‘Chicago Fire’ cast a real firefighter as an extra and he’s now one of its longest-serving star
Anthony Ferraris, a firefighter featured on ‘Chicago Fire’, has been a fan-favorite cast member on the NBC show. However, fans might not know his real-life job: he was a firefighter for over 25 years. Initially, he portrayed a fictional character on the show and played a cast member with the same name as his real name (Tony Ferraris). He joined the show in Season 1 as an extra. It happened after a friend shared a union email saying the show was looking for background actors.
In an interview with Wolf Entertainment, Anthony reflected on getting hired on the show. “A friend of mine received an email from the firefighter’s union saying the show was looking for extras. He asked me if I wanted to go with him to the audition. I went in with him, and I guess they liked me.” Later, they hired him in a speaking role because he was the only person on set who could drive a fire squad truck. “On the first day of filming, the crew realized nobody in the cast was able to drive squad,” added Anthony.
He also recalled the show’s technical advisor, Steve Chikerotis, asking whether he could drive. “I said sure, and that’s pretty much how it all went down. I started out as an extra and then Derek Haas (‘Chicago Fire’ showrunner) approached me around episode five or six and asked me to read for him, and then they started writing me in,” recalled Anthony. Since then, Anthony has appeared in ‘Chicago Fire’s over 250 episodes across 15 seasons of the show. He is also the show’s longest-tenured cast member, among others.
Along with the original show, Anthony has also appeared on crossover episodes including ‘Chicago PD’ and ‘Chicago Med.’ Despite appearing in so many shows and episodes of the franchise, Anthony shared that he was “never an actor” before joining. “I had never even wanted to act, so the big thing for me was just trying to get comfortable around a bunch of people. I didn’t know what to do, but everybody just told me to do what I normally do on the incidents and things like that.”
