Jesse Spencer on Why His Return to 'Chicago Fire' Is 'a Bit Mean'
Matt Casey is back in Firehouse 51 on 'Chicago Fire,' but is it just for one episode?
Jesse Spencer just can’t stay away! The Aussie actor left Chicago Fire during the show’s 200th episode (October 2021), and he’s already returned once for the Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney)-Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) wedding in the season 10 finale on May 25, 2022. But now he’s back in the Windy City once again, reprising his role as Matt Casey.
As the story unfolds, he’s back to help assemble a special anti-terrorist task force of first responders and he recommended Kidd as the Chicago first responder liaison, which makes sense because he knows and trusts her. The question remains, though, did he also have an ulterior motive?
“It dovetailed perfectly because he knows Chicago,” Spencer says in this conversation with Parade. “It’s a no brainer. He wouldn’t pick another city. There’s no way. He’d want to come back and make sure his hometown is as secure as it can be with the threat that is potentially coming down the line. It’s not like he used it just to come back to Chicago. The threat is conjecture right now but it is real. He was part of the discovery, the documents that led to it.”
But it doesn’t hurt that Casey’s former girlfriend Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer) is still part of Firehouse 51, where Kidd is based, so it affords him the opportunity to catch up with her because things in Portland may be wrapping up for him now that Ben and Griffin Darden, the boys he relocated to Oregon to foster, are doing really well and moving on.
“They’re getting into schools and becoming adults,” he says. “That was his whole reason for leaving Chicago in the first place, so maybe his time in Oregon is wrapping up. To me, it felt like he’s thinking of moving back and so he wanted to see where Brett was at in her life. He doesn’t know that she’s dating someone.”
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But he shows up at the firehouse without even calling Brett to let her know he’s coming. Everyone else is happy to see him, but Brett is more shocked than thrilled. After all, she thought she and Casey had ended their relationship, everything was tied up with a nice little bow, but now he’s back, throwing a monkey wrench into her life, especially since she resumed her relationship with Dylan (Christopher Allen).
Photo by: George Burns Jr/NBC
“It totally stinks for her,” Spencer admits. “It is a bit mean. Once you move on, you should move on. But here’s the thing, they didn’t break up because they fell out of love with each other or something happened. They had to split because life got in the way. Casey really felt like he had to go and help Andy Darden’s kids. It is the right thing to do. He’s one of those selfless guys that we don’t think exists, but they actually do. They’re far and few between, but they do exist. That’s coming to a close and so he wants to know where Brett is at.”
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But even as Chicago Fire teases that this might be opening up a possible return for Casey to Chicago, the thing is there’s actually no room for him at Firehouse 51. His job was nicely filled by Kidd. That said, it could mean more guest appearances in the future.
“When I talked to [showrunner] Derek Haas, the idea was to pop in and to guest star on an episode here or there when it’s appropriate and where it dovetails into the storylines that they’re trying to make. As far as permanently coming back, I doubt it.”
And it isn't as if Spencer has just been hanging around the house since his Chicago Fire departure. Last year, he went back to Australia and did a gig down there for Disney+ Australia, entitled Last Days of the Space Age.
“It’s a period piece set in 1979,” he describes it. “I was playing a dad in 1979, so it felt like I was just playing my dad. It was the first time I’d worked there in 20 years, and it was a really great experience. It hasn’t come out yet, but I’m looking to do Season 2 of that at some point.”
Chicago Fire airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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