Gina Torres Admits 9-1-1: Lone Star Season 5 Premiere Was ‘Brutal’

9-1-1: Lone Star’s fifth and final season starts off with a bang — and a gas explosion from a trainwreck — that fans won’t want to miss.

“It was brutal,” Gina Torres, who plays Tommy Vega, exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly, noting the two-part premiere was not easy to film. “It’s really beautiful and it’s exhausting.”

Torres, 55, recalls “heat” and “fire” and “long hours” to get the trainwreck and subsequent chlorine gas explosion just right. Despite the toll it took on the actors, Torres tells Us, “I’m really excited for the audience to check it out.”

She teases, “This show makes me fall in love all over again with the process of filmmaking, with the process of making a show. Because there are so many people with different, with completely different skill sets that come to play to make that happen.”

The season 5 premiere, which airs on Monday, September 23, shows the beginning of a train derailment in Austin, Texas, that threatens to affect the masses when toxic gas on board begins to overheat. The story will stretch throughout the first few episodes of the show after an explosion pollutes the area — and possibly harms someone at Firehouse 126.

“Eighty percent of what you are seeing is practical. The explosions are real. The fires are real,” Torres tells Us, confirming that the “toxicity” of the smoke cloud is not. “That trainwreck isn’t miniatures. That trainwreck is real,” she adds.

The actress explains that the cast and crew is committed to each call — including the extras. In the premiere, one unnamed character gets too close to the gas, resulting in blood in her eyes, which was teased in the official trailer.

Torres reveals that the makeup team does a great job making the injuries look real. “There are times that our guest cast comes on the set and we’re like, ‘Well, I can’t look at this,’” she laughs. “I don’t like bones sticking out. It’s crazy.”

She recalls feeling the same way when she saw the actress who plays a reporter during the wreck. “She’s a beautiful woman, and she came out of that makeup trailer, [and] I’m like, ‘Girl, I’m so sorry. And I’m absolutely taking a picture,’” Torres confesses.

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The train explosion isn’t the only outrageous call the 126 firefighters and medics will be involved in this season. “There is a harmonica rescue that we could not keep a straight face [filming],” Torres teases. “That’s all I’m gonna say. It is amazing. It’s one of my favorite rescues.”

In addition to wild emergencies, Torres hinted that Tommy’s story line will be packed with highs and lows. “This is gonna be Tommy’s most challenging season,” she tells Us. “Hold onto your butt. If you’re a Tommy lover, we’re gonna go through it this season.”

The farewell season of 9-1-1: Lone Star premieres on Fox Monday, September 23, at 8 p.m. ET. For more on the fifth and final season pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.