‘Chicago Fire’ EP Andrea Newman Answers Five Questions with SCREEN
One Chicago crossovers, fave episodes ever, and most importantly, what’s the best pizza in Chicago? Chicago Fire Executive Producer Andrea Newman has been with the beloved NBC drama from the beginning and we are honored to have her stop by for a thoroughly entertaining round of Five Questions with SCREEN! Let’s get to it!
SCREEN: Thank you so much for playing Five Questions, Andrea! As you and most diehards know, several years back there was a fourth One Chicago series called Chicago Justice for a season. Any chance of a fourth addition to the One Chicago universe in the years ahead?
ANDREA: Not that I’m aware of, but there have been many pitches from the audience, from Chicago: Electric Company to Chicago: Pizza. Anything could happen, you never know!
SCREEN: What a thrilling crossover this season! With that in mind, we thought we’d ask… if your show could crossover with any TV show outside of the One Chicago universe, what would it be? How would that episode go?
ANDREA: It would have to be Severance. I want to see the Innies of all of our Fire characters.
SCREEN: What is your favorite episode of the show ever (We know it’s a toughie but we appreciate you answering!)?
ANDREA: That is a toughie, it’s been 13 years! I probably have a favorite one every season, but overall I’m going to have to go with the pilot. It just sets everything up so beautifully; it has action, emotion, intrigue… you watched it and knew you wanted to hang with these characters forever. Which is basically what I’ve done.
Andrea, we are gonna take you back to the trailer for that first season… and ChiHards, you can click here to watch the full pilot! Enjoy…
SCREEN: Your favorite restaurant in Chicago? What do we order when we go?
ANDREA: Chicago is a great food town. I’d like to say something esoteric and fancy but let’s be honest, it’s Lou Malnati’s, and it’s a giant pizza.
SCREEN: Worst job ever?
ANDREA: I worked as a wine server (they weren’t called sommeliers at this place) when I was still in my teens, and I was terrible at it. 90 percent of the time I couldn’t get the cork out of there properly and it ended up in the bottle, or I sent a champagne cork flying across the dining room. I was fired within a couple weeks, and I’ve carried those scars with me forever. I make everyone/anyone else open a bottle of wine, cannot do it.
BONUS QUESTIONS!
SCREEN: Ok one more question about the show… what’s the hardest you’ve ever laughed on set?
ANDREA: When we were shooting the final scene with our beloved Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) last season, it was an incredibly emotional day. Everyone had been crying off and on since 6am, and we were filming his big goodbye speech in his office — all of 51 was in the scene except Carver (Jake Lockett), for story reasons. There’s a high window in Boden’s office set and there’s a fake tree out there. So on one of the last takes, as Boden is saying his goodbyes to the firehouse, all of a sudden behind him the tree starts shaking, and Jake appears — he’s climbed up it and is peering in the window. He totally ruined the take, but it was so funny and unexpected and out of sync with the scene and mood, everyone just lost it. It was the laugh we all needed.
Here’s a look at Boden’s emotional and heartfelt send-off from the show…
SCREEN: If you could be a contestant on any game show in TV history, what would it be?
ANDREA: It would be really fun to be on To Tell the Truth, as one of the fakers. That thing they do when the host says, “Will the real astronaut/juggler/zoologist please stand up,” where they pretend to stand, start to sit back down, almost stand again… I think I’d be really good at that.
SCREEN: Your most prized possession?
ANDREA: A quilt my mom made for me for my college graduation. It took her over a year to make, and it’s beautiful, colorful, and completely unique. Everything my mom is.
Thanks for playing, Andrea! Click here to catch up on current and past seasons of Chicago Fire.
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