Chicago Fire fans were dealt a devastating blow recently when new Chief Dom Pascal’s wife, Monica, died, leaving Dermot Mulroney ’s character a broken man. Pascal’s journey takes some unexpected turns following this life-changing event, as the Chief loses control when discovering that the other party involved in the accident that killed his wife will not be prosecuted.
All of this comes fairly soon after Mulroney’s character joined the show following the departure of former Chief, Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker), in Season 12. MovieWeb’s George Edelman caught up with Mulroney to discuss how it felt to join such a popular and well-established show and effectively take over from one of the show’s most loved characters. During the conversation, Mulroney shared a teasing insight into the upcoming return of Walker as Boden, and how their worlds will collide.
“I had no concept of how beloved Boden was – Eamonn Walker’s character – as the chief for all those years. So that’s built in, knit into the part of Pascal, who that other guy was. And it’s been amazing to learn that you see, coming up, Boden comes back at least for one episode and it’s really a special visit that everyone there was thrilled that he returned. Meaning literally cast, crew, everyone. But the episode is really interesting too, so stay tuned for that. And I got to work really head-to-head with him, in some intense scenes. So, they didn’t pull any punches.”
Dermot Mulroney Reveals How His ‘Chicago Fire’ Character Evolves
Joining a show after 12 seasons can be something of a daunting task, especially when the rest of the cast have mostly been playing the same roles for many years. As a newcomer to Chicago Fire, Mulroney has had to find his feet both in terms of being an actor working with the established cast, and a character that is new to the audience. While Chief Pascal has been a little abrasive in some ways, Mulroney feels that there is a lot more being shown as to what makes the character tick, and that is something that has now really changed following the death of his on-screen wife. He explained:
“They’ve had great fun showing me as kind of a hardass I guess, for lack of a better term, but he keeps kind of coming through for people a little bit, maybe behind the scenes somewhat. So, the viewers this season get the feeling that he’s a pretty good guy behind all that. But then, sh-t goes down for him and then who’s there for him… you’ll see. It’s amazing how the tables turn and then, before you know it, they have to intervene on his behalf for a number of reasons, but emotionally too, so it’s amazing in these upcoming episodes to see how that plays out where they’ve really got his back as he’s kind of failing at the grieving process.”
Mulroney is now hopeful that Chief Pascal will be able to have a long run on the show, and he is only just starting to get to grips with the character. The actor added:
“I’m literally just riding the wave. I don’t expect any input on the character, but it’s only now about 18 episodes in that I’m even safe like thinking about how he thinks because they have written a very enigmatic character, so I can make up how he thinks, but they write something that doesn’t match that so, I’ve been in this weird realm, and it’s taken this long for me to kind of let the character sink in. Now, I have my hopes for him, of course. That he weathers this storm, but they sure…I don’t think it’s going to be that easy on him. So we will see how it goes. It’s really fun to not know.”
