The new series, co-created by Thieriot, premieres Friday.
Max Thieriot is suiting up for duty in CBS' new fall drama, Fire Country.
Inspired by Thieriot's real-life experiences growing up in Northern California, the series -- co-created by the SEAL Team star -- follows Bode Donovan (Thieriot), a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish wildfires across the region. When Bode is assigned to the program in his hometown, where he was once the golden All-American son, the skeletons in his closet come back to haunt him as he looks to redeem himself with Cal Fire.
ET exclusively premieres a sneak peek from the series premiere, where Bode breaks the news to fire captain Manny Perez (Lucifer's Kevin Alejandro) that he's actually quite familiar with the small town he's been assigned to through the prison release firefighting program after detailing the circumstances that led him to be in this position in the first place.
After sharing that he was forgiven for his crimes by the victim he put in danger all those years ago, Bode expresses his desire to succeed. "I want to succeed but I can't do it here because this is my hometown," Bode reveals to Manny, who's more than a little surprised by the revelation.
When Manny asks why he didn't disclose this important piece of information before, they're called in to fight a rapidly spreading wildfire requiring their immediate attention. But Bode hesitates for a moment.
"You just gave me a whole speech on how you want to succeed, so let's go!" Manny demands, as he and Bode report for their latest fire emergency.
ET's Lauren Zima was on the Vancouver set of Fire Country in August, where she spoke with Thieriot about bringing this idea to life.
"It's honestly crazy," Thieriot said of how the series came to be. "I think throughout this whole process I've been optimistic, but also sort of reserved because every step of the way you're waiting for some sort of letdown to happen and you're like, 'This isn't real life.' Now that we're here, it still hasn't fully sunk in, but every once in a while like I stop and I look around and I am like, 'Oh my gosh, all these people are here and we are shooting the show right now.'"
The 33-year-old actor and executive producer shared how growing up in Occidental, California, and having family still living in the area, helped infuse the type of stories and atmosphere he wanted Fire Country to convey.
"A town of 1,000 people. Everybody knows everybody and all my friends growing up either went to the military or went to work for Cal Fire. It was something that was always around me and I never really realized how interesting the job in this community was until I had somebody be like, 'Wow, that's a crazy life and a crazy job,' looked at it from an outsider's perspective," he said. It was then he realized there was potential to dig deeper: "There are some really great stories to tell here."
"It's inspired by this town that I grew up in and the people who do this job and that small-town USA vibe of everybody knows everybody and how even outside of this, how that affects everyone on a call," Thieriot continued. "It's when you're responding to a medical aide or a car accident, there's a chance that you know this person who is involved so there's an added stake that's at play 'cause it might be your friend, it might be your cousin, your grandma."
Of course, there's also a love triangle at play, which adds to the tension.
"There is a little love triangle, yeah," Thieriot confirmed. "The show is very much a character-driven show where firefighting and the prison are the backdrop. But it's really about following these characters and the people who do these jobs and so with that, obviously you like to throw in a little love triangle and some good drama."
Billy Burke, Diane Farr, Jordan Calloway, Jules Latimer and Stephanie Arcila also star.
Fire Country premieres Friday, Oct. 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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