‘9-1-1: Nashville’: Kimberly Williams-Paisley Talks Cammie’s Guilt, Moving Forward, and Being Front and Center for Murder Mystery (Exclusive)

Tonight’s new episode of 9-1-1: Nashville saw Cammie taking center stage after a 9-1-1 call, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley spoke to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “Love to Death,” Williams-Paisley’s dispatcher Cammie takes responsibility to help solve a murder following a 9-1-1 call.

The episode saw Cammie not only trying to figure out who is behind the murder but also taking a big step forward in her personal life. It was an exciting and at times emotional hour for several reasons, especially for Cammie. Take a look at what she had to say about it all and what’s next for her. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

PopCulture: In the episode, Cammie gets a 9-1-1 call from a guy named Brian about his ex-wife, Vera, saying that she’s in trouble. While Vera’s on the phone as well, she can barely speak. By the time the 113 gets to the house after getting the wrong address, she’s gone. Even though we get some idea in the episode, what do you think goes through Cammie’s mind when the calls don’t go the way she hopes, especially since there’s not much else that she can do?

Kimberly Williams-Paisley: I think she takes on a lot of guilt in this episode because she didn’t check the address, and that was on her. And so she wonders if she could have saved a person’s life if she had gotten the information correct. So she really takes that hard. And then she’s a big part of figuring out who did it. So she kind of redeems herself in the end and goes back to the grief group and really gets a lot of support from the people there, and that helps her through.

PC: Going off of that, while in group right after the call, she opens up about what happened and admits to blaming herself for what happened because she didn’t verify the address. And she also admits that the entire thing takes her back to her husband’s death. It’s weighing pretty heavily on her, which is really understandable. It’s been really interesting and sad seeing how much her husband’s death has been affecting her, whether she’s at work, home, or even in the grief group. What’s been the most difficult part about doing this kind of storyline, especially so early on in the series, when you’re still learning about Cammie?

Williams-Paisley: Central to who Cammie is, it’s really the most important thing that’s ever happened to her was losing her husband. And it’s the saddest thing that’s ever happened to her, and it changed her life. And she had a very successful career in music, and she decided to leave that and invest her husband’s fortune in the fire department and in the call center and making it better and better so that they could be more efficient. And so I think that the grief is really the most important thing to bring out and introduce people to Cammie because it’s something that’s always there with her.

PC: Cammie ultimately decides to attend Vera’s wake with Blythe, and they witness Brian and her sister, Aubrey, arguing. She accuses him of murder. It’s the first time that we get a look at Kyle Richards, who plays Aubrey. What was it like working with her?

Williams-Paisley: That was so fun to have her on set. It was great. Really up for anything, very easygoing. She was happy to be there. I didn’t realize she lives right near here. And so well, I guess we’re neighbors now. But she was great.

PC: Cammie decides to look more into Vera’s death and goes to Agent Turner to discuss what happened and Brian’s possible involvement. But it’s later discovered that it’s Aubrey who was responsible, coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t about love, it was about money, and she even tries to murder her niece. What was your reaction when you found out this twist?

Williams-Paisley: Well, like a lot of things on 9-1-1, I didn’t see it coming. But I thought it was a great story, and it was really fun to have Cammie at the center of figuring out what happened. I love when she’s got these almost superhero powers of sleuthing and figuring this out. And it just is a really fun part of Cammie that I like to play.

PC: Going off of that, towards the end of the episode, Cammie calls Aubrey to try to keep her distracted while the 113 help Olivia, and she even gets Agent Turner to help. They’re successful as Aubrey’s arrested and Olivia is saved. You’ve already been talking about this, but what did you love most about the storyline and really being able to see Cammie take front and center in this episode?

Williams-Paisley: Well, I love that whole part of this sleuthing and having her be able to figure that out. But I also love that at the end of the episode, you get to see she’s ready to go out on a date. And Agent Turner asks her out, and she says yes. And they’re kind of playing and flirting, and it’s so refreshing and fun to see that flirty side of Cammie and see that she’s beginning to let go a little bit of the grief and ready to see what might be there with Agent Turner and try to find a little bit of happiness again, because I think she is pretty lonely.

PC: What can we expect from Cammie and Agent Turner moving forward, especially as they’re both still trying to work through their own grief?

Williams-Paisley: Well, I think that they’re finding that they can do it with each other, and that’s been healing to share that common bond. And Nick gets Cammie to go to the grief group and share with that group. And so I think that the only way for them to move forward is going to be through that shared grief and sort of helping each other through that and then seeing what’s next. I like that they’re taking their time with it. I think that’s important for them, and that will ultimately make the relationship stronger.

PC: What have you loved most about working on this dynamic with Coby [Bell] throughout the series?

Williams-Paisley: Coby is so great to work with. He’s very easygoing, funny, up for running lines and doing all that prep work. And we’ve had a lot of funny things to learn. I had this one episode with the hacker where I had to memorize all of these different names. And we were singing and trying to turn it into a song so we could remember all the names together. But he’s been really fun to work with.

9-1-1: Nashville is going on a three-week break after this episode, and will be back on Thursday, April 30 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu.