BY IRVIN RIVERA

As I reflect on my interview with 9-1-1 actor Ryan Guzman, one overarching theme stands out: the importance of self-love and finding joy in life’s simplicity.

Ryan’s journey both on and off the screen offers a valuable reminder that in a world constantly pulling us in different directions, it's essential to pause and nurture our inner selves. He puts it best when he says, “I find beauty in a blade of grass.” That seemingly small moment is a powerful testament to his belief that fulfillment doesn’t come from external success but from appreciating the simplest things around us.

Ryan’s character, Eddie Diaz, has been on a parallel path of self-discovery, battling the challenges of fatherhood, loss, and personal growth. Just like Eddie, Ryan admits to once struggling with vulnerability, especially in a world that often equates masculinity with emotional suppression. “I was always told to man up. And that’s the nature of how I grew up,” he shared, echoing the experiences of so many men. His transformation - both on-screen and in life - speaks to the universal struggle of finding balance between giving to others and giving to ourselves.

Perhaps the most poignant lesson Ryan leaves us with is the notion that art, much like life, is an extension of who we are. By learning to share his art, Ryan found not only his creative voice but also a deeper connection to himself. “Once I got the courage to share my art, I became a better actor and a better person,” he said. In his words, we find a call to action: embrace who you are, imperfections and all, because growth and healing often begin with self-acceptance.

What keeps you busy and creative, and excited nowadays, aside from filming?

I think I always maintain a level of creativity. I'm always searching or seeing something new, even if it's like the simplistic things in life. I mean, I find beauty in a blade of grass. And I think that kind of lifestyle allows me to have a higher quality of life. So that lends itself to just seeing different textures and colors and the curiosity of what would one color and one texture or what would one scenario in one character put together be like. So it's kind of more of a curious mindset that causes the creative flow. And I implore that in my kids as well. I'm always kind of drawing with them or asking them to create storylines. It's a big portion of it, just maintaining your childhood.

I love that, because a lot of people as they grow up, they tend to lose that inner child, and it's always important to nurture that as you go through life. We're excited for the upcoming season of 9-1-1, season eight. What can the audience expect?

Well, I've introduced a new character, moustache.

I was just going to ask about that. 

Yes, so Eddie's got a new look. He's doing it for a specific reason. We have not gotten to it yet, but Eddie will be in the process of trying to find out who he is without a child, who he is without a significant other, and in a way, giving back to himself, allowing himself to figure out what self-love is, let alone how to navigate. So a lot of it will be new territory for Eddie. What we've seen with Eddie thus far is seven seasons of him giving his all to either his son, to the 118 [station] or to a relationship. And now that two of the three are gone, and more technically, I guess three of the three, because Bobby isn't there anymore, we have a new captain. It's going to be a renewal for him. Again, what has he been lacking? And I think a big portion of that is giving to himself, rather than just giving to others. 

You've been living in the skin of this character for quite some time now. How has it influenced your perspective on life and fatherhood?

There are so many parallels between the character and I'm a single father now, and so is Eddie. And a lot of what Eddie has gone through I've gone through in my life. Most of my life, I was made fun of if I ever became too vulnerable or too emotional or anything like that- from a lot of women that I was going out with, in relationships with, you know, it would emasculate you for that kind of vulnerability as well. And I didn't have brothers to bounce that off of or bounce certain ideas off of. I was always trying to do my own version of just being a lone wolf and doing as best as I could. That's kind of what Eddie was doing, until he found the 118 and so, there's, again, so many different connections to Eddie that myself has and I think every actor pulls from their own experience to give the character that authenticity. But Eddie has been eerily close to me, and living in Eddie's skin for the last seven years, I've seen things that I've done on screen play out in real life. 

Really?

Yes, it's so crazy and for the fact that I did it on screen already and I liked what I did on screen, I kind of just emulated the same thing in real life. And I think for all of Eddie's imperfections, the one thing that he's always kind of maintained is a level of self-respect when it comes to significant others or love interests or anything, he always is aware. He's very self-aware that if he's in a moment of hurt, he's not going to leap into somebody else's arms. He's going to just do what he has to do, first- take care of his child.

Can you share a memorable moment from 9-1-1 that had a significant impact on you, either professionally or personally?

Professionally or personally... I kind of always lean on one specific memory, and I've said this in other platforms, but I was doing a scene, or we were doing a scene in an airport, and I had just done, I think an episode had just aired of me and Peter Krause doing a scene together, me crying and trying to hold back tears, or it was a very pivotal scene in the characters progression. But one of my co-stars, Kenny Choi, watched that scene, and he was not too familiar with the rest of my work. And after watching the scene, he came up to me on set or right by my trailer, and said, Ryan, I don't know too much about your history, but from what I saw, you have the makings to be something incredible if you continue to study, if you continue to learn more about this acting realm and devote yourself to it. You have everything at your beck and call. And that really woke me up. And I give credit every single time I possibly can to him for that reason, I started taking it seriously. And I started actually calling myself an actor finally, and really diving into the minutia of the script. Outside of that, that's more of a personal kind of thing, but a more business memory. I mean, we create memories all the time. Like the other day, you know, we're sitting there doing a scene. It's all four of us, and before we're doing the scene, we're just creating stupid little videos and making each other laugh. We're incorporating not just the cast, but the crew, and the crew is starting to film us and we're making the crew laugh and that kind of atmosphere breeds just a level of levity to the whole area, and it allows for creative juices to flow again, and it just eases the tension so much. So I'm just so grateful that after eight seasons, we still have that, and it resonates when we get on camera to the rest of the audience. That connective feeling that you have is because we harbour that, we give that life and we support as much as we possibly can off the camera. 

9-1-1 shows a lot of brave people saving people in need and also creating a huge impact on the viewers, based on what we just talked about, the family dynamics. Now I'm just curious, generally speaking, what do you fear the most?

I fear giving my vulnerability to the wrong person because that could be the most damaging thing you could possibly do to yourself, a person that is, it could be a family member. Could be a love interest, or anybody in your ecosystem. Giving your vulnerability to somebody who is just waiting for you to end whatever you're talking about so they can talk is destroying, it's soul-crushing. It's something that will keep you away from all of your goals and your dreams, and accessing your potential. So that's my ultimate fear. So I keep the people around me, very close and very on it. And, my first thing is, I always have to have healthy communication. I got to be able to start a conversation with you, knowing that, again, you're not just waiting for me to stop talking so you can talk.

Art being an extension of yourself will find its own audience. It's kind of like finding your own tribe or your own people. You know people who resonate with your art, organically. I feel like that's how it is. Some people just will pass by it, and some people resonate with it. 

You are so right. And I think, today's culture, what has been cultivated, which is the social media kind of changing how we all interact with each other, where you don't want to just be liked by your tribe, you want to be liked by the world and to do that, you kind of have to become something you're not. You can't be completely truthful and not offend somebody or not have somebody like you, that's just kind of the nature of the beast. Is like, if you are completely truthful, then your tribe, like you said, will find you, and at least you're living in your truth. And now I see a lot of people, myself included, I went through this early on in my years of just wanting to be liked, just wanting to be loved. And I think that does come from a lack of self-love. So doing the art and allowing yourself to understand who you are and your expressive behaviour, kind of clarifies a lot of things, and again, refines who you are, and then refines your own tribe. And once you kind of look around you see what's actually giving you fresh air and good food and sustaining you with great conversation and nurturing behavior, then I don't think you really want to relinquish that ever and be liked by everybody, because I think being liked by everybody is just kind of a hollow feeling at the end of the day.

If you were a book, what book would you be and why?

If I was a book I would be, I guess what I'd want to be, and this is going shooting for the stars. Again, it's something like a mixture of all the religious books out there, I think a lot of them come with tall tales, and a lot of them come with examples of how to be as a human being. There's a lot of relatability, and there's a lot of influence there, and there's a lot of self-help there. And it's also depending on your religion, you know, gives you the keys to the kingdom, you're not kind of waiting on somebody else to fix your problems. You're fixing your problems. So if I had to create a book, it would be some version of that, not technically a religion at all, because I don't think religion services the people, I think, your beliefs and intent do. Some sort of self-help book in the vein of a religious book, ie, Bible, Quran, you know, even Buddhist teachings. And again, the whole premise would be just to simplify life and elevate your quality of life in connection with others. So if I had to come up with a title right now, let's go. I think I would call it Simply Said.