‘Chicago PD’ exclusive: Jon Seda on Antonio’s ‘Chicago Justice’ move, Brett romance

Late last week, the news first came down that Jon Seda would be moving over from “Chicago PD” to “Chicago Justice,” where Antonio Dawson will be taking on a new job as an investigator. It’s an exciting career change for the character, but with that of course is going to come some questions.

Luckily, we had a chance to speak with Seda earlier today regarding his big move, what this could mean for Antonio given there is his much-hyped crossover relationship with Sylvie Brett, and also what’s going to be coming up on an emotional episode on Wednesday night involving one of our favorites, Trudy Platt.

CarterMatt – When did you first learn about the move to ‘Chicago Justice’ taking place?

Jon Seda – It was Dick Wolf’s idea. He came to me and NBC and asked if this was something I’d be interested in. Honestly at first I was kind of like ‘what?,’ but it was really smart and an incredible thing to do. It’s unprecedented to have a character spun off of ‘Fire’ onto ‘PD’ and from ‘PD’ onto ‘Justice.’ It’s never happened before. It’s fun to be a part of that.

[With] these characters, it’s still going to be seamless how we integrate. It’s still Antonio, it’s still the same character — he’s just in a higher position.

Have you started work with ‘Justice’ yet?

Yeah, I’ve actually been working three shows at the same time for the past couple of months.

How are you still standing?

I don’t know (laugh). You know what? A lot of sugar, a coffee in an IV, and a lot of makeup and I’m good to go.

You mentioned that you were on ‘Fire’ first, and you got to be sort of ambassador to everyone then coming on ‘PD.’ Do you get to play this same sort of role again to the ‘Justice’ cast, introducing them to this crazy world?

Kind of — you know, it’s a great cast, it’s a smaller cast, so it’s a little more intimate. We’ve got some great people. We’ve got Carl Weathers, we’ve got Philip Winchester, we’ve got Monica Barbaro, Joelle Carter, who plays my partner now and that’s a whole different dynamic. It’s really cool.

Why do you think this is a good time for Antonio to make this move?

Antonio is a guy who likes to do things by the book. He’s hard-working and loves being a Chicago cop. For him and a lot of people in that world, moving on and moving upward is what it’s about. He’s a team player, he’s loyal, and he loves where he is. But, there’s circumstances that will be shown this season that will connect to why this move happens. Part of it will also be his family, his status as a single parent will factor in. There’s some things going on with ‘Fire’ that will factor in, some family issues with his sister Gabby. He also has this relationship that’s started up with Sylvie Brett, who is played by Kara Killmer. all of these things are going to factor into what happens.

So as an investigator, is he going to be able to use a lot of the same skills that he’s already honed over the years?

That’s absolutely right. His experience is going to bring a lot to the table, especially since he’s connected still to Voight and Intelligence. It’s going to make it easy to have cases and episodes where he needs to [play] that part and get some help in that area.

Does this move in your mind help create more fluidity between this show, ‘Chicago PD,’ and ‘Chicago Fire’ given everything that you’ve said?

I think so. There’s so much room for crossovers, and it’s limitless as to who can be involved and for what reason. It was exciting enough for me already, but now being a part of this and being a part of ‘Justice,’ you have a whole different perspective. We’re in courtrooms, and we’re seeing how these cases come together, and there’s the investigative team, which I’ll be leading, and how they go about carrying out their [duties] and how it is so important to have that investigative side so you can have a case.

It’s a really incredible, unprecedented, smart time we’re dealing with.

Let’s backtrack a little and talk about what’s happening on ‘Chicago PD.’ You mentioned the relationship with Brett. Why do you think they could work as a couple?

I would say it’s probably because it really shouldn’t (laughs). It isn’t something you would think right away, and that’s what’s intriguing about it. It’s like life; that happens a lot in life where two people that never would of thought of each other finding something. That’s what is interesting with these characters. It’s not something that happens right away, and it’s not an easy decision for Antonio especially. He’s dealing with his ex-wife and custody issues and being a single parent, so there are a lot of things that come into play.

But, you know what? Sometimes it’s all about timing, and it’s about stars being aligned. This is an interesting thing that will be played out and developed.

Are there any sort of epic crossovers coming up that you can talk about yet for the shows?

There’s nothing that I can really mention, but who knows? Maybe we’ll have a four-way crossover someday or even a five-way crossover.

You think you’re not getting a lot of sleep now…

I know!

So Antonio’s been on ‘Chicago Fire,’ he’s been on ‘PD,’ and now he’s going to be a part of ‘Justice.’ Are we going to see him become a doctor by the end of this?

(Laughs.) Yeah! You know, he’s reading ‘Surgery for Dummies,’ so yeah, he’ll be there next to Will Halstead doing some surgery.

Is there anything that you can say about what’s happening on Wednesday’s episode? It looks like it’s going to be a difficult one for Trudy Platt; how involved will Antonio be?

That’s a real heavy episode, and when someone who is close to you is affected like that, it affects everyone. All of us are going to be hit pretty hard and are going to want justice. Antonio’s going to be pretty hot and ready to lead a lot of the team and get them going to find answers.

Amy Morton and Christian Solte, they bring a wonderful performance in that. That’s one that you’re not going to want to miss.

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A big thanks to Jon for his time!