EXCLUSIVE | 'Chicago Fire' actor Jesse Spencer on training to play a firefigter: 'It gets real hot'
Jesse Spencer earned American television fame when he played Dr. Robert Chase on Fox's medical drama 'House'. He then booked another show called 'Chicago Fire', to play a firefighter called Matthew Casey -- a character he has been playing since 2012.
The success of 'Chicago Fire' led to three additional spinoffs, 'Chicago P.D.', 'Chicago Med', and 'Chicago Justice'. While 'Chicago Justice' was canceled after one season, the other three shows are still going strong.
MEA Worldwide (MEAWW) caught up with Spencer at the 2020 NBC Universal Winter Press Tour in Pasadena to ask about his experience training for the show. Spencer said, "Most of our incidents come from real-life events, we adapt them."
He further spoke about how Steve Chikerotis -- the fire consultant for 'Chicago Fire' -- took him to the fire academy when Spencer first flew out to act as the pilot. Spencer said, "He threw me in a hot box." He called the experience really intense, saying, "David Eigenberg goes down every year to do the hotbox and Miranda Mayo did as well. So I think it'll be my turn this year. It gets really hot."
Spencer also said that he was "pretty claustrophobic at the start." He said, "it's a lot of gear and... enclosed spaces. I'm used to it now." He spoke about his first mission as Matthew Casey, saying, "[I had to] take my crew and get the victim and get out. And I couldn't find the victim. And I led them into a broom closet."
However, Spencer has improved since then and since he is a freediver, he is good at conserving oxygen. He said, "You mostly get used to it over time and now it's just fun. Now it's just second nature."
Spencer then shared with MEAWW about the crossover episodes the 'Chicago' franchise is well-known for. On whether he is informed in advance of the situation regarding his appearance on the other shows, he said, "It can happen at any moment. But normally, you'll get a few days notice."
Spencer said he tries to keep up with 'Chicago P.D.' and 'Chicago Med' when he can. He also teased about the upcoming crossover between 'Chicago P.D.' and 'Chicago Fire', saying, "Brian Geraghty comes back, he plays [Sean] Roman. He comes back to find his missing sister. That's going to be fun."
While 'Chicago Fire' tells the stories of the firefighters and paramedics of the fictional 'Firehouse 51' in 'Chicago', there is, in fact, a real Firehouse 51. Spencer said he visited the firehouse to do interviews and photoshoots, saying, "I think they dragged the firemen out and they couldn't have been less annoyed to be dragged out."
However, Spencer was happy to visit the real firehouse. He said, "It was kind of a nice little looking it all up."
'Chicago Fire' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights. The 'Chicago Fire'-'Chicago P.D.' crossover will air on February 26th.
You can check out the interview down below.