‘Chicago Fire’ season 5 interview: Joe Minoso on 100th episode, key Molly’s story
There is a new episode of “Chicago Fire” coming up on NBC tonight, but for the sake of this particular article we’re looking ahead slightly to what’s coming up on December 6 (at least per the current schedule): The 100th episode of the show. It’s a tremendous culmination of a lot of hard work from the cast and crew, and it’s a great celebration given that this is the first series in the Chicago franchise to make it to this point.
While at the One Chicago Day celebration in the Windy City earlier this year — which included a party for the 100th episode — we had a chance to talk to Joe Minoso about some of what’s coming in the milestone episode, the joy of making it this far on the show, and also a tease or two about the future for his character of Joe Cruz.
CarterMatt – Go back into a time machine — time travel’s big on TV these days — did you think the show would be able to get to this point?
Joe Minoso – I think everybody hoped. I think everybody dreamed. So few shows make it to a hundred episodes, so it’s kind of a feat. There are a lot of factors that go into it, and I think we got lucky and hit a zeitgeist. We got a lot of fans who’ve been great to us.
I know you can’t say too much, but is there anything that you’re excited for people to see about the 100th episode?
There are definitely a couple of things. I think they’ve managed a way to tie in the fact that it’s our hundredth episode in a way that’s very fun and natural. It relates to Molly’s. I’ll leave it at that … Molly’s is the highlight of the 100th episode, and it [features it] in a really fun way.
Do you ever think significantly about Cruz’s backstory and a lot of his personal history, or do you leave most of that to the writers?
You trust the writers, man. They’ve given us great stuff over the years, and I don’t honestly know how they come up with as many storylines as they do. I just let them do their thing, and hopefully every once in a while I get to play some great stuff and I have, every year.
…But I will say that I gave life to the Zumba idea. That came out of a conversation between me and Dick Wolf.
Is there anything related to Otis coming up this season you’re excited for people to see?
Just in general I’m excited for America to see Cruz and Otis goof around a lot more. You get to see their relationship in a lot of different ways this season.
You’ll be able to see some other coverage all about “Chicago Fire” tonight over at the link here. Stay tuned for more interviews on the 100th episode as you get closer to it airing! (Photo: NBC.)