You know what they say: Never meet your heroes. Unless it’s Ronen Rubinstein. He’s chill.
I learned that pretty quickly when I picked him up from the airport. We’d never met before, and meeting someone for the first time is always a little nerve-wracking, especially when you’re about to be stuck in the car with them for an extended period of time. The small talk came easy and he was polite, but I really knew he was a solid dude when we got to the hotel and walked up to the front desk to check in.
“I’m sorry, there’s no booking here under your name,” the desk attendant said.
“That’s weird,” Ronen replied, looking down at his phone for his booking confirmation.
“This is the airport location. Are you sure you didn’t book the downtown location?” she asked.
“You know what? I think we did,” Ronen smiled. “Thank you so much!” Then the attendant offered us warm cookies for the road, and we headed another 30 minutes in the opposite direction to finally get him some much needed sleep.
I really wish this was some sort of well-orchestrated character test that I crafted for the sake of the story. In reality, I’m just kind of a dumbass who’s bad at navigation and selected the first option on Apple Maps without verifying it was the correct address. The fact that Ronen not only treated me with compassion but was actually still fun to banter with the rest of the drive says a lot about who he is as a person.
He’s someone that can take a bad situation and turn it into a positive.
This carried over into the next day. Fresh off the first full night of sleep since becoming a father, Ronen was all smiles as we headed to the photoshoot. Our first location was Taste 117 – a world-class chocolate factory, restaurant, and a beautiful location by any metric. Ronen was outfitted in a custom suit to match the vibe. Grant Fry, the owner, asked if he could set out scones and an assortment of butters and jams, but Ronen only had one request: Jet Fuel. That’s his slang term for “the blackest coffee you can find.”
Through the power of caffeine, Ronen surged through his shoot. And man, what a good time. Having watched Ronen as TK Strand in 9-1-1: Lone Star on FOX for the last 5 seasons, it was interesting getting to know the real him. The character of TK gives off quiet, meek sincerity. He’s highly skilled, but vulnerable. A fan favorite, TK stans across the world love the character for his innate goodness. Ronen Rubinstein possesses that same earnest sincerity and goodness, but with unbridled passion and vigor. If TK Strand is a humble, tranquil blue, Ronen Rubinstein is a flurry of vibrant reds, pinks, and oranges.
We bonded over our shared love of music, especially Kings of Leon and Mac Miller. Ronen’s favorite music blasted across the set, and as the stereo changed from track to track, you could see how the variations in sound affected Ronen’s body. How he walked, the postures he assumed, whether he was drumming on his lap or playing air guitar.
“Music is around me all the time,” Ronen said. “From the moment I wake up, to my ringtone, to the shower, to the car, to the gym. I have a ritual when I’m at work in my trailer. There’s certain music I need to listen to before I go on set, especially depending on what the scenes are. I have a playlist for certain emotions, especially really sad stuff. There’s a very specific playlist with a lot of Frank Ocean on it.”
While the music definitely helped him change vibes from look to look, through it all he was a tidal wave of positivity. If there’s one thing I’ll always remember about that day, it’s how much we laughed.
Sitting in the kitchen at June Audio Recording Studios at the end of a long day of production, we got to really chat. A week or so out from the series finale of 9-1-1: Lone Star, he was still processing. While production for the show had wrapped months ago, watching the finale had resurfaced a lot of emotions. I asked who on set really made an impact on him. Not just co-stars, but everyone involved.
“Sabine Roller-Taylor,” Ronen said without hesitation. “She’s one of the very few people that was with us from the very beginning. The show started in New York. We got to shoot two days in Times Square. It was just Rob Lowe and myself, and she was one of the OGs from the hair and makeup department.”
As a hair and makeup artist, she was there hours before everyone else would arrive. “You know, we think we’re sleep deprived, showing up to work at 5 in the morning, but she’s been there since 3 in the morning,” Ronen said. “And she has to be there a couple hours after us.”
Ronen said her dedication was inspiring, as well as the way she was able to relate to the cast in such a close setting. “It’s really kind of an invasive relationship, you know? First thing in the morning (especially if you’re not a morning person like me) immediately having someone in your face,” Ronen laughed. “But she’s always been so gentle and very aware. I felt very comfortable with her.”
That comfortable relationship got Ronen through dark times when filming, especially during TK’s heroin flashback storyline. “I really killed myself for that one,” Ronen said. As he reflected, this was the first time all day when he wasn’t smiling. “I went to a very dark place for that. Especially physically. And no one knows better of my state than her. As a mother, she was very concerned for me. I would show up after having no water for days. I started chain smoking cigarettes for that. I was very hungry and also sleep deprived. She kind of turned into ‘mama makeup artist’ – not just ‘makeup artist.’ She didn’t really have to do much because I looked terrible. I just remember she really took care of me that week. I love her so much.”
That support meant a ton to Ronen, especially given the subject matter.
“TK’s abuse of opioids was what I went through in high school. And it was like three years of my life,” he said. “It took being pushed into the performing arts for me to get my shit together, which is another miracle. I was a degenerate. But it worked. It sounds so corny, but this profession literally saved my life. I would probably be in jail or dead because that’s what most of the other people that I grew up with ended up doing.”
They work with each other outside of Lone Star now. Whenever there’s an event or photo shoot, Sabine is Ronen’s go-to. “I literally just worked with her a couple of days ago for Good Day LA,” Ronen smiled. “I think I’ll be working with her for as long as possible, really.”
Ronen said most actors would likely choose their hair or makeup person because of the amount of time spent together and the crucial role they play in the artistic process. “You want to feel good in front of the camera and they’re a big part of that. Especially when you’re not getting a lot of sleep and it’s a crazy schedule. They do a lot of the work. They make us beautiful and I’m very, very grateful for them – because we don’t show up to work looking like that,” Ronen laughed.
“I mean, you look the same offscreen,” I joked.
“Well, I’m getting much more sleep now. I got nine hours last night!” Ronen beamed.
Sabine and the rest of the team weren’t just there for Ronen’s Lone Star journey, but for life outside of it as well. The cast and crew grew incredibly close over a wild 5 year run. It premiered in 2019, just before the pandemic, and ended 5 years later. So much has happened in that timeframe. Disease, social unrest, political upheaval, international conflict, elections, and (I can’t believe this is a real thing I’m actually typing) the rise of Artificial Intelligence.
“There’s forever going to be a pre-COVID and a post-COVID, I think. Can you believe that happened? It feels like a bad dream. And we all somehow did it,” Ronen said. “I can’t speak for the whole world, but I very much know how the industry has changed. I think my least favorite thing is that it feels like we’ve gotten a little lazy.”
“The biggest example of that is taking too much advantage of the virtual world. Making content instead of art. Not taking those extra steps of, like, actually going to people. Going to another state, going to another country, or meeting somebody face to face. I think there’s a lot of connection that we’re losing since COVID. Which is such a shame, because the best art is made with human interaction – human connection.”
Ronen mused for a bit about the way the studios have shifted their priorities in the last decade. “We’re trying to bank on being very safe, relying on a formula or statistics when the best art was created without that,” he said. “We didn’t base it off of algorithms. It just came from people that wanted to make real art and have incredible taste.”
He described Lone Star as a blessing and a curse: a blessing because of the people involved. A curse because it took place during a lot of these seismic shifts in the industry and the wider world. “Our showrunner, Tim, always said the show should be full of the most out-of-this-world scenarios. But actually, the real world was scarier than what we were depicting in the show. It came with a lot of really crazy stuff that was really hard to navigate. Literally, a couple of weeks ago, a lot of our city burnt down. So it’s just one thing after another, you know? It’s scary. It’s like the storylines in Lone Star come to life.”
Ronen had high praise for co-star Brian Michael Smith for working through it all as the first black trans man in a regular series role on network television. “I think Paul’s story was really moving in that regard. It was literally historic. There’s never been a character like that as a series regular ever. Brian Michael Smith is the first one. It’s been such a blessing. And I would never take that for granted. We were telling stories that are trying to get shut down right now. And trying to get erased, you know? It’s like, you almost wonder: would Paul’s storyline exist if this administration had a say in it? I would argue that it wouldn’t.”
Amidst all of the chaos and upheaval during production, the cast was there for each other during some of their biggest moments. Births, deaths, weddings.
“I mean, me personally, I’ve grown so much as a human, as a partner, as an actor, now as a husband, and now as a dad. I went through so many of my biggest life moments during this show. Truly. I got married. I got my dream home. And now I’m a dad. That all happened while shooting Lone Star. Everything changed for me.”
He speaks frequently – but reverently – of his home life. I’ve heard it said that a man in love acts in love. The way he tells the story of how he met his wife (fellow actor Jessica Parker Kennedy) serendipitously at a home deco store is rom-com worthy. The way he picked up extra Taste hot cocoa mix to give to Jessica when he returned home; the way he idly fidgets with his wedding ring during meals and car rides; and the way he checks his phone screen and grins when he sees his baby throughout the day are all small-but-significant indicators of his devotion to family.
Because of their tumultuous experiences in the industry together over the last decade, Ronen and Jessica have been building their own production company, working together to tell authentic stories with bold vision. One of their first projects is adapting a TV show based on a book series that made a huge impact on Ronen growing up.
“I won’t reveal the book just yet,” Ronen said. “But it taught me so much about this world that I was coming into as an immigrant to America. That’s been really exciting. We’re actually in the process of getting all that done, which has been really surreal.”
Another one of their big projects is a film based on a specific year in Ronen’s life during high school, which he hopes to direct. “That’s the one my wife is really excited about because once people find out truly where I came from and the shit that I lived through as a kid to get to the place that I’m in now, I think people are going to think it’s fiction. It’s really gnarly.”
“I sometimes can’t believe it. The fact that I’m here today, living the life that I’m living. I definitely shouldn’t be here, you know?”
Ronen’s post-Lone Star life is full of exciting possibilities, and not just in film and television. A songwriter and vocalist, Ronen’s band Nights In Stereo is gearing up for the release of their debut EP.
“Music was always my first love, especially moving to America as an immigrant and not knowing the language. Music was my first language.” He vividly remembers listening to Eminem between the ages of 6 and 10 and using that to develop his language skills. “It blew my mind. I used to be able to rap all of his lyrics.”
While he loves hip hop, Nights In Stereo definitely sits in the alt rock space. He credits his brother-in-law for building out his music taste when he was 14 or 15. “I remember he sat me down and he’s like, ‘There’s three artists you need to know, and the rest is up to you.’ And it was Nirvana, Bob Marley, and Jimi Hendrix. I wasn’t aware of that music yet. And I remember that sent me down the rabbit hole: discovering Kings of Leon, discovering Red Hot Chili Peppers, discovering The Doors and Zeppelin.”
We moved our conversation up to one of the production suites to hear the EP in full. With the band, Ronen aims to capture the spirit of grunge that seems to have disappeared from mainstream music. He points to Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Silverchair as major influences in the studio. While I don’t have synesthesia, Nights In Stereo to me is like a purple. It shimmers in a certain way until it drops into some heavy breakdowns and guitar solos. This purple shimmer is present on their lead single, “Open Door,” but the heavier grunge influence is more apparent on the full EP.
Ronen is making music that he’s proud of, even after listening to the mixes back millions of times. I asked if Jess was sick of the music yet.
“I know we have a good song when Jess is humming the chorus in the house,” he laughed. “And I’m like, ‘are you humming?’ She’ll roll her eyes and be like, ‘It’s stuck in my head!’”
Jess and I are in the same boat. I’m still humming Nights In Stereo since that listen, and I’m really excited for the release.
If Ronen could collaborate with anyone outside of the entertainment industry, he’d love to collaborate with Nike on a pair of Jordans.
“Especially where I come from, Jordans were such a symbol of like: You’ve made it. You have a pair of Jordans on your feet,” he laughed.
“Growing up, I could never afford Jordans and whenever I would see kids with them on, I’d be like, ‘Fuck, they’re so cool!’ Now that I’m older, I collect them. It’s a very expensive habit. I think collaborating on a pair of Jordans would be unbelievable.” He pointed to J Balvin and Travis Scott’s Jordan collabs as inspiration.
Regardless of which direction he heads in – film and TV production, music, shoes – it’s clear that Ronen is going to bring relentless energy and enthusiasm to the projects he’s involved in, no matter what happens. A lot of this has to do with his perspective on the future. This perspective has helped him navigate the challenges of life – addiction, global calamity, career setbacks, and the occasional dumbass who’s bad at directions – with grace.
“I actually think about tomorrow a lot,” he said as we grabbed our coats to go get dirty sodas at Sodalicious. “I’m someone that’s very much in the present, but I’m also someone that can’t help but fantasize and dream. I think tomorrow represents another opportunity at fulfilling your dreams and taking the steps to making your dreams come true. It’s another day to pursue whatever it is that you’re passionate about.”
“Some tomorrows you’ll ask, ‘What’s the point?’ Or you feel like the world has beat you down. But there’s always the next tomorrow. And if it’s not that tomorrow, it could be the next tomorrow. You can always make something out of tomorrow.”‘
