On Tuesday's episode of Chicago Fire, Casey (Jesse Spencer) revealed that he wanted to be a firefighter ever since he was a little boy. In my experience in just one day on the set of Chicago Fire, I learned that I should never, ever consider being a firefighter - or even playing one on TV.
During my set visit, I thought it would be fun to walk a mile in the shoes of the Chicago Fire cast (so to speak) by trying on the same costume the members of 51 wear while they're battling blazes. With cast members Taylor Kinney and Monica Raymund on hand to offer assistance, we set out to get me suited up. The first thing I learned was that, in real life, you'd have about 15 seconds to get out of your civilian gear and into the uniform - a.k.a., stepping into large boots, pulling up heavy, fire-retardant pants via suspenders, and topping the whole thing off with a jacket and suspenders. And the clothes aren't all. Once all the clothing's on, now comes the fun part: the oxygen tank (which Christian Stolte tried to convince me was a soup dispenser). The whole shebang weighs 60 pounds, I was told, with the tank making up the bulk of that. So, the next time you see an actor casually sling an oxygen tank over their shoulder like it's an empty JanSport backpack? Basically, that should be its own Olympic event. My back is still recovering.