Sunday night’s episode of CBS’ SEAL Team, “Nine Ten,” takes a look back at the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, through the eyes of David Boreanaz‘s Jason Hayes and his fellow team members. 

The episode takes place both in the present day, and via flashbacks showing where they all were before that terrible day 20 years ago. The cast assembled at the 9/11 Memorial for part of the episode.

“One of the things that hit me hard at the site, we were the first show to shoot down there at Ground Zero, was talking to a few officers that were present during that time,” Boreanaz tells ABC Audio. 

“And the stories, some of the stories that they were telling were not only hard to hear, but hard to understand and comprehend that that energy,” Boreanaz continues. [W]here they were that day, and what was happening around them. The sounds, the sights. Very disturbing. Words are hard to put into place with this one.”

He adds, “Being there and shooting this show really was about remembering the lives that were lost that day, right, 20 years ago. Sure, we’re a show that it can examine that where were these characters 20 years ago, why they got into the fight on terror, which is great storytelling. But being there and remembering and honoring that was something else. And man…It was very impactful.”

One of the challenges was finding actors who could play Borenanz’s character and others at that point in their lives. “Trying to find Jason Hayes was difficult, but the kid who played him was great and it was fun to talk to him and kind of see where he was coming from,” Boreanaz says.

He calls “Nine Ten” a “very special episode.”  

 

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