Chicago PD postmortem: Is Burgess leaving? Marina Squierciati explains
Behind the scenes, it was important for Marina Squierciati to step away from the show right now, given that she is expecting and is taking maternity leave for the final episodes of the season. This will be the last time we get see her for season 4, but as she explains in the second part of our exclusive interview below (be sure to check out part 1 here), she’s already excited for what the future could hold for Burgess in Chicago PD season 5 and plans to be back in action this fall.
CarterMatt – When you first learned that you’d be meeting Nicole on the show, did you have any idea that you were building to this conclusion?
Marina Squerciati – We felt like it would be a good way to get me maternity leave, and I’m so proud of how they did it. It’s so real, and it’s not just like she goes to the locker room and doesn’t come back. It’s a valid reason. People do take personal time, and sometimes they’re in the middle of their careers and it’s hard. It’s difficult to make that decision when you’re very career-oriented, but she makes that decision to step back from her career. I think that’s something a lot of people can relate to unfortunately.
As much of a workaholic as I am, it has been nice to take some time off and just get ready. I could’ve kept working, but it’s been nice to have a couple of weeks off.
Are we going to be seeing Nicole again in the future after this?
I like Jules Willcox the actress, so I’m going to put out there that there’s hope for her to come back in season 5. I also do think that when Burgess does come back for season 5 it’s important to see where she’s been with her sister. I’d love to be able to touch base with her to see how she’s healed over the break.
Do you think this episode will cement her even further as a member of Intelligence? She’s been there for some of the other members of Intelligence, and now they have this chance to be there for her.
I think she’s got special relationships with all of the different people. The only character that I don’t think that she’s really connected with yet is Halstead, but that makes sense since he’s a wounded, closed-off character. I’d like to explore that more next season.
One of the sad things about this episode is that Burgess has figured out her stride working with Intelligence, and she has to then take a step away. You’re basically saying ‘okay, I belong here’ and then ‘now I have to go.’
Do you think going through something like this impacts the relationship between Burgess and Ruzek in any way?
I don’t think anyone comes out of this feeling like the same person. I don’t think you can trust very easily after this. Maybe it’s men, maybe it’s people in general. I don’t know how that’s going to coalesce, but I haven’t thought about that just yet.
Even though you won’t be around the rest of the season, is there anything you can say about what’s coming up there?
I’m a little worried about Lindsay. I still get all of the emails and the scripts — I’m reading them, and I’m a little concerned!
More Chicago PD coverage
Be sure to head over to the link here to read not only our full review for Wednesday night’s new episode, but also when you can expect to see Chicago PD returning to NBC later this spring. (Photo: NBC.)