Who Plays Detective Newell On ‘9-1-1’? Meet Athena’s New Partner

9-1-1 has finally returned, and to mark the show’s milestone Season 10, ABC’s hit first responder procedural is shaking things up a bit with several new jobs and new characters.

Though Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Hen (Aisha Hinds), Buck (Oliver Stark), Eddie (Ryan Guzman), Ravi (Anirudh Pisharody), and Henry (Elijah M. Cooper) are returning as 118 firefighters and Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is still holding it down at the call center, May (Corinne Massiah) is taking on nursing school, while her mom Athena (Angela Bassett) is finding her footing as a newly promoted LAPD detective.

As 9-1-1 showrunner Tim Minear teased after Season 9’s finale saw Athena narrowly escape a near-death experience, with her new job, Athena will also find herself working with a new partner. And it’s someone we’ve met before: Detective Newell.

So who is Detective Newell on 9-1-1? Why does he look so familiar? And who plays Detective Newell on 9-1-1? Here’s what to know about the fresh (but familiar) face on 9-1-1 Season 10.

9-1-1 Showrunner Tim Minear Breaks Down Detective Newell’s Return After Season 9, Episode 1

For those who need a refresher, we first met Det. Newell in 9-1-1 Season 9, Episode 1, “Eat the Rich.”

“He was in the walk-in freezer with Captain Maynard when Athena was undercover. You just saw him briefly,” Minear told TV Insider. “I think they’re really fun together… Weirdly, Athena is a combination of really experienced and a rookie because she’s new to being officially a detective, but their dynamic is not unlike the dynamics we played with other detectives. It’s supportive and they’re a good team.”

Who Plays Detective Newell On 9-1-1? Meet Rick Otto

Detective Newell on 9-1-1 is played by Rick Otto, a 53-year-old actor from Baltimore, Maryland, with nearly 40 film and TV credits, and a credit in 9-1-1‘s Season 10 premiere. If Otto looks familiar outside of his brief 9-1-1 appearance, you may also recognize him from playing Officer Kenneth Dozerman on The Wire, Deputy Adam on American Crime Story, and appearances in Bosche, Hollywood Heights, Desperate Housewives, and more.

According to Otto’s IMDb bio, “Being raised by a police officer who ultimately rose to the ranks of Major commanding the Homicide Division of the Baltimore City Police Dept. formed Rick’s desire to attend Law school upon graduation from Loyola College. This path was abruptly changed when Rick found himself on the set of NBC’s drama Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). After encouragement and guidance from Tom Fontana, Rick scrapped his plans for law school and moved to New York City… After performing in the plays “Sweet Bird of Youth” and “True West”, as well as several NYU student films, Rick moved to Los Angeles,” and the rest is history. So if Otto looks like he’s effortlessly playing Newell on 9-1-1, it may be because of his real-life detective roots.

Tune into new episodes of 9-1-1 Season 10 to see what the series has in store for Otto and Newell.

New episodes of 9-1-1 premiere Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.