You may know him as the Rugby player “Herc” on NBC’s critically-acclaimed drama Friday Night Lights but you will soon get to see Kevin Rankin in NBC’s latest ensemble drama series, Trauma. Kevin plays EMT “Tyler Briggs” and the show follows everyday heroes such as his character from the moment they arrive on the scene to the moment they have to face their own trauma at home. There’s more to tell, straight from Kevin himself!

Tell me about getting the role on Trauma.
I was working with Jeffrey Reiner and Peter Berg from Friday Night Lights who were approached by NBC to see what they could about he subject matter, emergency. I was brought on and we sat around to talk about the character. We really built up the character in a way where I really was comfortable with the character so it was great.

Friday Night Lights is a very heartwarming drama…do we get that in Trauma?
Definitely. There will be a difference but yes. There is a really rich atmosphere of San Francisco. The heart in this one is that we are meeting patients on the worst days of their lives and we take that home with us and try to deal with that. We go home with their trauma having to deal with our own home trauma.

How much research did you do for your role, did you shadow EMTs?
Yes, we did. We were in small groups to learn basic EMT protocol. Then we went out with San Francisco fire department and paramedics on a couple of shifts.

Explain your character’s dynamic with the other main characters.
Tyler is partners with Cameron Boone. The paramedic has more knowledge and education than the EMT so I am just there to support my partner. Tyler gets along with everyone in the show. He deals with his trauma through humor. There is a rookie, Glenn Morrison and he is the only one that’s really going to get a hard time from Tyler just because he likes to. Overall, he has a good relationship with his co-workers. One thing about Tyler is that he loves his job, and he always wants to pick up shifts because once he’s home, he has to deal with his own stuff.

Tell me about what he doesn’t want to deal with at home.
There’s a community of EMS that travel from disaster site to disaster site from 9/11 to the Tsunami so Tyler has served in every major city. So there could be something that he’s running from. He’s not sure exactly what that is. I think Tyler wants to focus on helping other people so he never has to turn inward and figure out what’s going on inside of him. There’s some events that happen in the Pilot that traumatize some of the main characters. The thing about mental trauma is that you don’t know that you have it and it comes out in really weird ways for everyone.

What are Tyler’s weaknesses and strengths on the job?
He knows the protocol and knows that he can use the environment to his advantage. Being out on the field, you have to use anything within arms reach if it helps you save a person. He doesn’t have to think twice about things. His weakness I think would be that he is inappropriate with his humor at times.

What’s it like shooting on location in San Francisco?
Everyday I am here, it is even more beautiful. Everyone has been really welcoming with us too. Even though we block off some of their major streets, they are really patient with us and excited we are here. So that is great!

What has been the craziest, most challenging thing to shoot?
The Pilot was pretty challenging. We shut down a freeway off ramp for 5 days here in San Francisco. We blew up an 18 wheeler and had a 6/7 car pile up. I’ve never stood on a freeway. It was hot too. It was pretty intense.

What can we expect that you are excited for us to see?
I want to show how important and dangerous the jobs of paramedics and the fire department really are and how they deal with everything. I’d just like to show the human side of the hero.

Trauma premieres Monday, September 28, 2009 at 9PM.