ONE CHICAGO Stars Tease Epic Crossover Event

Three shows, two nights, one city – it begins tonight at 9/8c on NBC, starting with Chicago Fire. The show’s fall finale concluded with beloved firefighter Herrmann being stabbed and left bleeding out in the storeroom of Molly’s. When the show returns tonight, the action will pick up right where we left off and sees Herrmann rushed to Med while the Chicago P.D. team try to track down the culprit. While waiting for news on Herrmann’s condition, the Firehouse 51 team tend to a call that results in a victim being taken to Med, where the staff realise things don’t quite add up. The fight to save Herrmann’s life continues straight after Chicago Fire in Chicago Med, where the P.D. team also investigate suspicious circumstances surrounding the victim from Fire and other paitients. Then in tomorrow night’s episode of Chicago P.D., the investigation becomes personal when Intelligence discover that their suspect has a personal connection to Voight’s past.

Ahead of the much anticipated #OneChicago event, Chicago Fire‘s Joe Minoso and Chicago Med‘s Colin Donnell, who play Joe Cruz and Dr. Connor Rhodes respectively, chatted to the media in a conference call about this epic crossover and what’s in store next for their characters.

CHICAGO FIRE — “The Beating Heart” Episode 410 — Pictured: Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

Colin, what does this #OneChicago crossover mean for you?
C.D: The crossover is an amazing feat of logistics first and foremost. I mean to pull together three casts of three extraordinarily busy shows into one unifying story is – is just amazing to me. So, you know, it meant a little bit more work for everybody. I think especially behind the scenes. But ultimately, I think it’s so worth it to give the fans such a unique experience of being able to unify three separate shows that are within one universe. It’s totally unprecedented in television, especially right now. And it’s amazing to be a part of that.

Joe, we left your character in such an emotionally precarious position, how is he going to be handling this? And is it going to be affecting him for the rest of the season that he introduced the kid to the [Firehouse 51] gang?
J.M: I think it’s going to weigh incredibly heavy on him. You know, I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t. I think any opportunity where you introduce someone into the world or into your community or your family, you’re hoping that that is going to go well. And that there’s going to be sort of a symbiotic relationship. In the case of Freddie, I think no one was expecting that he would become so volatile. But unfortunately it turned into a really serious thing. And Hermann, you know, obviously as many have said and I agree with, is the heart of that house. For it to happen to him of all people, who reached out, you know, so willingly to help, it hurts the most. And it’s going to kill Cruz. And we’re going to see that I think unfold, quite a bit throughout the season.

Colin, are we going to see some fisticuffs between Rhodes and Halstead at some point?
C.D: They certainly have a – two opposing viewpoints on how they approach medicine. I don’t know if it necessarily gets to – we haven’t seen it come to that much of a heated argument. Like even next week you see things get a little bit more aggressive between the two. It’s a contentious relationship.

CHICAGO FIRE — “The Beating Heart” Episode 410 — Pictured: (l-r) Jesse Spencer as Matthew Casey, Joe Minoso as Joe Cruz — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

So Joe, Cruz has had it a little rough lately – he had the new lieutenant on Squad, his best friend moved in on his ex-girlfriend and now the whole thing with Freddie is going on. Where would you like to see him go from here?
J.M: hopefully on a vacation. You know, after all that. But no, in all honesty, you’re right. It has been a really kind of crazy year for him. And I couldn’t be happier. I experienced a great amount of great story in this season. And they’ve really kind of taken the character on a different course. I’m really, really excited about the potential that working with Taylor has brought on the closer one on one level. And I get to do a lot more stunt work, which has also been insanely awesome. But as of right now, I’m just, to be honest, enjoying getting to just play with such meaty dialog. i think the writing staff is on a whole other level this season. And it’s like the way that they’re weaving these – this crossover episode is just so like seamless and it just all makes so much sense. And it’s just so exciting to be able to do something that’s like so innovative and interesting and new.

Colin, we’ve seen some incredible cases on the show, which one is your favorite?
C.D: Favorite medical case on the show, is it a cop out to say it’s one that you haven’t seen yet?…The episode that aired just before the holiday break that dealt with the supposed gun violence and the shooting in the theater, I think was one of my favorite episodes that we’ve done so far. I just think that what it had to say and what it did say was very powerful. And I think those are the kind of stories that I would like to be telling. And I think it was very deftly handled by our director and our writers and our cast as a whole. And I was very proud to be a part of that.

You’ve got Darth Vader as your dad. What is the progression going to be with you and that character? How is it going to play out with you and your dad?
C.D: We’ve seen a little bit of the Rhodes family story unfold so far. And it won’t be just this week but next week, you’ll see some more of it unfold. What I love about all of our characters, and like you mentioned, every single character across all of these Chicago shows has a story that we get to peek into and I think our writers – the writers of every show do a great job of shining a light on all of these characters. And that’s what makes it so appealing to an audience is because you fall in love with each of them as you go along. And specifically, you’re going to see why there is such animosity between Connor and his father, in the next couple of weeks. And to say anything more would unfortunately, give it away.

What were your initial reactions when you found out you were going to be doing the crossover episode?
J.M: Hallelujah! This has been something that I think has been kind of bred into the thinking of this show from the very beginning. I think Dick Wolfhas really been reaching for kind of a new look at how you produce television and this has been something that has been on his mind from the very beginning. And it’s actually a real honor for me to see it unfold. I think that they’ve done such an exceptional job in putting this whole thing together and now that Med is here, I’m really looking forward to us telling some really interesting, well-rounded, fully developed stories. You know, I feel like if you think about it, there’s going to be three shows telling the same story over the course of one week. That’s an hour and a half of television, which is the length of most movies. So we’re really putting on a movie a week here, when we do a crossover event.
C.D: we knew it was coming but we didn’t know what story was going to be told. For me I was just so excited to see like what kind of story was going to be, was going to take up that three hours of television. You know, it’s like – I was like I want to know. I want to know. And it didn’t let down.

CHICAGO FIRE — “The Beating Heart” Episode 410 — Pictured: (l-r) Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes, David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

What was the dynamic like for all three casts of the three Chicago shows coming together? Did you guys know each other pretty well already? What was it like working with everyone?
C.D: At least from my perspective, the welcome was so warm and as the newbies on the block, the expectation was that we would live up to the standard and the work ethic that is set by Fire and P.D. over the last few years and when you’re walking into a situation like that, you feel like you have every tool to succeed and to walk in and not only see them working so hard for the product that they’re creating is amazing, but also just feel the warmth and the love that extends to not just within the cast but the crew and the directors. I mean everybody at work is welcoming and so lovely and it’s an amazing group to be a part of.

Looking beyond this week’s crossover, what’s ahead for your characters and are there any storylines that you’re excited about fans seeing this season?
C.D: There’s some really cool stuff coming up, not even for Connor, but there’s some storylines that we’re doing right now – I think we’re on episode nine on Med right now – that I’m super excited, I can’t give anything away. I wish I could. Suffice to say, I feel like the stories have just gotten better from when we first started and I’m very excited for audiences to see what the writers are doing and what’s going on.
J.M: For me, I’m just excited. You know, once this crossover takes place and America gets to see the potential of what we’re really capable of doing when we’re telling a story now, with these three shows, I’m excited to see what the writers decide to do with it next time. Because I think that they’re going to find themselves with a great position to do some really interesting television and I think that for me that’s what’s most exciting, is we’re going to explore uncharted territory in the world of TV.

The #OneChicago crossover begins tonight with Chicago Fire at 9/8c followed by Chicago Med and concludes tomorrow with Chicago P.D. at 10/9c, all on NBC.