David Eigenberg Talks Crying with Charlie Barnett While Filming Chicago Fire
David Eigenberg has played Christopher Herrmann on Chicago Fire since the pilot
Chicago Fire veteran David Eigenberg (Christopher Herrmann) has bonded with many co-stars during his time on the show, but he holds a special place in his heart for Charlie Barnett, a.k.a Peter Mills.
If you noticed Herrmann getting a little emotional during Mills’ final episode in Season 3, that wasn’t just acting. Eigenberg was genuinely said to see his friend go. In an interview with NBC Insider, the actor recalled how difficult it was for Firehouse 51 to bid farewell to Mills for good. Read more, below.
David Eigenberg recalls crying with Charlie Barnett on the Chicago Fire set
“We were super, super tight back then,” Eigenberg said of Barnett, recalling one moment on set where he felt it was “permissible” to ignore the age-old “no crying in show business” mantra.
“We were doing a scene, and everybody kept choking up in the scene, and we couldn’t put that on the screen,” Eigenberg told NBC Insider. “But, you know, we’d have to go like, ‘I need a minute.’ And it was just a beautiful, beautiful day…”
While Chicago Fire has always succeeded in delivering the feels, Eigenberg contends the set is actually full of laughter — something he’s very appreciative of.
“We’ve had a lot of antics and nonsense and [funny] things that we’ve done to each other — and done to me — that I can’t voice,” Eigenberg confessed while laughing. “But we have laughed hard.”
“We laugh hard every day on this show,” Eigenberg said. “That’s why the crew has stayed. Everybody that could possibly stay, stays — because it’s a beautiful set.”
Kara Killmer (Sylvie Brett) echoed this sentiment to NBC Insider when she departed the show in Season 12.
“There is such a core principle of humor and friendship that continues to keep [us] going; I think that’s what’s really special about our show in particular,” she said, noting how Law & Order and One Chicago franchise creator Dick Wolf is “very intentional about making sure that the people who work on our show…have a good sense of humor.”
