A beloved NBC show with a slew of fans after 14 seasons wasn’t exactly receptive to a new character… but that’s all by design.
Videos by Suggest
Indeed, Chicago Fire star Rob Morgan had an abrupt introduction. He joined the NBC drama as Battalion Chief Andre Hopkins in April, right after Dermot Mulroney’s Chief Dom Pascal got the boot.
Hopkins hasn’t exactly been a friend to Firehouse 51. He’s been stirring the pot, moving people around, and has a particular bone to pick with Severide (Taylor Kinney), thanks to a two-decade-old grudge involving Severide’s father, Benny. While Firehouse 51 is accustomed to drama, Hopkins seems determined to bring a new level of heat.
Rob Morgan, a familiar face to TV fans for playing the quick-talking criminal Turk Barrett in several MCU shows and the ever-pragmatic Officer (and later Chief!) Powell, on Stranger Things, recently opened up about his new role as a character designed to stir up negative emotions with fans.
” I mean, it just shows all that money and hours I put into acting classes is paying off,’ the 53-year-old joked to PopCulture about the level of hate his character gets from fans. “I’m finally getting to use it doing my job.
“I stepped into these characters without the bias of my personal feelings and things of that nature. [I] just really tried to honor the voice and the writers of what they’re putting on the page,’ the Smile actor continued. “And then whatever creativity I get to put in, along with the director’s direction, is fun for me.”
Why Rob Morgan Prefers Playing an Antagonist on the Long-Running NBC Show…
That said, Morgan prefers playing an antagonist who stirs emotions in viewers over a less memorable “nice guy.”
“I think I’d rather play a character like this in its 14th season than a character that you won’t remember as much,” he reasoned. “This character will be memorable for shaking it up so big in the comfort of what Firehouse 51 has already brought to everyone’s living. I like that I’m good to play like this.
Morgan, who is set to appear in the upcoming medical drama One in a Million later this year, also teased that things are on the horizon for Chief Hopkins.
“And then, well, [Chicago Fire] did get renewed for Season 15,” he added. “So, you never know what happens.”