Tayo Amos Talks Directing ‘Chicago Fire’, Balancing Emotional Storylines and Brettsey

We might be on a little bit of a One Chicago break, but the last Chicago Fire episode we got to experience featured the long-awaited return of Jesse Spencer to the role of Matt Casey, and the directorial debut of Tayo Amos, who is part of NBCU’s landmark Female Forward directing program. Fangirlish had a chance to talk to Amos after the episode, to discuss stepping into such a rich world with so much backstory, working with Jesse Spencer, and getting to direct the emotional beats of an hour that got us all a little emotional.

Amos’ first order of business, crediting the writer of the episode, Elizabeth Sherman. “She did an amazing job of introducing these characters and giving them all the space they need to follow them and their journeys. And I was just kind of the vessel,” she shared, adding that her job was just making sure what was written, “communicated well on screen.”

For that, she prioritized communication with the actors, “just talking to the actors and just seeing where their heads were at and then also making sure that we had a moment in the edit to like let certain shots breathe a little more. I think people don’t realize the power of just holding on a shot half a second more and what that does to your psychology.”

This last part was especially true in an emotional scene like the one where Alberto Rosende’s Blake Gallo goes through his family’s old things and finds one particular picture that causes an emotional breakdown.

“We shot that very early on a Thursday,” Amos shared, “and Alberto was just really going for it. I remember talking to him after one set up and I just said thank you so much for sharing that side of you with us.”

Amos also told us that, in talking to the writers, “they were very intentional about showing this other side of Gallo that we haven’t seen before really on the show. From the moment he’s been on the show, he’s been a very confident, happy-go-lucky kind of character. And they were very intentional for this episode to be a different side of him.”

But it’s not a revelation, not really. Eleven seasons in, there are few real revelations. “I think it was less about, how do we make this right and more about, oh, let’s do the work of uncovering this character that fans already know and love and show them a different size of him.”

Amos’ episode, titled “Danger is All Around,” also featured the return of Jesse Spencer, who Amos told us she was very honored to have around. “I’m such a fan of his character and I did get a bit of warning that he was coming back, so that helped to prepare me mentally for his return as opposed to Brett, who had no warning.”

This, of course, led to a conversation about that relationship. “One big theme of the whole episode is this idea of resurfacing. A lot of characters are dealing with emotions resurfacing that they weren’t prepared for, and in the case of Casey and Brett, it’s nuanced, it’s complicated. But ultimately, I think that feeling of love will always be there.”

This doesn’t mean Amos’ episode was the right time for Brettsey. “Just because you love someone, doesn’t mean you can be with them. And that’s kind of the star-crossed-lovers vibe of these characters. They do still care about each other and I think Kara and Jesse did a great job of still having that subtext.” And, “they really tried to make it work. But I think we’ve all experienced moments where we care about someone but we just can’t be with them. And that’s life and it sucks, but that’s it is what it is.”

For now, at least.

Amos, who confessed she went through what she called “Chicago Fire boot camp” to prepare for directing this episode, also shared that she went online and read some of the fan discourse about the characters. But if she ever had any questions, she had the best resources at the ready – the actors themselves. “The actors really know their characters well, because they’ve been with them from the very beginning. So, I was definitely asking them questions and getting their feedback and then bringing my own perspective in as well.”

The result was a great episode of television and a big step forward for a director with a clear image of what she wanted to accomplish. “I’m always just like, let’s do the work, let’s do a good job. And of course, I bring my perspective as a black woman, as a Nigerian American woman.” But she doesn’t let herself worry too much about things outside the actual work.

“I think what’s been really helpful in that mindset is sports. I played a lot of sports growing up, basketball, water polo, and track. And there are moments where it’s high stakes and you have to make that shot or you lose the game. And I think playing sports growing up maybe prepared me to be like, you know what? Just do the job. Don’t think about people booing or your coach yelling at you or, you know, the person behind you who wants you to not make it just focus on the shot. Focus on the job in front of you.”

If you ask us, the work was pretty darn great, and the future looks just as promising for Tayo Amos. We’ll certainly be watching.

Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.