Chicago Fire’s Hanako Greensmith, Daniel Kyri and Alberto Rosende Tease Season 11

Any interview that includes Hanako Greensmith, Daniel Kyri and Alberto Rosende is bound to be a good time. The trio, which has as much chemistry in real life as they do as their respective characters on Chicago Fire, are easily believable as friends on-screen because they are friends in real life.  And though it’s hard to capture the banter in writing, all one has to do is watch an episode of the show to get a glimpse of how this interview went.

But it wasn’t all banter – Greensmith, Kyri and Rosende also teased the return of Chicago Fire and looked forward to further exploring the dynamics between their characters. To that effect, we had to tell Rosende that Gallo was on our naughty list most of last season because of his treatment of Violet, and Rosende, a little chagrined, teased that “it’s really cool when the opportunity comes for someone to rise to that occasion,” adding that with Violet and Hawkins kinda trying to figure out where they stand at the end of Season 10, “Gallo gets the opportunity to see what he’s going to do with that. Does he kind of let that fire fizzle out or does he do something to help?”

And as much as that’s about Hawkami, it’s also about who Gallo is, Rosende teased. “I like to think that he’s a good person, and he’s learning,” he told us, sharing that in the premiere we see him rise to the occasion, which is cool. 

Greensmith added that in Chicago Fire nothing is ever really over when it comes to the romance department, but that even though she can’t say what the future holds for Violet and Gallo, she does see the new season as the “restart of Violet and Hawkins,” promising that there are “a lot of really wonderful moments at the top of the season.” And as for Gallo, she shared that the fact that her friend is showing up “instills a different kind of love between the two of them that I think is powerful and important.” 

We’re here for the focus on friendship – and family – too.

Talking about family means we can’t leave Kyri’s Ritter out, and to the question of what new thing the trio is going to do to gift us with scenes together, Kyri shared that, since they’ve done the venture, and done the bickering – which was a lot of fun to shoot – Season 11 brings something different. “There’s a slightly different kind of hue that we experienced this season between the three of them, which I’ve been describing as a deepening of their friendship, the three of them together.”

Be still our hearts. He added that we were definitely going to see more of their bond, and the ways they show up for each other, something all three are very excited for fans to see.

All in all, though, the trio was just really excited for fans to see the Season 11 premiere, with Kyri teasing that the show “picks up right where we left off, and stuff goes down, and it’s pretty scary.” But Stellaride just “power couples through it,” Greensmith added, with Rosende adding, “as they do,” which might just be our new motto. Stellaride just power couples through it. Put it on a shirt. 

Though, wait, we got more for those t-shirts, thanks to Kyri. “Two, like, really badass heroes, just kind of like, in the woods, and I think you’ve got it. They’re just like, they’re in the woods and badasses.”

Stellaride, badasses wherever they are.

Including back at the Firehouse, where there are apparently …eh, issues, in the form of Jake Lockett’s new character, Sam Carver. “He is a mover and a shaker,” Kyri teased, adding that he does “rattle some things around, and at least some of us are a little dizzy, a little discombobulated.”

Rosende went as far as to call Carve a “loose cannon,” adding that the character presented “a cool opportunity for Stella Kid, who’s trying to kind of come into her own as a truck lieutenant,” particularly as “this is one of the first times we get to see her leadership with people that haven’t been indoctrinated into the firehouse already.”

And Kidd’s leadership is, hopefully, something the show is going to explore more in-depth, not just as it relates to Sam Carver, but as it relates to the women of the firehouse. Greensmith would definitely love to see that, and especially a focus on Stella, Sylvie and Violet having a relationship “outside of the men that they happen to be with,” and how they “support one another and inspire one another within the firehouse and just in general.”

Especially because Greensmith shared that she loves working with Miranda Rae Mayo and Kara Killmer. “I think that’s something that’s very inspiring to Violet about these two women,” she told us, referring to the characters, adding that Violet doesn’t shy away from “wanting to have a strong relationship with the women of the Firehouse,” and it’s clear that the love transcends the characters when it comes to basically everyone on this show. 

That even extends to actors that are no longer in the show, because a mention of Jesse Spencer had all actors being categorical and their desire to welcome him back, whenever Spencer had the time. 

“We all love working with Jesse. It wouldn’t be Chicago Fire without him,” Rosende shared, and though there’s an understanding there that Jesse Spencer is a busy guy – “he is Jesse Spencer,” as Rosende put it, “Casey’s presence is still [felt] at the firehouse when we start off.”

But new season, new things, and Greensmith, Kyri and Rosende were excited to have scenes together, with Greensmith sharing that at the end of Season 10 there was so much going on for their characters individually they didn’t get that many scenes together, and in Season 11 they have been able to “come together again much more,” calling those scenes a joy, particularly because “there’s so much that we fill in between the blanks, which is so much fun.”

Rosende added that having a big cast sometimes means there are people they don’t see for a bit, with Kyri adding that he personally would love “some more Kidd and Boden in my life,” calling the two some of his favorites and teasing that we might actually get some of that. 

What we are also getting? Some crossovers, at least mini ones, starting with tonight’s episodes. “Keep an eye out during each of our premieres,” Rosende told us, remarking there are familiar places in places they shouldn’t be. Or, perhaps, as Kyri pointed out, in “places they should be more often”?

One thing’s for sure, we wouldn’t say no to more of the One Chicago universe coming together, just as we wouldn’t say no to more of these three getting to play off each other.

Chicago Fire returns tonight at 9/8c on NBC.