Yahoo News 9-1-1's Angela Bassett pays tribute to crew member who died
9-1-1 star Angela Bassett has paid tribute to the procedural drama’s late crew member Rico Priem.
Priem, who worked as a grip on the series as well as other titles such as S.W.A.T. and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, tragically died in a car accident last Saturday morning (May 11) while on his way home from a 14-hour shift on 9-1-1.
In a statement shared to Entertainment Tonight, leading star Bassett – who plays Athena Grant on the Fox drama – said that Priem’s devastating death has "rocked" her and the entire 9-1-1 team.
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"The studio, 9-1-1, we all extend our deepest condolences to his friends to his family. It was just a very, very sad moment. We're all rocked by it, certainly," she shared.
Explaining how this is the first time 9-1-1 has experienced a death among the cast and crew, Bassett continued: "We have births, you know, we have weddings and now to experience this. We just had to take a moment, just take time and take a moment.
"We thought it was important to come together and have whatever bit of service and offer whatever we can do to his family because we know that we'll miss him but we know they will miss him even more."
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Aisha Hinds, who portrays Henrietta Wilson on the show, also paid tribute to Priem in an emotional statement posted to social media.
"As the industry processes the passing of one of our invaluable and invested individuals—notably loyal, thus lauded and loved for his commitment to his craft and sharing the wisdom he’d gleaned from decades of working in this industry, hearts are heavy navigating feelings of grief and gratitude for the life of Rico Priem," she wrote.
After praising crew members as the "unsung heroes" of 9-1-1 and the industry as a whole, Hinds concluded: "His passing has stilled our hearts and signalled for more conversation and care in that area.
"In this moment, I want to express deep love for our crew, and give thanks and reverence for the legacy of Rico Priem. Whispering a gentle prayer to the sacred soft spaces within his family’s hearts that ache in his absence."
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