Yes, that's Jennifer Love Hewitt singing 'Islands in the Stream' during her “9-1-1” wedding

"I was like, 'I have to give Kenny a wedding gift from Maddie,'" the star says of creating Chimney (Kenneth Choi) and Maddie's hospital ceremony song on the ABC drama.

Jennifer Love Hewitt promised it would not be an easy road to a Chimney and Maddie wedding on 9-1-1 — but at least it came with a nice musical surprise at the end,

Season 7, episode 6 of the ABC first-responder drama saw Chimney (Kenneth Choi) missing his wedding, wandering the streets of Los Angeles in a state of delirium, suffering from viral encephalitis. Eventually found and treated, Chimney insists he and Maddie (Hewitt) wed as soon as possible — with Bobby (Peter Krause) serving as minister right in the hospital room.

"That wedding scene was cathartic and it was joyful and was uplifting, and it was wonderful to have all of the supporting cast members there too," Choi tells Entertainment Weekly. "There were several of the actors that I had never even met, so it was wonderful to see them and to have all their energy there for us. It was incredible because we did so many camera angles, having 20, 25 cast members, that we probably did 30 to 35 takes. And as you can see, it's highly emotional — and that's what sustained us, all those cast members."

Another thing that sustained Choi in particular was a song playing on repeat in his earbuds in between takes.

"Kenny loves to listen to music when he has emotional scenes," says Hewitt. "And so, when the episode was coming up, I was like, 'What can I do for him to kind of keep Maddie in his brain, even though he's not supposed to remember Maddie, but to kind of draw him back to that room where he needs to be.' And for us, we always think of Maddie and Chimney's real beginning as that moment in the karaoke bar where they sang 'Islands in the Stream.' So I woke up one night in the middle of the night and I was like, "Oh, God, that's it! I have to give Kenny a wedding gift from Maddie, and it has to be this very emotional, sort of ballad version of 'Islands in the Stream.'"

After recording it with the help of some friends, she presented her gift to Choi: "I was like, 'This is my wedding gift to Maddie and Chimney. Hope you like it.' And Kenny listened to it 15 or 20 times a day during every scene, including the one where we were getting married. I was like, 'What are you doing? Talk to me. What's happening?' And he's like, 'I'm listening to your song, stop!" she recalls with a laugh.

"It sustained me in between takes," Choi confirms, "because we [shot that scene] for about six hours, 35 takes over six hours. I had my AirPods in and I listened to her song and it got me there emotionally every single time. It was such a joy that she gave that to me. She's incredible. Jennifer's just so incredible."

And Choi wasn't the only one touched by the song. Hewitt also gifted it to 9-1-1 co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear, who felt compelled to use it as the soundtrack to the ceremony.

"I think I drive Tim crazy, honestly, calling him all the time. I'm like, 'I have another idea,'" says Hewitt, who is also instigated the Bachelor crossover episode and even the plan to get Maddie and Chimney together in the first place. "He's like, 'I know. I am busy trying to write a television show. What are you doing?' I'm like, 'Just one more thing...' So I'm sure he hopes that I am out of ideas, but he's been lovely to allow some of them to find their way to the show. I just really care about it, and so it's nice every once in a while to feel like something that I feel strongly about kind of ends up in there somehow."

Hewitt's version of "Islands in the Stream" is available to, well, stream now. 9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m ET on ABC.

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