Fitness influencer Hunter McVey goes real firefighter as Blue Bennings in "9-1-1: Nashville," McVey's first acting role.
Blue Bennings (Hunter McVey) does sexy fireman to make cash for his mother's (LeAnn Rimes) operation.
Dixie Bennings (LeAnn Rimes) has a heart-to-heart with her firefighter son Blue (Hunter McVey) on “9-1-1: Nashville."
Hunter McVey stars as Blue Bennings in "911: Nashville."

Hunter McVey can definitely relate to Blue Bennings, his character on "9-1-1: Nashville": They're both total rookies, jumping headfirst into daunting, brand-new careers. McVey, 26, is a fitness influencer and model making his acting debut, while Blue is a fireman stripper who becomes an actual firefighter saving lives in Music City.

"He's so new to this (first responders) world," McVey tells USA TODAY. "So Blue messes things up and sometimes doesn't know what he's doing. Guess what? I play that very naturally."

An instant breakout on the "9-1-1" spinoff, McVey stars alongside Hollywood vets like Chris O'Donnell, who plays Blue's newly discovered dad, Nashville fire Capt. Don Hart, Jessica Capshaw as Don's rich wife Blythe Hart, and LeAnn Rimes as Dixie Bennings, Blue's dysfunctional single mom.

McVey, an Instagram force (with 559,000 followers), powers through the Ryan Murphy-produced series that kicks off Oct. 9 (Thursdays, 9 ET/PT, streaming next day on Hulu) with charisma, chiseled looks, impossible abs and explosive storylines.

Here's what else USA TODAY learned after interviewing McVey.

Hunter McVey's 'terrible' John F. Kennedy Jr. audition tape got noticed

The Franklin, Tennessee-born acting newcomer made his first-ever audition tape for the planned Murphy series on John F. Kennedy Jr. McVey says he self-shot an admittedly amateurish video that his team sent right back. He made revisions.

"And my modeling agency was like, 'This is still not good!'" McVey says. "I told them, 'We're out of time, just send it.' I'm glad I did, even if it was terrible."

The tape clearly made an impact: A month later, McVey was asked to do a reading for the "9-1-1" spinoff series in his hometown.

"I don't know what the heck I'm doing, but why not?" he recalls saying. After a successful round-two tryout, McVey was flown to Hollywood for an in-person audition with executives. He booked emergency sessions with an acting coach (his first ever) in Los Angeles prior to the meeting.

"She was phenomenal, getting me prepared 48 hours before and talking me off the ledge," McVey says. "Because I was about to faint."

Boarding the flight back home to Nashville, McVey got the call with the job offer.

"I was in my little exit row crying my eyes out," he recalls. "And as soon as I landed, it was like, 'Hey, we're having a cast dinner. Can you come?' I was like, 'Here we go!'"

As his shirtless Instagram posts attests, McVey already had the physique down to play Blue, who reluctantly takes the stripper's job as Capt. Smokehouse to fund an operation for his mother, a jaded former backup singer.

"Luckily, the preparation for the last 10 years got me where I needed to be," says the star, who actually cut back on his intense workouts during the breakneck shooting schedule. "I think (show producers) were happy with the physique for those scenes."

Those sexy fireman moments, shown in "9-1-1" trailers, required an intense weekend of emergency stripping choreography lessons and rehearsal.

"Taking shirtless Instagram pictures is very different than being a natural screen stripper," McVey says. "I was pretty nervous. And it was so weird that we shot it in the Wild Beaver Saloon where I used to sing karaoke and ride the mechanical bull."

Things got wilder when the planned choreography got derailed because the saloon layout differed drastically from the rehearsal space.

"I had to get up there and strip with just instinct, which made my heart pound faster than any workout," McVey says.

The newcomer went straight into shooting Blue's post-bachelorette party rescue of a runaway pedal party bike. Blue's instinctive heroism catches the attention of Capt. Hart and his firefighter son Ryan (Michael Provost).

His secret parentage, from the captain's affair with his old flame Dixie, is revealed in their first-ever meeting. Hart acknowledges his son and brings him into the family fold, despite clear misgivings. Under his long-lost dad's leadership, Blue improbably trades in his Station 69 Capt. Smokehouse costume for a Nashville Station 113 uniform as a trainee.

McVey doesn't like shouting at twisted TV mom LeAnn Rimes

Dixie has smothering adoration for her beautiful boy, with strings attached.

"Dixie very much loves her son. She's obsessed with and adores him," Rimes recently told USA TODAY. "But she is not above manipulating that love for all it's worth."

After a deep-dive into '90s country-pop powerhouse Rimes' work ("My parents are huge fans"), McVey says he loves working with his TV mom − except for when Dixie's scheming goes too far.

"I don't like to yell. When I have to raise my voice at her, it's like, 'I'm sorry, LeAnn, you know I would never do this,'" McVey says.

In real life, McVey prioritizes time with his fiancée Julia Bridges. He shared his surprise emotional engagement with his followers on Instagram back in June.

"She's my soulmate," he says, adding that Bridges supports his acting and that TV stripping. "She loved it. I have the best support system in the world."

The couple are eyeing a wedding in fall 2026 − to best accommodate ideal Tennessee weather conditions, possible filming conflicts be damned.

"I'm sure it will be dead smack in the middle of a ton of events," McVey says. "But we don't want the wedding in the Tennessee summer. There's heat, humidity and the bugs. I don't want to have gnats in my mouth in my wedding photos."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Influencer Hunter McVey makes TV debut as '911 Nashville' stripper-turned-fireman

Reporting by Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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