When the producers told her the storyline, the first thing that went through her mind—until they reassured her otherwise—was that she might be leaving the show. But then she was flattered that people would be invested enough in her character to tune into the season premiere to see if she had survived. “I’m on a show with guns, there’s always the possibility of dying,” she told Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “It’s like a Chekov play. The gun is introduced at the beginning of the play, it’s going to get used in act two, right? It’s always a danger.” As last night’s episode began, Burgess was undergoing a brutal recovery. She isn’t back to work yet and is testy when Adam Ruzek (Patrick Flueger) tries to enlist her help on a case. But part of that is her PTSD. “We haven’t had anyone be that damaged by an incident,” Squerciati said. “Not only were there physical effects but there’s mental effects, and it’s going to take a lot of time to get over. And now, she has the added weight of having a child to care for, one who’s also experienced trauma. So, she has to figure out how to navigate this new world of mental health and how to put a good front forward for her kid.” Ruzek, who Burgess has named as her daughter’s guardian if anything should happen to her, has been trying to help as much as he can, but he does have a tendency to always do the wrong thing as he tries to fix things. So, what is going to be her reaction to him? Will it bring them closer together? “I honestly think that normally that Burgess would not want to accept this kind of help,” Squerciati said. “But I think she knows she needs it, and I think she’d rather get it from Ruzek than anyone else. I think that when Voight [Jason Beghe] shows up, it’s pretty brutal; she does not want Voight seeing her right now. So, I think she really does rely on Adam, happily is a weird word, but I would kind of say happily having him there at her side.” What Burgess will have to live with is the not knowing that the man responsible for her near-death experience is himself dead, but that is a secret that is being kept by Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos), who shot him and Voight, who buried him, to protect their careers. “She just thinks he’s out there, right?” Squerciati said. “That’s her reality. It’s almost like when you break up with someone and you think you see him all the time. I think she’s keeping it inside but she’s living with the fact that she sees Roy at every corner.” Her uncertainty about Roy could form a bond between her and Deputy Supt. Sam Miller (Nicole Ari Parker) because both women have been wronged by him. Burgess almost lost her life, but Miller lost her son. “Oh, my gosh! You know, no one’s asked me that. What an interesting question. They totally have a bad guy in common. I love that. Put it out there; that’s the logline.” Squerciati also talks about how Burgess has evolved over the nine seasons of the series, and what she would like to see for her character’s future. Read on. Does she have thoughts about not going back to work? Yeah, for sure. I think that it’s going to be really hard. I don’t know that she knows how she’s going to do it or navigate it. I think that it seems like Mount Everest right now. Kim has evolved so much since we first met her when she was a patrol officer. What changes do you see in her? I think that like anyone, a job hardens you and she’s seen a lot. There’s a darker side of her that definitely is taking over. But I think the reason that she’s able to bounce back from all these traumas, and she’s had many, is that ultimately before the job got her down, she was this happy, bubbly person and that still exists at her core. Does being a mother make her a different cop? When she walked into that situation, where she was kidnapped, did she think, “I’m a mom now. What would happen to my daughter who’s just getting acclimated to this new life after her trauma?” One hundred percent. I think we all want to think that we put that away when we go to work, but I think she knows now that that’s not the reality, that she’s going to think of Makayla (Ramona Edith Williams) when she runs into a building. That’s hard. It’s going to be hard to do her job. That’s what real first responders have to do and have to think about. In the opening of last night’s episode, and this isn’t too much of a spoiler, she was drinking coffee or tea from a mug with pink flowers on it. It’s a really girly mug and I thought, “OK, so she still really has a girly side,” which is in strong contrast to her work persona. I’m so glad you noticed that. People don’t notice, but I also have pink pens on my desk. I’ve always thought that you can be a badass, you can be strong and tough, and still like the girly things. The Venn diagrams can overlap. And so, I love that when working with set dec and props that they listened to that when I talked about it. We worked together and they’ve really created these feminine touches. Even her clothes are much more girly than Upton’s, and yet she’s still badass. One of my good friends is a COVID nurse and she has spent many months in her garage to keep her kids safe. There are amazing sacrifices that people make. What would you like to see happen for Burgess going forward? Because it’s a procedural show, my storyline takes a backseat [for a while]. Wonderfully, my co-stars are amazing, have amazing stories to tell. And because Burgess needs to be OK for a little bit and because it’s not in the story, I would like to see how this Roy thing, how living in a world where you know your perpetrator is out there will affect her on a daily basis. Chicago P.D. airs Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Next, The Heat Is On When Chicago Fire Returns for Season 10!
