A prominent TV and movie actor and NCIS: Los Angeles star has joined the cast of the upcoming 9-1-1‘s spin-off set in Nashville, Tennessee. Chris O’Donnell has had an extensive career spanning nearly four decades. Besides Special Agent G. Callen on NCIS: Los Angeles, he has played Charlie in Scent of a Woman, Chris Reece in School Ties, and D’Artagnan in The Three Musketeers.
Chris O’Donnell joins the cast of the 9-1-1 spin-off set in Nashville
Chris O’Donnell will portray the character of Captain Don Sharpe, described by official sources as “a rugged fire captain and rodeo rider who runs Nashville’s busiest firehouse” and works “alongside his beloved son.” The latter part is a trait that Captain Sharpe seems to share with Rob Lowe’s Captain Owen Strand from 9-1-1: Lone Star, which aired on Fox for five seasons between 2020 and 2025. Both projects are spin-offs of 9-1-1, which was broadcast for six seasons on Fox between 2018 and 2023. It then switched to ABC, where it continues to be on-air to date. The Nashville spin-off will also air on ABC.
O’Donnell is the first cast member to be revealed. The official description of his characters further states that Captain Sharpe is “a devoted husband and family man, but he has his secrets.”
9-1-1 co-creator Ryan Murphy unveiled the Nashville-based spin-off in October 2024. “Tim Minear and I are working on a new spinoff that we’re actually writing, and that we hope to get on the air next fall,” Murphy told Variety at the time, though he declined to name the city that would serve as the setting.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, co-writer and executive producer Tim Minear explained why Nashville would serve as the spin-off setting. “It’s the city itself, its personality,” Minear explained. “We just thought it would be a good fit for the franchise — and actually quite different than Texas… Nashville is not going to try to be Lone Star,” he added.
Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on ComingSoon.
