Hunter McVey snagged a huge acting debut in the television drama series, 9-1-1 Nashville. He had no prior acting experience — and right away, he had to do something that was pretty different from what he had in mind.
On the show, McVey plays hunk Blue Bennings. His first week of filming, he had to not only jump right into character but also star as a stripper-turned-fireman.
Thankfully, he had a coach teaching him how exactly to strip. He didn’t have to go in blind, but that didn’t mean it was easy for the actor.
“That threw me for a loop,” McVey begins in reference to stripping in front of a camera. “Not only was I nervous, but I had taken plenty of shirtless Instagram pictures, but it’s different than stripping.”
It was technical, so McVey broke it down for me on what exactly that looked like.
“I do two choreography lessons,” he begins. “We do it to this song, work with Jase [his choreographer], I memorize some moves, I’m practicing the entire weekend.”
Once on set, they realized the original planned timing of the sequence had to be rearranged. That meant McVey had to scratch everything he knew and had practiced.
“They said string with instinct,” he chuckles. “I’m like, ‘I don’t have any instinct!'”
“We go up there and I do the first two or three [takes], the music is playing, and I barely remember the first two,” he continues. “The third one, I was like, ‘Okay, I didn’t die. Maybe I can smile and it will look a little bit better.'”
When the actor didn’t think it could get any more awkward, on the fourth take McVey shared that the director needed scenes without dialogue.
That meant McVey was going to have to strip…in silence.
“I’m doing it with no music and the three hundred people in there are screaming in silence,” he says with a smile. “I’m getting up there with no choreography, no music, stripping with instinct, stripping in silence.”
RELATED: Here’s What the Cast Of 9-1-1 Nashville Has to Say About LeAnn Rhimes
Prior to the shot, the Nashville local actually had frequented this bar in Nashville, often coming to sing karaoke and ride the mechanical bull.
McVey’s on-screen character’s mom is played by LeAnn Rhimes, and the pair have gotten close off screen.
“I get to bring my fiancé Julia to set, and she gets to bring her husband Eddie,” he shares. “It’s a really cool dynamic to have both of our partners there that are so supportive, and we all get along great!”
Meet the Cast of ‘9-1-1: Nashville’
The popular ABC show 9-1-1 is getting a country spinoff! 9-1-1 Nashville is set to premiere on Oct. 9, 2025, with some familiar faces on the screen.
Let’s meet some of the cast members, including some recognizable names in the world of country music.
