I don’t think she saw what was coming. [Laughs] But I think she tried really hard.
“I wanted to show that in Big Bear, she found it hard to fight at times. And in this, she was fighting from the second she was put in there until the second she got out, no matter what happened to her.”
Speaking of not seeing what was coming, shortly after Chimney arrives, Maddie and Amber have a very intense fight that ends with her saying, “Screw it!” and slashing Maddie’s throat. I actually screamed when I saw that. What was that terrifying scene like to film?
It was really scary. First of all, I’m sort of claustrophobic. So the piece they had to put on me to be able to do that, I went into a panic attack, and it kind of freaked me out. But also, just the idea of it happening was really intense. I think I honestly didn’t believe it was happening. I knew it was coming, and I was like, “But it’s not. They’re going to change their mind at the last minute.” And then I filmed it and I was like, “But they’re never going to show it.” [Laughs] And they show it! First and foremost, because I’m human, there was a phone call made to be like, “Am I OK? Do I still have a job? Am I coming back? What’s happening?” And once I knew that was good, I was like, “OK! We’ll see what happens.” But it was wild. And Abigail was like, “I do not want to do this. You’ve been through so much. I do not want to do this” And I’m like, “Girl, you got to cut the shit out of that throat! Go ahead!” And so we did it. And everybody was like, “Oh my god, it’s awesome.” And I actually haven’t seen the episode yet!
Oh my gosh! Do you and Brian have plans to watch on Thursday night?
Yes! We are going to watch it, obviously after the kids go to bed. It’s been really hard, because this is their favorite show. And they ended up watching a little bit the other night and they were like, “I can’t take it! We’ve got to turn it off!” And I was like, “OK! So not this one.” We will probably just stay up and watch it after they go to bed. But I’m really excited to see it, because it’s been so long and I can’t wait to see it all put together.
You’ve been very open about your own postpartum struggles and how important and cathartic you found Maddie’s postpartum storyline. I know Tim set out to tell a different story than Maddie’s first pregnancy this time around, so what does her healing journey look like after this episode?
It sounds weird sometimes when I say it out loud, but I really do think the peril, and the fight, and the survivor, that’s who Maddie is. It’s when she is most authentically herself. And it’s when I most authentically feel like I’m playing her. Tim does a really beautiful job after this episode of showing how different this monster is for Maddie. When she left Big Bear and Doug the way that she did, there was a cleansing, a cutting of the cord, and a letting go when she runs from him into Buck’s arms. That was it. That was an “I am free” feeling. This one is going to be different. It’s hard to feel free from somebody who has mentally, physically, and emotionally gotten to you the way that Braeburn gets to Maddie. And in what physically happens to her, she’s left with a scar, and a constant reminder of what this woman ultimately did to her. For the TV audience, it will be a slashing of the throat. For me, it was Braeburn saying, “I’m going to take everything from you.” Because Maddie’s ability to be a dispatcher and have that voice and that connection with those people on the phone saved her life. It saved her life from Doug, and it saved her life in finding her Chimney, and letting her be a mother, and all these things. I said the whole time we were doing the episode that I felt like Maddie was [Ariel from] The Little Mermaid and Braeburn was the sea witch.
“For the TV audience, it will be a slashing of the throat. For me, it was Braeburn saying, ‘I’m going to take everything from you.’ Because Maddie’s ability to be a dispatcher and have that voice and that connection with those people on the phone saved her life… I felt like Maddie was [Ariel from] The Little Mermaid and Braeburn was the sea witch.
That’s such an amazing point. We see her struggle to speak obviously in the immediate aftermath at the hospital, but the deeper way of looking at — Braeburn taking her voice, her livelihood, the strength that’s gotten her here — is so incredibly powerful.
Taking her voice is the ultimate “F you” for somebody like Maddie. And so I think Maddie will struggle to get back her confidence and trust that the call center now isn’t an unsafe place for her. And Tim is beautiful about allowing me to do all these big stories, but also allowing me and Maddie to heal from them. So I think the audience can feel good about the fact that it isn’t just all sunshine and roses the next episode for Maddie. You will see her fight to survive again on the other side. And she ultimately will, because she’s Maddie. But it won’t be a super smooth transition.
Thankfully we learn that the baby is OK. What were your thoughts when you learned Maddie was having an a boy? Did you and Kenny have any say in that?
We were not involved in that decision, but I was really excited about it, because I have a girl and two boys. So I loved it. I was obviously really excited that the baby was OK, because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with that part of the storyline. I was sort of concentrated on all the torture and the neck slashing of it all. [Laughs] So I didn’t really know what was going to happen with that. And because so many people in the show don’t know that Maddie is pregnant at this point, I had to remind myself physically that’s also what was going on with her to make sure I wasn’t doing things physically in the basement that would make it feel like the baby was being hurt in any way. So I’m glad that our little man is OK. We’ll see how cute he is.
Before we wrap, any last words on this monumental Maddie episode?
I really hope the episode encourages people to give women really complicated, dark, traumatic, not so pretty parts on TV and hand them to female directors and know that when females get together to do something, they do it, and they get it done. And I’m really proud of Tim for seeing that in all of us and allowing us to do that.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of 9-1-1 premiere Thursdays on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.
The post ‘9-1-1’s Jennifer Love Hewitt Unpacks Maddie And Braeburn’s “Really Scary” Battle: “The Peril, And The Fight, And The Survivor, That’s Who Maddie Is” appeared first on Decider.
