‘Chicago Fire’s Joe Minoso on Cruz and Chloe’s Wedding & Severide as Best Man

Joe Minoso - Chicago Fire - Season 8
Q&A
Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Chicago Fire could really use some happiness after kicking off the season with the loss of a beloved member of the house.

And it sounds like they’re going to get it, as Joe Minoso confirmed for TV Insider at a recent NBC press junket in New York that we will be getting Cruz and Chloe’s wedding this season. However, don’t expect it to all be smooth sailing.

“If I’m going to be going off of what we’ve been doing so far, Cruz is going to freak out somehow,” he said.

Here, Minoso discusses how losing Otis continues to affect everyone, the next generation at 51, and more.

How’s Severide doing as best man?

Joe Minoso: He kind of falls short on his best man duties, so we’re going to get to see how he fails, but then succeeds, because that’s what we do on Chicago Fire.

I like when we see how 51 is part of the community. Will we continue to see that this season?

That’s really major for us in general. What’s brilliant about firefighters is how much they are married to their communities and I know it can be a little hokey when you put it on film when you see all these firefighters going out. For example, when Casey went to go fix the window we had to break in order to save a life, it sounds like you would never believe it.

Chicago Fire Season 8 Episode 14 Shut It Down Taylor Kinney

(Adrian Burrows/NBC)

But that kind of stuff actually happens all the time with firefighters because most of them have a lot of side jobs. A lot of them happen to be contractors or plumbers or electricians, and so they take that expertise to help out as much as they can in the community. They’re kind of a one-stop shop for getting everything done in the neighborhood.

How is Foster as a roommate? Better than Nick, right?

That remains to be seen.

I like how we’ve seen how much Otis meant to Cruz with little moments throughout the season so far. Will that continue, especially leading up to the wedding?

I don’t have anything specific in terms of what the writers are doing, but even if you look at [Episode 12], the whole reason Foster even hesitated asking us to move in to our place was because she recognized who used to live in that room. It not only affected Cruz, it’s affected the whole house and I love that the writers have let that bleed through the whole season.

Without a doubt, there’s going to be some sort of moment where Cruz wishes Otis was there. He would be the best man if it weren’t for the fact he’s gone, so there’s no way they’re not going to mention or involve Otis in that storyline.

Chicago Fire Season 8 Episode 14 Shut It Down Joe Minoso

(Adrian Burrows/NBC)

We’ve seen the younger firefighters more this season than ever before with Gallo and Ritter. What’s that been like?

It’s actually really fascinating because three days ago, I was watching a scene between the two of them where they’re bickering over cooking because Boden is on a diet and so they have to cook two meals for everything. I was looking at the two of them, and I was like, “oh my God, that is a Cruz and Otis scene if ever there were one,” but now that there’s no Otis… It was almost a carbon copy of what we would’ve done five years ago.

It’s really great to watch those guys grow. They’re such lovely actors and lovely people. It’s fun to see generations shift. You never really get to celebrate being on something in this business this long, and to be able to be here and now watching it grow into a new generation is really amazing.

Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC