A new podcast is giving fans an inside look into what makes the world of One Chicago so special.
Former policeman turned trusted advisor for Chicago P.D., Brian Luce, is trying his hand at new role in the Dick Wolf universe as host of the official One Chicago podcast. New episodes drop every Thursday, featuring exclusive interviews with the stars of all three shows and promises much more behind-the-scenes stories to come.
NBC Insider caught up with Luce while he was on set filming new episodes of Season 13.
How Brian Luce ended up working on Chicago P.D.
“I went from driving a police car to being asked to come help on the show,” Luce said about his journey to becoming a One Chicago producer.
Luce worked for nearly three decades in law enforcement in Chicago. He often sought out overtime shifts, including “the movie detail,” where police officers block traffic for production teams filming on location, he told NBC Insider.
“I was always that nosy cop who’d get out of the car…would be watching,” Luce said. “I was so interested in this awesome world.”
RELATED: An Official One Chicago Podcast Is Coming with Exclusive, Behind the Scenes Access
He soon met Chicago Fire consulting producer Steve Chikerotis, a retired Deputy District Chief of the Chicago Fire Department. The pair would swap stories about their time in their respective fields. Chikerotis connected Luce with producers as they started plotting out a new pilot episode focused on the Chicago police department.
“We all collaborated, and they came up with the Intelligence Unit and then the next thing I know I’m on set,” Luce explained.
The behind-the-scene secret to One Chicago’s greatness
For 13 years, Luce has worked with the cast and crew from pitch to screen to help bring credibility and truth to the show.
Luce’s critical role isn’t just about fact-checking the technical side of what a police officer would do in any given scenario. (Though, that is one important aspect of the job). He also informs the actors about the emotional gravity different scenes had on cops in real life.
“Telling them, this is how I was affected. This is what happened,” Luce said about his conversations on set. “I go home and someone asks me like, ‘Do you have nightmares?’ And I say, ‘I got a whole library that I didn’t even get to yet.’”
Being able to share stories grounded in first responder’s true lives is “like therapy,” according to Luce.
“When you give them the real and you let your heart be exposed and you’re sitting there… shaking with them and you’re crying with them because this stuff comes out, as a storyteller that’s your job, so it’s not just movements,” Luce explained.
He emphasizes sharing real experiences or how heartbreaking cases impacted officers “totally changes the scene.” Luce also connects actors with other members of law enforcement who might resonate more with their specific character’s background or story arc.
“Somebody comes in as a day player and they’re dressed in that blue uniform, that same uniform my father died in,” Luce said, underscoring his commitment to the storytelling . “We want to get it right…The heart of the policeman. The heart of the firemen and the heart of that doctor who has to stay there and they don’t have time to mourn…they have to compartmentalize and put it off. I don’t have time to mourn, so I think that’s what’s making our shows so great and for so long we haven’t been able to share some of the ways that we do these things.”
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c, followed Chicago Fire at 9/8c, and Chicago P.D. at 10/9c. All new One Chicago episodes are available to stream the day after they air on Peacock.
