A Real Firefighter in Chicago Fire Cast, Tony Finally Gets a Well-Deserved Storyline
Chicago Fire offers a gripping portrayal of Chicago Fire Department personnel's challenging everyday life as they navigate their demanding jobs and personal struggles.
Besides delivering a captivating story, the show also presents career opportunities for real firefighters.
While the main cast for all 11 seasons has mostly comprised actors with no real-life public service background, the show's creators have always consulted with actual veterans.
For instance, Steve Chikerotis, a retired Chicago fire chief, served as a technical advisor. Among the cast, there is one man whose day job isn't acting but fighting fires!
Meet Anthony Ferraris, a real-life Chicago firefighter who battles fires on and off the screen.
He works at Chicago's Firehouse 91 and is an Engineer with Rescue Squad 2. Ferraris initially appeared on the show as an extra after the Firefighter's Union called for firefighters to audition for the project.
Ferraris's fictional counterpart, Tony, is the engineer of Rescue Squad 3. One Chicago offered him the opportunity to become not only a star at Firehouse 91, but also a bona fide NBC star, with a recurring role on Chicago Fire and cameos on Chicago Med and Chicago P.D.
But he deserves a much bigger place in the show than the episodic scenes, and Ferraris finally got a full-fledged storyline! In the last episode of season 11, titled Danger Is All Around, Tony plays a larger role.
'He did a great job this episode, hopefully in the future we may get an episode showing how he joined the house like we got with Capp in the season 8 finale,' one of the fans said, praising his role in the episode.
In the episode, Tony aims to break the attendance record for the entire CPD. His colleagues, 51 veterans Mouch and Capp, do their best to help him. Mouch is especially determined, as his main rival, Chuck Rutledge of Firehouse 40, currently holds the attendance record.
Tony ultimately breaks the record but nearly loses the achievement after poisoning himself with corn dogs at Herrmann's party.
We hope to see more of Tony in future episodes, with a more in-depth exploration of his character and backstory. In the meantime, stay tuned for episode 19, airing on 3 May on NBC.