Season 3 of CBS’ Fire Country premiered on Friday, October 18. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the new season to find out more about Gabriela’s story — as season 2 ended in the middle of her wedding to Diego.
Now, fans have seen the aftermath of Gabriela’s choices. We got the chance to talk to Stephanie Arcila about Gabriela’s journey, what to look forward to this season, and more.
Editor’s note: This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Nerds and Beyond: Jumping right in, we see in the premiere everything that happens in the aftermath of the wedding: Gabriela talking to Diego, and everything with Bode. Can you share anything about what Gabriela’s journey will be like this season?
Stephanie Arcila: I think fans are gonna be shocked because it’s the most different. They’ll probably see Gabriela in the best way, in my opinion, because she’s not perfect… they’re gonna see her flaws. They’re gonna see her fall. They’re gonna see her get back up emotionally after whatever she’s going through, and she’s going to be challenged to face everything she hasn’t faced in the past two seasons. How she just buries herself in her work, and this time, she can’t do that. So, it’s going to be a very emotionally aggressive journey.
Nerds and Beyond: I love the relationship between Manny and Gabriela, and obviously Manny is going through some tough times. What’s one of your favorite things about their relationship and working with Kevin [Alejandro]?
Stephanie: One of my favorite things about their relationship is that they know that family is first for them and that they know that they are all they have. So despite the things that they go through, the ups and downs, they always find a way to come back to each other.
Working with Kevin is a dream. He’s such a generous actor. He will always give you 150% even when the camera is not on him. He is, I’ve said this before, such a well of wisdom, and is always so willing to pour into me and teach me. So he’s become like a mentor to me. It’s been beautiful, and I’m currently shadowing him as a director, so I’m learning so much more already from him, and I’m just grateful. We have a blast. We’re just two big kids when we’re together.
Nerds and Beyond: You just mentioned you’re shadowing him — does this mean you have plans to direct Fire Country?
Stephanie: That would be incredible if that opportunity is presented. For now, I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to learn. People spend so much money learning these things and go to universities and everything, and they’ve given me a gift to be able to do that at work while working. So I’m really, really grateful for that, and the time that Kevin has put into teaching me as well.
Nerds and Beyond: What’s been one of the most challenging parts about playing a firefighter or paramedic?
Stephanie: It’s fun because I’m really competitive with myself, but for me, the physical aspect is very, very physically demanding. I can’t even imagine what these firefighters do in real life. It’s so admirable and inspiring because just at work, carrying the gear that we carry and going out the trenches, through the mud and through the dirt and the snow… and these firefighters do this for 48 hours straight sometimes and more. So it’s just been the physical aspect of it, which has been the biggest challenge.
And, finding the waves of it all, the emotion. I think, as actors, we always love to challenge ourselves and grow and figure it out. So it’s just a never-ending learning
experience. But definitely, I upped my game on weights on this show. In weight training, to be able to do everything we do, you have to challenge yourself outside of work to be able to be strong and do it.
Nerds and Beyond: All the gear that you have on, is that heavy to carry too?
Stephanie: Yeah, it’s real. People think we have TV stuff on… or I was talking to one of our fire techs, Jeff Snider, the other day, and I was like, “Yeah, just our turnout gear on its own weighs like 20 pounds, right?” And he came back the next day and he was like, “No Steph, it’s like 25 to 30 pounds that you have on.” That’s without our tanks. So when we wear our tanks, it’s a lot heavier. It’s the real deal. I respect firefighters so much and beyond.
Nerds and Beyond: What’s one of your favorite characteristics of Gabriela’s?
Stephanie: One of my favorite characteristics is also, at the same time, my least favorite if that makes sense in both ways. You can see it in both ways, right? I think one of my favorite characteristics is that she is a go-getter, nonstop, never quits, never stops, right? She will figure out a way, and she will do it. But I also think that in life, it’s healthy to stop and to just sit. It’s okay. Quitting is not always a bad thing, depending on what it is, and it goes hand in hand with our boundaries because that dynamic of consistently going and never quitting falls into our relationships as well, right? And to so many other things. And that’s why we stay in relationships longer than we should because we have this mentality of like, go, go, go, go, go, don’t quit. You gotta go. You gotta figure it out, no matter what, you gotta figure it out to make it work.
Nerds and Beyond: Is there an actor that you haven’t gotten to work with as much that you’d like to in the future?
Stephanie: I got along with Jared Padalecki, it was so much fun having him on set, and I didn’t have that many scenes with him. So, I would love to have more scenes with him.
Nerds and Beyond: What are you most looking forward to fans seeing this season?
Stephanie: My character this season has had its most raw moment and most vulnerable moments. I think people are going to be able to kind of see a mirror of life and things that they’ve been through, and see the humanization of these characters not consistently being heroes, seeing their flaws, and I think that’s what I’m most excited about. There’s a beauty in our flaws and in the messiness of life that ends up bringing out so much grace and growth, like lilies, right? They come out of mud and bloom into these beautiful flowers. So, I think that’s going to be my favorite part.
Nerds and Beyond: Is there anything that you have learned from one of your past roles that you’ve taken with you onto Fire Country?
Stephanie: Oh, that’s a good question. I have to think about it, because Fire Country is probably the furthest away of anything I’ve ever done… so different from anything I’ve ever done in the past. I think, maybe just being in my body, the physical aspects of it. I did a show called Penny Dreadful: City of Angels a while back, and there was so much physicality. It’s so different from Fire Country, but there was such a need to be in your body, and as a firefighter, you need that as well, right? And muscle memory of how to do things and everything. So, I think probably if I were to give you a quick answer, that would be it.
Nerds and Beyond: Last question — if you had one word to describe the upcoming season, what word would you choose?
Stephanie: Ah, one word… that’s two words that I was gonna say.
Nerds and Beyond: Two words can count, too!
Stephanie: I think it would be perfectly imperfect.
Fire Country airs on Friday nights on CBS. You can rewatch episodes and catch up the next day on Paramount+.
