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We are seated in the Mandarin Oriental's speakeasy, The Office NYC –an intimate wood- paneled room appointed with trinkets from the past like old fashioned typewriters, vintage spirits, and tufted dark leather couches and armchairs. The Los Angeles-based actor is in town with his costar Jaina Lee Ortiz to promote their new TV show, Station 19, and has been at it all day, so a cocktail is welcome. A "rum guy," Jason orders the Dealer's Choice, leaving the mixologist to concoct a rum-based libation especially for him. I follow suit, except, I ask for vodka. Once that's taken care of, Jason continues telling me the fateful story about how his acting career began. In 1996, Jason participated in a worldwide casting search for the role of Michael Bourne in Aaron Spelling's Sunset Beach. The night before the audition, Jason performed in a play in Philly, then went out and partied all night since he didn't believe the audition would lead anywhere —at best, he thought he could make some connections. A few hours later, early Sunday morning, he was on a flight out to L.A., and finally got some sleep en route. "The funny part is, had I been fully conscious and awake, well rested, I probably would've gotten really nervous when they handed me the second scene. But I was just in a mellow state where I was like, 'Let's do this.' Tuesday: I found out I got the job. Wednesday: I shot my very first feature film role, which was College Kid in the movie Fallen with Denzel Washington. Thursday: I moved to Los Angeles. And Friday: I was doing a photoshoot on the beach with Sherri [Saum, who played Vanessa Hart on Sunset Beach]." He's been acting and living in L.A. ever since. During his three-year stint on the Emmy Award- winning soap, Jason received an Emmy nomination in 1999 for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Michael. When the show ended, Aaron Spelling —the late producer whose successes included Charlie's Angels, Dynasty, and Beverly Hills, 90210— took Jason with him. "Spelling produced mostly primetime, so he pulled me off that soap directly into a primetime show [Titans]. Nobody wants to hire you for any job until you've already done that job, so I got series regular on my resume and that got me into a whole other section of my career. Again, shooting me ahead a few years because it's really hard to break out of the soap market." What was it like working with the iconic producer? "He was amazing, because he was everybody's favorite uncle, everybody's grandad. He met my mom once, would ask for her by name a year later. He'd say, 'How's Shirley?' And I was like, 'Ohmygod, you're amazing!' My mom, to this day, is like, 'Me and Aaron.'" He laughs. "She's on a first name basis with Aaron Spelling." From there, Jason appeared in a list of TV series and films including, Barbershop, Eli Stone, Mistresses, Grey's Anatomy, and now, the latter's spinoff, Station 19, which premiered on March 22nd this year. Jason's Grey's Anatomy character, Dr. Ben Warren, has taken a new job at the fire station down the street from Seattle Grace Hospital in Station 19. "Ben's like, 'I want to do more. I want to get my hands dirty, and get closer to the source of the issue,'" Jason explains about his character's progression from anesthesiologist-turned-surgeon-turned- firefighter. "[Miranda] Bailey [his Grey's Anatomy wife and chief of surgery at the hospital, portrayed by Chandra Wilson] would say he has professional ADD." In last year's season finale of Grey's Anatomy, which Stacy McKee (Station 19's creator) wrote, Ben throws on a firefighter jacket and runs into the burning hospital to rescue a friend lost in the fire. "A whole bunch of fans jumped on it and thought, 'Oh, it's a firefighter spinoff!' I was like, 'That's so ridiculous.' I literally laughed." To Jason's surprise, Stacy had some ideas brewing. For years, there had been talk about a second spinoff (the first was Private Practice) that was more connected to Grey's Anatomy and Stacy liked the idea of following the first responders, he tells me. "I still look at Stacy, waiting to find out if she was planting seeds," he says about the finale. "'Cause Ben ran into the fire. So, I think that, coupled with —he's gotten into trouble doing the things he knew he shouldn't have done… [referring to past incidents where Ben bended the rules as a surgeon when it meant life or death for the patient]. Now, we're going to go play in this sandbox out in the world where there's a lot fewer rules." Jason received the call from Shonda Rhimes (the creator of Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice and Scandal and founder of the production company Shondaland) and Grey's Anatomy producer Betsy Beers last July while vacationing on the east coast with his family. At this time, Shonda explained the premise of Station 19 and the perks: It shoots in L.A., which means getting to live at home with his family; it's a firefighter show, so there's lots of action, and because it's a spinoff, he can easily return to Grey's Anatomy. "There's no downside here. Literally, inside of a minute and a half, I was in." Jason's only concern was that it didn't come across as if Ben was getting kicked out of Seattle Grace Hospital, and he wanted to ensure that Ben's change in profession made sense –and it did. And yes, he's aware that his character just took a major pay cut, but Ben's not worried about it. "When we first met Ben, he was an anesthesiologist and the joke was, they called him The Gas Man. Bailey actually said to him, 'You just show up, knock people out, and then roll away with your bags of money.' He was a bachelor for a good, long while. Ben has put away money. Oh, and by the way, his wife is the chief of surgery… We're good for cash. Cash is not the issue. Let me do the thing that excites me,"' he says with a grin. While Ben is the sole character bridging the connection between the two shows, he's not the lead, he tells me. "I wouldn't say I was leading the spinoff. It's a Shonda show, so there's a beautiful Latina, Jaina Lee Ortiz, who is the lead female of the show. I'm #2 on the call sheet." Jaina plays Andy Herrera a second- generation firefighter, the daughter of Captain Pruitt Herrera, who steps down due to health issues. "She's this powerful woman fighting to earn her leadership spot in this station," Jason explains. "Ben's the new guy right now, so it's an incredibly humbling thing to be this accomplished person in every other facet of your life…and you're basically starting over again. It's all the complex emotional relationships that you expect from a Shonda Rhimes show, but with triple the action that we're used to 'cause we're running into fire." Like his character, Ben, Jason loves an adrenaline rush, and has already been pushing the limits onset. When he heard about all the things he'd get to do on the show —swinging axes, climbing, being around fire—the 10-year- old in him was ecstatic. "I've had two or three different conversations about what insurance will let me do." He flashes a mischievous smile. "We have a 100-foot ladder on the truck, and insurance is supposed to let you climb five steps. When I got to 30 feet, they got nervous. When I got to 40, they yelled, 'Cut!' I've had my hand swatted a couple of times." Confident in his abilities, he's had some previous experience climbing the fire truck ladder having participated in firefighter training for charity in the past. "Somewhere around 75 feet, it's bouncing, and it's nerve-wracking, but it's also fun." And Friends fans might recognize him as the dashing firefighter who saved Phoebe's fire alarm from the trash chute. The brawny actor navigates his life off-screen in an equally upstanding manner. Take his Twitter bio, which reads: "Dad who moonlights as an actor… Believer of Truth, Justice, and the Samaritan Way." He is a man who cares deeply about social issues, particularly about gun safety. As someone who grew up a "Navy brat," Jason was surrounded by guns and strongly believes in the Second Amendment, and also believes that those who support the Second Amendment "and people who don't like guns, but want to feel safe, could have a real conversation about: How do we pass laws that meet everybody's needs and makes sense? Guns are fun to shoot. I'm a good shot. But when there's a shooting of kids in a school, and everybody just throws their hands up and says, 'This is a shame this happens,' and nobody does anything, I get pissed. I have kids and Sandy