Lou Ferrigno is a busy guy. The former pro bodybuilder and actor (best known for his role on The Incredible Hulk) is working on five new movies, but he still made time to watch his son, Lou Ferrigno Jr., on 9-1-1 when he could.
Ferrigno Jr., 40, portrayed firefighter Tommy Kinard on the hit Ryan Murphy procedural.
“I [watch him] when I get a chance,” Ferrigno, 73, told Us Weekly exclusively at The Hollywood Christmas Parade supporting Marine Toys for Tots. “I have five movies coming out that I’m very excited about. I’m happy for everybody.”
9-1-1 fans know that, starting in season 7, Tommy was Evan “Buck” Buckley’s love interest. He was Buck’s first same-sex relationship before the two broke up midway through the current season 8.
“There’s pride and there’s a want to do good, obviously, and for [Buck] to be representative in a positive way. But I don’t put too much pressure on myself,” Oliver Stark, who plays Buck, exclusively told Us Weekly in October. “Somebody called me a ‘bisexual bi-con’ in an interview last year, which I kind of loved. But when I’m in my day to day at work, I don’t think of it in those regards.”
Ferrigno admitted he is rooting for his son’s character to make his relationship work.
“Whatever is best for him. God bless him,” he said, adding that he’s proud of his son, a “chip off the old block.”
There might be hope. Though Ferrigno Jr. gave nothing away, he left the door open to a return to 9-1-1 in an interview with Fangirlish published on November 9.
“I would absolutely love to come back, but I do need to continue on my journey here,” he said of his current role on S.W.A.T. “I have a number of things now that are going on that may or may not happen, and I hope that there’s no conflict if it were to be the case.”
While he’s working on S.W.A.T, Ferrigno Jr.’s dad will hit screens next in a pair of films in post production. That includes Gym Rat, which follows a recently released gym-obsessed inmate who begins selling steroids. Ferrigno plays himself in the thriller.
He also stars in The Hermit, playing a cannibal pig farmer who terrorizes a pair of teens played by Malina Weissman and Anthony Turpel.
New episodes of 9-1-1 season 8 air on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. The Hollywood Christmas Parade airs Saturday, December 14 at 8 p.m. on The CW Network.
With reporting by Mike Vulpo.