Five Questions with One of Chicago Fire’s New Additions, Phil Donlon

The season premiere is here for NBC’s Chicago Fire and the show’s newest lieutenant is stopping by SCREEN for a thoroughly entertaining round of Five Questions. Chicago actor Phil Donlon is bringing the drama to the firehouse this season… let’s get to it!

SCREEN: Thanks for stopping by, Phil! Tell us a little bit about your character in Chicago Fire?

PHIL: I play Lt. Stephen Vale. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I can’t get into the character too much… but I can say Vale has a very very VERY powerful mustache that could go toe to toe with Tom Selleck’s mustache in a boxing match and WIN. Vale and his mustache are hanging around the firehouse a lot in Season 13 and the writers have cooked up some juicy drama for him. So you’ll just have to watch…

SCREEN: There are some new faces this season, in addition to yourself… what can fans look forward to in this highly anticipated new season of Chicago Fire? 

PHIL: Dermot Mulroney! Need I say more?

Let’s hear from Dermot and the rest of the new and familiar faces revving up for a brand-new season of One Chicago…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67mc0FzYcDU

SCREEN: All right, Phil, let’s step out of the firehouse now for a bit… What is your most prized possession?

PHIL: My German Chef’s knife. I cook all the time. It’s the way I relax and decompress at the end of the day.  And all one really needs in their kitchen is a solid Chef’s knife. I do have a few other specialty knives like for deboning a big hunk of meat. My Chef’s knife has been with me for many many years through the thick and thin of life. Every time I open my kitchen drawer it’s always there…smiling back at me. Dependable.  

SCREEN: If you could be a part of any band or musical group in music history, which would it be? 

It’s a serious tie between Warren Zevon (Werewolves of London) and The Rat Pack (Vegas). To me Warren Zevon was/is our finest modern day songwriter. And Sinatra, Dino, Sammy, Bishop… etc. were the finest monologists and live performers. But what they both had in common was they drank too much, smoked too much, raged too much and wept far too long but it never compromised their talent. Sinatra and Co were really saloon singers. They had their “pop” hits that certainly everyone knows but most of their music is the blues. Warren Zevon is cut from that same cloth. He had a few pop hits but the meat of his work is cynically sentimental. And dark. I’m making this up obviously, but I think all of these musicians had an acceptance of death. They didn’t fear it. Rather wrapped their arms around it and sang with it. I’d like a night out with all of them. After a show. Ending in a hotel room around when the sun is coming up. We’ve drank too much, smoked too much, raged and wept a little too long. I think I’d walk out of that room a better person than when I walked in.  

Phil, you’ll love this look at The Rat Pack, courtesy of the Dean Martin Association…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N80kFIE7LuI

SCREEN: Favorite American city? Favorite International city?

PHIL: Chicago. It’s the greatest city in the world. And, I’ll go one further. It IS an international city. Little do people know it was designed by the French.

BONUS QUESTIONS!

SCREEN: If you could appoint ANYONE to be the next President of the United States, who would it be?

PHIL: Vanilla Ice. He wears an American flag jacket, so he’s obviously very patriotic. And if you have a problem he’ll solve it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE

SCREEN: Your greatest athletic achievement?

I’ll keep this one brief. I was training for a baseball movie I did called High & Outside, a baseball noir. I took batting practice off Roger Clemens. I hit two bombs off him. As a reward he threw me some chin music.

Here’s the trailer for that award-winning baseball noir High & Outside…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q74J3JV05mc

SCREEN: Any prediction for the Chicago Bears this season you’d like to share?

PHIL: They can’t do any worse than the White Sox.

Thanks for playing, Phil! Click here to catch up on current and past seasons of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med.

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Photo Credit: Phil Donlon Headshot by David Zaugh