Ahead of the premiere of Fox's newest procedural series regular Petey Gibson gives The Advocate Channel the inside scoop on thrilling missing persons show, Alert.

Known for his parts in Broad City and Grace and Frankie, Gibson wasn't expecting to land the role, as his experience is primarily in comedy. As a trans, gay man, being cast in a recurring role on a procedural feels significant to the actor.

"I'm over the moon about it," Gibson tells Tracy E. Gilchrist of Advocate Today.

Alert is a procedural drama about the Philadelphia Police Department’s Missing Person’s Unit (MPU). Gibson plays C, the supervisor of the MPU's forensic imaging unit, who is part forensic anthropologist, part art student.

"I get to be the guy in the lab, which is like a dream role on a show like this," Gibson explains. "To be the to be the person that, you know, gets to be a little weirder, a little more artsy. Obviously, this show is not a comedy, but there is some levity to it. And it's exciting for me to get to have some lines of levity and also just be like a real fully formed person."

Petey Gibson | Advocate Today

Gibson adds: "I've really approached the role as sort of as an artist helping find missing people rather than like a cop working in a scientific, artistic way."

Gibson shares that he was able to find meaning in the show through its themes on grief and rebirth, which he relates to as an LGBTQ+ person.

"This is not just for missing persons in general, but there is so much to be said about the universal ideas around like grief and loss, and also hope and renewal and rebirth," he says. "That's something that I've really experienced myself as a gay, trans man."

Alert premieres January 8 on Fox after the NFL. For more interviews like these, watch Advocate Today on The Advocate Channel.