Chicago Fire’s Cruz Leaves – Joe Miñoso Final Episode Interview

The following post contains spoilers for “Chicago Fire” Episode 300.

Joe Cruz’s temporary absence from Firehouse 51 has become much more permanent.

As NBC’s “Chicago Fire” premiered its 300th episode Wednesday, the network also bid a heartfelt farewell to original cast member Joe Miñoso, who has played Cruz since the first responder drama’s pilot episode. Miñoso’s departure from the cast was first reported over the summer, and season 15 triggered Cruz’s departure by sidelining him with a serious injury on the job that called his future as a firefighter into question.

During Wednesday’s memorable hour — aptly titled “Three Hundred” — Cruz’s many hours of physical therapy are paying off: He’s starting to walk hundreds of steps at a time again, and he’s even set to return to work at the fire station, pending an occupational health evaluation. But Cruz can see how distraught his wife, Chloe, feels about losing her help at home when she’s about to give birth to twins; the twins then arrive early (and healthy!) during the episode, and the entire Cruz family is visibly disappointed at the idea of ​​their patriarch returning to work. (“Why can’t someone else’s dad do it?” asks Cruz’s youngest son. Heartbreaking!)

Cruz later goes to Severide (Taylor Kinney) and tells him that he’s not coming back to Firehouse 51, after all: Everything is different now that the twins are here – including Cruz’s motivations to make a full physical recovery – and the family is moving to the Minneapolis area, where Chloe’s parents can help with the new babies and Cruz can receive even better care at a local recovery center. Severide tries to change his friend’s mind, but nothing succeeds in convincing Cruz to stay. “You taught me everything I know,” Cruz tells Severide. “You will also teach the new one.”

But Cruz’s fellow firefighters make sure he knows how much he’ll be missed in Rescue Squad 3, and Cruz has a sentimental moment at Otis’ memorial site before leaving for good. “I will always be with you, brother,” Cruz said to his fallen friend, before taking one last photo in uniform with the other members of his team.

Below, Miñoso — one of four original cast members remaining on “Chicago Fire,” along with Kinney, David Eigenberg (Herrmann) and Christian Stolte (Mouch) — opens up about his exit for TVLine, including why he understood the creative choice behind his character’s departure.

TVLINE | Tell me how your departure came about. Had you gone to the producers and told them you were ready to go? Or did you learn that that’s where the show was headed, creatively?
The last one. But I will say that at the same time, there was something inside me that felt like it was time to move on. We had done so much with the character. I remember thinking about it a lot mid-season (during season 14), just because we had explored so much. And when we got the story about the twins, I was like, “This is the right time.” So the news reached me, but I understood it and they were so gracious. And literally straight away, I was asked if I was interested in continuing to direct (episodes of the show), so that was a real boost. And since then, it’s been a journey into the universe of this series in a really different way. I’ve had the great pleasure of following a truly amazing group of directors and seeing what they’re doing in that front office that we don’t see enough of as performers. These people work hard every day, and it has given me more joy in the process.

TVLINE | You ended up getting a multi-episode sendoff arc, rather than being killed off in the premiere or abruptly leaving the screen. What were your feelings about how Cruz’s departure was handled?
I loved it. Overall, it was such a wonderful process working with Victor (Teran). As soon as he took on the role of showrunner, he contacted me and was very open about his desire to talk about our ideas for the series. They even took a few of my ideas, for which I am extremely grateful. But I thought it was wonderful. We haven’t really had a chance to see the dark moment of the soul for a character in this series, and see whether or not they can get through it. The beautiful thing, of course, is that it’s all tied to the firefighters’ family and the hope they bring. I considered it an honor and a joy, and I thank them for trusting me with the material. It was some really intense stuff that they gave me to do, and I love them for that.

TVLINE | I spoke to Victor early in the season and he said that he and the writers considered Cruz’s death, but ultimately felt it would be “a little cruel” to both Cruz and the audience. Did you also feel this way? Would death have done the character a disservice?
A lot of this is hard to pin down, because it depends on how they went through the story. There was talk that the death wouldn’t happen until the fifth episode, and that everything else was some sort of flashback. But that’s the beauty of what we do; There are plenty of ways to connect with characters you already love and give them something you can relate to. I don’t know if that necessarily would have been a bad service, but I believe what they built was a great service. has the character. It made for a pretty harrowing experience for him, but we never lost sight of how strong he is and what he’s capable of. In the end, we learned that he just needed a good helping hand from his people. Eventually you see it happen, and it’s a really touching and beautiful release. I’m so proud to have it.

TVLINE | I liked that Cruz and Herrmann were able to move on, especially after their conversation in the premiere where Herrmann feels guilty for what happened to Cruz, and Cruz doesn’t go out of his way to absolve him of that guilt. Do you think Cruz felt resentful toward his friend during all of this?
On the way out, he let go of a lot of his resentment, but during the trip, yes, absolutely. Hurt people, hurt people, and that’s to (the writers’) credit, they didn’t hesitate to do it. There was certainly resentment, and on some level it wasn’t undeserved, was it? When you’re someone who relies on your body, day in and day out, to make a living — and, in a way, for your identity in general — losing that ability is literally like losing complete control of yourself. You’re not able to contribute, and Cruz wonders, “How can I contribute?” For him to not be able to have that was incredibly difficult, and we got to see that, especially in episode 3. The writers explained it perfectly: there’s a difference between giving up and accepting something, and that’s where his mind was at that moment. He went wild, that’s for sure.

TVLINE | You had some very sweet goodbye scenes in this episode, with Severide and with Otis’ memorial. Were there any emotional moments on set during filming?
All. (Laughter) Yes, all. I cried for a week straight. And I thought I had gotten a lot of that out of my system during the break, but no, it was very emotional. I actually said it to the director, when we were doing the scene with Otis’ memorial – it was a scene I suggested – and I said, “I want it to be hopeful, and I don’t want to be emotional here, but I don’t know if I can get through one take without crying.” (Laughter)

And then the scene with Taylor (Kinney, who plays Severide) – that was the last thing we shot. It’s a funny story about that, actually. My wife, who was a former makeup artist on that show, came out, and she hadn’t been on set in years, but she came for my last scene. And in the very last cover shot, as we’re in this really emotional moment, I hear a big bang in the background. And we are professionals, we get through it, we succeed. But then I heard from my wife that she had dropped her phone in the middle of a socket, and that’s what I heard. (Laughter) Everything seemed very perfect. …These people are the greatest human beings I have ever had…