CHICAGO CODE: Shawn Ryan Talks Cops, Corruption, & Chi-town

As creator/executive producer of Fox’s new hot drama The Chicago Code, Shawn Ryan is more than a little proud and excited that the long-awaited series is finally getting its chance to shine. Coming from a background working on a number of successful television series, including The Shield, The Unit, Lie To Me, and the short-lived Terriers, Ryan is putting his award-winning formula to work once again by tackling police corruption in Chicago.

The Chicago Code stars Jason Clarke and Matt Lauria as the homicide detectives navigating the thorny politics both inside and outside the police force, Jennifer Beals as their crusading superintendent, and Delroy Lindo as the shady politician pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

When asked about his casting of Matt Lauria, a favorite from Friday Night Lights, Ryan admitted that as a huge Friday Night Lights fan, he was only too happy to snatch up an actor from the acclaimed series. Ryan also shared that when looking for the innate qualities of Detective Caleb Evers, he needed Caleb to feel grounded and yet could still surprise the audience with intelligence. He explained, “The thing I really liked about Matt was when I saw him in combination with Jason [Clarke]. They seemed to have two different kinds of vibes and yet felt good as partners. So Matt was just someone who has what I like to call that kind of Midwestern charisma — good-looking, but doesn’t seem to know it, and seems moral in a way. I thought he was a great actor, but I just felt he was a great contrast to Jason.” Especially since Jason’s character was such a live-wire and so physical, he needed a partner that would balance him out.

Ryan also shared that when he cast Jason Clarke as Detective Jarek Wysocki, one of the deciding factors was how during the audition Jason had all these great ideas about who the character might be. Then, after seeing how Jason played the character, that also had a huge influence on how the character was written going forward; and it became a more organic creative process incorporating both Jason’s ideas about the character and how he portrayed him. The character became essentially tailor-made. Ryan explained, “I always try to have an open mind. I don’t act like this character is all mine. I leave it open to who this character is, and I allow for growth along the way, and seeing a specific actor playing a specific role always inspires me to write them deeper.” He also likes to keep the show feeling as natural and real as possible, while simultaneously engaging the viewer. He revealed, “We take these characters, and we just try each episode to show different sides of them we haven’t seen before.” Thus, allowing the viewer to discover the character layer after layer is crucial to draw the viewer deeper into the series.

Ryan also noted that by casting Jennifer Beals as the series lead, Superintendent Teresa Colvin, it helped modernize the show. He described it as, “Looking at a ‘female presence’ heading up the police force is something that not too long ago would never have happened. So, it really challenges a lot of people’s assumptions, and it kind of brings a lot of raw nerves to the surface.” He also added, “[It] was interesting to me, to take a character like Teresa and show who might support her, who might resist her leadership, what that might do to a police department. There are a lot of cities in the country that have leaders of their police departments that are controversial or maybe not too popular. It creates a whole different environment to the policing of the city. Those are the kind of issues I wanted to get into with her, but it feels like a very 21st century story, because a character like her wouldn’t exist in the 20th century.”

While Ryan is not going to be incorporating a flashback to explain the history and back-story of the relationship between Teresa and Jarek, he promised to show more interaction between them. He noted, “It is a fun partnership between the two of them and a fun relationship. . . . I would kind of consider it a ‘wish’ relationship, a superintendent who really did insert herself into these things and interact with cops and gets to know as many cops as she could by name. So that is the relationship with Jarek that she has. It is kind of special and different and has been fun to write.”

Then as far as the alderman storyline involving Delroy Lindo, Ryan confessed that due to his Midwestern upbringing, he has been fascinated by aldermen his entire life. Thus, when he went about creating The Chicago Code, he made sure to incorporate that vital element. He explained, “As I did my research for the show, obviously, everyone knows about the mayor of Chicago and the history of Chicago’s mayors, but less is known nationally about the aldermen system and the ward system in Chicago.” As can been seen, it has proved to be a fertile story and he hopes to expand on it as the series continues.

By incorporating Delroy Lindo’s character Alderman Ronin Gibbons into the mix, the internal dynamic and story kind of exploded. Ryan noted, “One thing that Delroy and I spent a lot of time talking about is the reality of the situation. Delroy always likes to talk about how his character was not the guy who started this political system in Chicago. That Gibbons is someone who had tried very, very hard to perfect it and had been perverted by it and definitely has a bad side, but we wanted to show all sides.” This was amply demonstrated in the February 21st episode, where Gibbons’ dark side was revealed. Ryan said, “Going forward, hopefully we’re going to show a balanced side of [Gibbons] — it makes him a more interesting villain.”

In addition, Ryan felt that there was an undercurrent to such a story that would lure and secure viewers. He described it as, “[I]f you’re going to make it interesting and make it someone’s number one alternative to watch on a highly competitive Monday night of television, you’ve got to start from a character place and figure out how to entertain. We did a lot of research. We read a lot of books. Then we just started thinking, ‘What would be interesting about watching this guy, about watching Alderman Gibbons and seeing how he maneuvers?’ Then when you cast a guy like Delroy Lindo, who I think is pretty magnetic and magnificent in the series that really helps. So, I just try to approach it from a story point of view—not that different from The Shield in the sense that The Shield had these cops who you followed and did some bad things, but what was enjoyable and fun about watching them on the road to mayhem. Same thing with Alderman Gibbons, seeing him interact either with this guy … in this episode, and how he manipulates him and gets manipulated at the beginning, how he turns the table on everything, was just an interesting story and revealed a lot about his character. I think that’s how you have to approach it, is just from a character perspective.”

While noting that not all the terminology is on point with what is reflected in Chicago today, Ryan admitted that he needed to fictionalize elements of the story to suit the show. He added, “There are certain things that you want to keep real, and there are certain things that you want to fictionalize. Any time you kind of dive headfirst into a community that I’ve spent a lot of time in, but I’ve never lived there full-time. We do our best. We do all the research we can. We have our scripts vetted by a current homicide detective in the Chicago PD, a guy who grew up in the city and was raised there. So we do our best . . . we’re trying hard to get it right, and I like it that people care enough that they’re going to point out the few occasions that we get it wrong. We’ll pay attention to those and try to correct them going forward.” So he is doing his best to keep it real, but still creating a compelling story for the series.

Ryan also revealed for him, he is interested in a specific portrayal for the show. He explained, “Looking at cops who had gone astray is a very different thing than on this show where we have had the cooperation of the Chicago Police Department. We actively engage Detective John Folino [their expert consultant] in aspects of the show constantly. So my view on these police officers tends to be in a more heroic light. It tends to be more sympathetic to the challenges that they go through.”

Then talking about whether The Chicago Code will focus on stand-alone episodic stories or continuing, over-arcing stories, Ryan said that he has worked to create a hybrid method of storytelling where in each episode a smaller story may be resolved, while there are threads of an overall story arc that ties all the episodes together and keeps the viewer invested. He shared, “I like those episodes where you can do both things, where you can feel like you have some closure in a story, and yet, discover new things that will propel you into the next episodes. So, I kind of enjoy that balancing act of trying to make both work.” He further revealed, “I have got to assume there will be people who haven’t seen the preceding episodes. So, there is an ongoing story that we want to tell, but we have to tell it in such a way that it won’t be too confusing to new viewers. And that there is a way into people who seem to watch the show and enjoy it, even if they haven’t seen the stuff before. So, I enjoy that balancing act—trying to figure out how to be inviting to viewers, and yet reward the dedicated viewers.”

As far as filming in Illinois, Ryan is pleased with all the assistance provided by both the Illinois Film Commission and the City of Chicago in welcoming them with open arms. He stated, “They were incredibly cooperative and really promised us a lot of assistance and really came through, and not just on the very first few episodes—really the whole series. They wanted to make Chicago an inviting place to film, and they really did. I have only great things to say about the city and the state in terms of being a great place to film.” The welcome mat also included the use of the local train yard which made some of the show’s key scenes more realistic “Not only that we got to use the train, but that we were able to control a little bit when trains came and when they left from the station. It just adds a huge element to the show that you don’t tend to see in cities like New York and Los Angeles that are filmed constantly.” Thus he happily noted, “We were invited in by that city in a pretty spectacular way.”

Finally, Ryan hopes that the American television audience will embrace The Chicago Code. Though he cautiously noted, “It’s really tough to launch a new show in this era. We’re proud of the episodes, and we’re in it for the long haul. I think the network is in it for the long haul.”

With that kind of dedication and commitment and a vision for a show to attract and retain viewers, and having launched out of the gate as a hard-hitting, no holds-barred kind of police drama, be sure to check out the “The Chicago Code which airs Monday nights at 9/8c on FOX. Attached are photos from tonight’s episode, “Cabrini-Green”.