The hit FOX procedural drama 9-1-1 has carved out a niche in the crowded TV landscape for five seasons, balancing melodramatic, outlandish emergencies with deeply emotional stories about first responders who form multi-ethnic, multi-generational families. And while the show’s main characters—which include firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and call-center operators—have long divided fans on social media, there has been one character (and actor) who has won the hearts of audiences from around the world.
11-year-old actor Gavin McHugh plays Christopher Diaz, the beloved son of Army-medic-turned-firefighter Eddie Diaz (Ryan Guzman). The child actor, who lives with cerebral palsy, is part of a new wave of talent looking to advance onscreen disability representation in Hollywood.
For Gavin, who was adopted from Riga, Latvia, at two-and-a-half years old, acting has always been a family affair. After tagging along with some of his older siblings for a few of their auditions in Los Angeles, Gavin, who is the youngest of five children, decided to ask his parents for his own. He appeared in national commercials for Honda, Walmart, Adventist Health and Lincoln Financial before he received an audition for 9-1-1 in the summer of 2018, when the producers were looking to cast a wider net for child actors with disabilities.
“By the time the selections got to me, Gavin was already a favorite of our casting director,” says Tim Minear, the co-creator and showrunner of 9-1-1. “For me, it was seeing his audition one time, and I knew he was the one. He just came across as so genuine and sweet and special … He was the perfect kid for the part.”
A few weeks later, Gavin was pleasantly “surprised” to discover that he had landed the role—his first on a major TV show. Within a matter of weeks, he found himself on set for the first time, meeting Guzman and co-star Oliver Stark (who plays Evan “Buck” Buckley) in the make-up trailer. “I just felt like I wanted to do acting. I just felt like it was the right role for me, and I’m happy that I got to do it, and I’m happy that they picked me,” he tells Teen Vogue in an exclusive Zoom interview alongside his mother, Lisa.
Since making his debut in the second season, Gavin’s Christopher has emerged as an immediate fan favorite, providing a welcome respite on a show that is known for its outrageous catastrophes. In addition to amassing over 88,000 followers on Instagram, the 11-year-old actor has been recognized in public by overjoyed fans who, he says, “want to take pictures with me” and “love me so much that they start to cry.”
“The type of fan that Gavin has is extremely special,” Lisa McHugh says. “We just read his Instagram comments and want to cry. They’re like, ‘you changed my life,’ or ‘you made me realize that I could do things that I didn’t realize I could do.’ It’s really incredible to not just have fans or have a show or a job, but [also] to be able to move people the way he is. It’s been really exciting to watch.”
The experience “has changed his life and his confidence, even his self-worth,” she adds. “When you go to school and you’re the kid who can’t see or can’t read or can’t play on the playground, but then you’ve got this thing that nobody else has, it makes you feel special.”
When he first conceptualized Guzman’s character, Minear always knew that he wanted Eddie to be the single father of a child living with a disability — and it was vital to cast the child as responsibly and as authentically as possible. In doing so, the writers and producers of 9-1-1 have highlighted the importance of setting high expectations for children with disabilities, according to the non-profit organization RespectAbility.
A 2016 study by Ruderman White Paper found that 95 percent of characters with disabilities in top-10 TV shows were played by able-bodied actors. But as Hollywood continues to work towards more diverse and equitable representation of all identities on both sides of the camera, a new study published last year found that 22 percent of all characters with disabilities on network television and 20 percent of such characters on streaming services are played by an actor with the same disability — a noticeable shift that RJ Mitte, an actor with cerebral palsy, has noticed since ending his run on the hit AMC series Breaking Bad in 2013.
“What Gavin’s been able to accomplish is incredible to see,” Mitte says. “Since Breaking Bad ended, I’ve had so many people reach out and share how important it is to see themselves in my role or have their child with CP see me as ‘normal’; it’s what motivates me to want to advocate for this next generation of kids with dreams or families with CP. For us, these roles tell the world: ‘You matter. You exist.’
“Able-bodied actors can play any role, but for the disability community, we’re pigeonholed at times or underestimated in what our actual abilities are,” he continues. “All we’re saying is: just consider us, let us audition, see what’s beyond just wanting to cast a ‘male, early 20s, brown hair, athletic.’ Maybe there’s someone who is all those things and has CP or is in a wheelchair, maybe it brings more depth to the story. Just being open to the possibility is the first step.”
Lisa McHugh says that she has received numerous messages of support from other parents who have children living with disabilities. But it has been particularly refreshing to hear from the 9-1-1 writers, “who want to know more about Gavin and his life, his problems and what he struggles with and incorporate that as [part of] Christopher’s life.”
Gavin has spastic diplegia (which affects his legs), cortical visual impairment (which affects his vision), and mild hip displaysia (which causes some weakness on his left side). Those are things, she notes, that an able-bodied actor or writer would never be able to fully understand.
“It’s also really special, for the kids or the people that have more disability than others, that they have somebody that gives them hope or something more to strive for,” she says. “When you see Christopher on TV, you see that there’s a lot of value to him. You just don’t see what he isn’t able to do. You see his sweet comments and the love he shares with his friends and his family, and you see the positives. In life, it’s hard to not get caught up in the negatives, [but] I think 9-1-1 gives a lot of positivity, excitement, hope and love.”
The excitement to work with Gavin on a regular basis doesn’t end with only the writers and producers — it also extends to Guzman and Stark, who have shared the most screen time with the young actor and have consistently sung his praises in the last few years. (And in case you were wondering, Gavin refused to pick sides when I jokingly asked him who he liked working with more.)
