Chicago Fire postmortem: Miranda Rae Mayo on Stella’s surprising move, future with Severide

It is fair to call Thursday night’s fall finale of Chicago Fire season 6 one of the best episodes of the season, especially when it comes to Miranda Rae Mayo’s performance. You had a chance to see many new sides to this character you hadn’t seen before as she struggled with being moved to the public relations department. Then later, we learned that this was all just one of Hope’s many machinations to try to get more power and people on her side within Firehouse 51. Hope seems to be gone now, and Stella’s future with 51 is thankfully secured with her back as a firefighter.

So what was it like for Mayo to play some of these scenes tonight, and what could lie ahead after that kiss with Kelly Severide? That’s something that we discussed with her during CarterMatt’s recent set visit in Chicago.

CarterMatt – You had a really great performance in this episode as we had a chance to see Stella in a difficult position. What did you think about that story and some of that material?

Miranda Rae Mayo – I was really excited to play such a departure from myself. If you were to give me  a day where I have to speak to the press, that’s really not all that big a deal to me. But with Stella it is not her forte and it is not what she wants to do. She would much rather be working in a very physical manner to help people. She wants to pull people out of buildings! I think that is one of the things that helps keep her sober — she used to have a drug problem and you kind of see it in the episode where she falls into her vices and starts numbing out a little bit.

I was excited to take on some of that.

And with Severide, after everything he’s been through, you would hope that there would be some sort of mutual understanding between the two — even after that kiss.

Sure, you would hope so. Stella is a tough cookie, and as tough as she is on the exterior she is even harder on herself. I think she was already grappling with not feeling worthy and good enough for Severide, and after [this episode] I think she’s really beating herself up.

She’s definitely hoping for some sort of reconciliation or olive branch, but I think that men sometimes don’t say it. They show it.

Is there anything else you’re looking forward to exploring?

I’d [like to see] who Kidd’s parents are and what her ethnicity is. I don’t think we know and I would like to explore that.

More Chicago Fire news

If you missed it, head over to the link here to see what Jesse Spencer had to say in regards to the Casey – Dawson relationship and its future.

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