Flames spread fast in the Windy City, but the company at Firehouse 51 can handle the heat. The first member ofLaw & Orderproducer Dick Wolf's "One Chicago" franchise,Chicago Firepremiered in 2012 and quickly became one of NBC's hottest shows. The drama's success led to the spinoff seriesChicago P.D.,Chicago Med,and the short-livedChicago Justice.
Chicago Firefollows the station crew of Firehouse 51 as they attempt to juggle the dangers of their work with their steamy personal lives. The show has produced more than 200 episodes and shows no signs of slowing down, as it was just renewed.
In its 14 seasons so far,Chicago Firehas bid farewell to many of the show's original characters.Season 13 was especially impactful, with cast members like Daniel Kyri, Jake Lockett, and Michael Bradway leaving the company after its finale.
Keep scrolling to learn what your favoriteChicago Firecast members are up to these days.
Jesse Spencer (Capt. Matt Casey)
Jesse Spencerplayed the no-nonsense second-in-command, Capt. Matt Casey.
The actor had his first big break on the long-running soapNeighboursin his native Australia, then starred in a handful of films like theBrittany MurphycomedyUptown Girls(2003).BeforeChicago Fire, he was best known to American audiences as Dr. Robert Chase on all eight seasons of the hit Fox medical dramaHouse.
"[House] was a very cerebral show and it was a really, really really, good show.Chicago Firewas just something different,"Spencer told EW in 2012. "It's not cerebral. It's more of a character-based show with a lot of action. After eight years of being an intellectual and spewing out medical terms, it was time to do something in the opposite direction."
An original member ofChicago Fire, Spencer made guest appearances on the spinoffsChicago P.D.andChicago Med.After nearly nine years in the franchise, he left Chicago behindduring the show's 200th episodein 2021 but has since madea few appearancesin seasons 10, 11, and 12. In 2022, he returned toNeighboursfor the show's series finale.
Spencer married neuroscientist Dr. Kali Woodruff Carr in 2020. He was previously in relationships with actresses Jennifer Morrison and Louise Griffiths, and professional surfer Maya Gabeira.
Taylor Kinney (Lt. Kelly Severide)
Taylor Kinneyplays charismatic former ladies' man Lt. Kelly Severide.The actor reminisced about shooting the pilotto EW ahead of the series' 100th episode in 2016.
"All I had was questions. I really didn't know too much about everything that we were doing, the technical aspect of the job and what we were doing. It just felt really, really bizarre and silly," he said of his firefighting techniques early in the show.
"I've been around it for so long and a lot of our friends are firefighters, Kinney continued. "We have people there that if we don't know how to do something, we'll find out before we put it on camera."
Before strapping on 50 pounds of gear as the hotheaded fireman, Kinney climbed the Hollywood ladder with series regular roles onFashion Houseand NBC'sTrauma,plus a guest star gig as sexy werewolf Mason Lockwood onThe Vampire Diaries.He gained international attention when he starred in the 2011 music video for Lady Gaga's "You and I," leading to a five-year relationship with the singer. They were engaged in 2015, but the couple split one year later.
SinceChicago Fire's debut, Kinney has appeared in comedies likeThe Other Woman(2014) andRock the Kasbah(2015), as well as the thrillersZero Dark Thirty(2012) andThe Forest(2016).He enjoyed lengthy arcs onChicago P.D.andChicago Med, but took aleave of absencefromChicago Firemidway through season 11 due to a "personal matter." (Kinney returned for season 12.)
Kinney has been married to model Ashley Cruger since April 2024.
Monica Raymund (Gabriela Dawson)
Paramedic turned firefighter Gabriela Dawson was brought to life byMonica Raymund.
The Juilliard grad introduced herself to TV viewers in 2009 as Ria Torres on the Tim Roth-led proceduralLie to Me.After the series was canceled in 2011, she had a recurring arc on season 3 ofThe Good Wifebefore being cast in the pilot ofChicago Fire.
While reflecting on her six-year journey with the character,Raymund told theChicago Tribunein 2018, "…I loved being able to play a first responder. I don't have anyone in my family that's a first responder and I didn't really know the different trials and tribulations that they face every day. So that was the greatest part about playing Gabby."
Raymundleft the seriesin 2017 after season 6 and made twoadditional appearancesin seasons 7 and 8. During her time on the show, she was featured in the dramaBrahim Bulls(2013) and brought Dawson to the franchise spinoffsChicago P.D.andChicago Med.She appeared in the rom-com Bros (2022) and in William Friedkin's final film,The Caine Mutiny Court Martial(2023). Raymund also led the cast of the Starz mystery dramaHightownfor the show's three seasons.
The actor was accepted into NBC's Female Forward directing program and has directed several TV episodes, including those onFBIandDexter: Resurrection.
She was married to writer Neil Patrick Stewart from 2011 to 2014. Raymund, who is out as bisexual, has been in a relationship with cinematographer Tari Segal since 2015.
David Eigenberg (Christopher Herrmann)
David Eigenbergplays Firehouse 51 father figure Christopher Herrmann.
"This is a show about life and death,"he told EW in 2021. "Those are the real stakes first responders are faced with every day. These real firefighters that we get educated by and we spend time with, they carry that with them. They don't put it on their sleeve, but you can see it in their eyes."
The former Marine began his professional acting career in the late '80s, and after appearing in the original cast ofSix Degrees of Separationon Broadway, he made several guest star appearances on TV shows likeHomicide: Life on the StreetandThe Practice.The character actor landed his most recognizable part in 1999 when he joined the ensemble cast ofSex and the Cityas Miranda's (Cynthia Nixon) on-again, off-again love interest, Steve Brady.
Since stepping into the fire boots of Herrmann, Eigenberg has stayed quite busy. He played screenwriter Ernest Lehman in the Lindsay Lohan-led Lifetime biopicLiz & Dick(2012) and has made several guest appearances on the "One Chicago" shows. He's also returned to New York City forSex and the City's HBO Max spinoff,And Just Like That, where the series writers revealed to PEOPLE in 2022 that just like Steve,the actor is dealing with hearing loss in real life.
Eigenberg and his wife, Chrysti, have two children, Louie Steven and Myrna Belle.
Eamonn Walker (Wallace Boden)
Eamonn Walkerplays Chicago Fire Department veteran Deputy District Chief Wallace Boden.
Walker was a veteran TV actor in his native England throughout the 1980s before finding success Stateside in 1997 as Kareem Said on HBO's prison drama,Oz.He went on to star in the filmsUnbreakable(2000) andTears of the Sun(2003) with Bruce Willis, as well asLord of War(2005) andCadillac Records(2008).
Walker made his Broadway debut in 2005 opposite Denzel Washington in a production ofJulius Caesarand is the first Black actor to play the title role inOthelloat the Globe Theater. He continued to act in television on the Fox seriesJusticebefore settling into his role onChicago Firein 2012.
"I was actually the first one cast [inChicago Fire],"Walker toldThe Sourcein 2013. "I was like, 'I have got to be a part of this. It's going to be something special…' Not sinceOzhave I worked with a cast like this that's willing to be supportive. AndOzwas a life changing point in my career as an actor, and I believe now I'm at the second kind of crossroads. To be at this point for a second time in my life is unbelievable."
Outside of the world of the "One Chicago" productions, Walker has also appeared in the BBC America seriesCopperas Frederick Douglass and on the Cinemax spy dramaStrike Back.
He and his wife, Sandra, have three children.
Advertisement
Yuri Sardarov (Brian "Otis" Zvonecek)
Yuri Sardarov played wisecracking fire truck driver Brian "Otis" Zvonecek.
Sardarov was a relative newcomer to the entertainment industry before joiningChicago Firein 2012. He made his film debut in 2011 inThe Doublewith Richard Gere, followed by George Clooney'sThe Ides of March(2011) and Ben Affleck'sArgo(2012). But it was the connections he made in the former film that led to his life-changing "One Chicago" role.
"I got an email from Mike Brandt and Derek Haas, who are the creators of the show; we had done a film together calledThe Double...when I was still in college…"he told theChicago Tribunein 2019. "And maybe two or three years later I get an email from them asking if my parents still have a house in the Chicagoland area because they need local actors for this television show they're putting together."
He's since appeared in the mockumentary seriesBoyband(2016) with castmate David Eigenberg and in the dramaAdam(2020) with Aaron Paul.He leftChicago Fireduring the premiere of season 8, but has returned to the world of network procedurals for guest spots onThe RookieandFBI: International.
Christian Stolte (Randall "Mouch" McHolland)
Protective union rep Randall "Mouch" McHolland is played by Christian Stolte.
The St. Louis native has often been typecast as either a criminal or a member of law enforcement and has been featured in films likeRoad to Perdition(2002),Public Enemies(2009), andLaw Abiding Citizen(2009).He continued this trend with a recurring role in seasons 1 and 2 of the hit seriesPrison Breakas Corrections Officer Keith Stolte.
During his 14 years and counting onChicago Fireand its sister shows, Stolte starred in the filmsRain Beau's End(2020) andThe Unseen(2023).He worked with castmate Monica Raymund in a short film she directed,Hidden Tears: Tanya(2016),which also starredChicago Fire's Eamonn Walker and Joe Minoso, and with David Eigenberg and Yuri Sardarov onBoyband.
Stolte has two daughters, Corinne and Greta, who have both appeared onChicago Fire."My older daughter played my biological daughter,"he toldParadein 2021during a joint interview with Eigenberg and Minoso. "There was a storyline where there was an information leak and I was a sperm donor father, that type of thing. And my youngest daughter was, I think, the first person rescued in the pilot episode. She's now a freshman at Arizona State, but she was small enough that Jesse handed her off to David after they crawled out of a residential fire."
Joe Minoso (Joe Cruz)
Joe Minoso plays loyal firefighter — and part-time Zumba instructor — Joe Cruz.
Before joining the company of Firehouse 51, Minoso appeared onstage in the Chicago area and was the associate artistic director for Teatro Vista. He made his onscreen debut in season 1 ofPrison Breakwith future costar Christian Stolte, and the two also worked on separate episodes ofThe Twilight Zone Radio Dramas.He continued to guest star on TV shows likeShameless, The Chicago Code,andBossbefore earning his first series regular role on the NBC hit.
"I think a lot about the tag that's on every rig, or truck, which says: 'We're there when you need us,'" he toldParadein 2021. "I think that's the overarching arc of the show."
Since the series' 2012 debut, he has worked with his castmates inBoyband,Hidden Tears: Tanya,Chicago P.D., andChicago Med.He appeared briefly in 2013'sMan of Steelas a police officer and made a two-episode guest star turn on the Epix seriesGet Shorty.
Minoso has been married toChicago Firemake-up artist Caitlin Murphy Miles since 2016.
Kara Killmer (Sylvie Brett)
Kara Killmermade her way to Chicago in season 3 as the slightly naïve runaway bride turned paramedic, Sylvie Brett.
Killmer got her first break on the 2010 reality seriesIf I Can Dream, which chronicled the ups and downs of five aspiring performers in Los Angeles. She earned a small handful of TV credits inScary Tales,Jane by Design,and the TV movieHorizon(2013) before assuming the role of the former small-town paramedic.
Since starring onChicago Fire, she headlined her first film, the historical action dramaBeyond the Mask(2015), and, like costars Monica Raymund and Christian Stolte, appeared on the comedy seriesSpecial Skills.She also reunited with formerChicago Firelove interestJon Sedain the short filmThe Follower(2019) and scored her second leading role in the 2018 TV movie thrillerSleeper.
As EW reported in November 2023,Killmer bidChicago Firefarewellin season 12.
In real life, Killmer married herBeyond the Maskcostar, Andrew Cheney, in 2016.
Miranda Rae Mayo (Stella Kidd)
Miranda Rae Mayo joined the cast ofChicago Firein season 4 as fearless firefighter Stella Kidd.
"One of the things that I love about Stella is she is courageous, not only in her profession but in her relationships,"Mayo toldEssencein 2022. "Stella has been an incredible vehicle for me to explore many different sides of myself."
The actress made her television debut on a different Dick Wolf procedural,Law & Order: LA,before recurring onThe Game, Days of Our Lives,Pretty Little Liars,andTrue Detectiveseason 2.She became a series regular on the short-lived ABC dramaBlood & Oilwith Don Johnson before making her way toChicago Firein 2016 to drive Truck 81.
The Chicago production has kept her busy on the acting front, but like her character, who gives back onscreen with her Girls on Fire initiative, Mayo sits on the board of theHolistic Life Foundation, which seeks to nurture wellness in underserved communities through practices like yoga and mindful meditation.
Alberto Rosende (Blake Gallo)
Alberto Rosende came on board in season 8 as the young, devil-may-care firefighter, Blake Gallo.
"In a lot of ways we're similar but I have the thing in my head that says, 'No that is extremely dangerous, don't do that.' Gallo does not… He hasn't reckoned with his mortality,"Rosende toldHelloin 2021. "He has an understanding of loss, but he has a youthful idealism and energy that allows him to run in head first."
The NYU Tisch School of the Arts grad was forced to reckon with his own mortality, too,revealing via social mediain 2017 that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2013 at age 20. He later appeared onBlue BloodsandLaw & Order: SVUbefore joining the fan-favorite Freeform seriesShadowhuntersas vampire Simon Lewis.
After four fruitful seasons ofChicago Fire,Rosende departed the seriesfollowing the season 12 premiere.
"When I decided to end my time withChicago, it wasn't easy,"he toldDeadlinein 2023. "The people I've met were truly special, the friendships I've made will last a lifetime, and the story I got to tell was one that made me proud."
Rosende married hisShadowhunterscostar, Tessa Mossey, in July 2025.
Daniel Kyri (Darren Ritter)
Daniel Kyri leaped into the fire in season 7 as the compassionate Darren Ritter.
A Chicago native, the actor first graced the small screen as one of the pint-sized participants on the 2007 CBS reality showKid Nation.He soon left the world of reality TV behind and made a name for himself in the local theater community, earning a Joseph Jefferson Equity Award nomination for Principal Actor in a Play forObjects in the Mirrorand receiving strong reviews for his performance as Hamlet at the Gift Theatre. Fun fact: Prior to landing the role of Ritter onChicago Fire, Kyri appeared as the son of a patient in a 2018 episode ofChicago Med.
Since joining the crew of Firehouse 51, he's lent his voice to the narrative podcastLake Songand starred in movies likeKilling Eleanor(2020) with castmate David Eigenberg,The Thing About Harry(2020),andNight's End(2022). The openly queer Kyri has also codirected, co-written, and costarred in the LGBTQ+-focused series,The T.
Playing a gay firefighter has been instrumental to his personal and professional growth as well. "In a lot of ways, it's forced me to grow up,"Kyri toldTodayin 2023. "I was a person who had a lot of outdated, maybe even preconceived, notions about how to be a successful actor… I imagined I'd have to twist myself out of shape to fit into some kind of mold. The opportunity to just fully go there [on set] and be the representation that I needed when I was growing up is really, truly something that has made me as Daniel Kyri the actor blossom."
Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
