Marina Squerciati on Burgess & Ruzez’s New House and LaRoyce Hawkins’ Exit (Exclusive)

The newbie in Intelligence’s space in Chicago P.D. Season 14 — FBI agent Charlie (Kyle Selig) — might have one member who doesn’t outright hate him, Marina Squerciati tells TV Insider. He’s there to determine if the unit is an efficient use of resources.

Also coming up for Burgess, she’ll be saying goodbye to Atwater with LaRoyce Hawkins exiting in the Wednesday, October 14, episode, and she and Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) have a new house. Below, she previews what’s coming up.

Intelligence is kind of being invaded by this agent, Charlie. We saw how Voight (Jason Beghe) feels just by that look at the end, but how does Burgess feel about having this guy in their unit watching them?

Marina Squerciati: I was trying as an actor to have a different opinion about him. I was like, “Maybe I like this guy.” I don’t know. I don’t want to always just feel like Intelligence is a homogenous feeling. So I have the actor’s sort of decision of being like, “What’s he about? I don’t mind him.” But that will evolve.

So is Burgess going to see stuff from Charlie then that makes you unable to maintain that?

Maybe, maybe. I’m not going to give you anything, but I do feel like I have a little sympathy for the guy, although he’s hard to figure out because he presents as so nice, but is he going to take down Intelligence? It’s a middle ground that we can’t figure out as a unit. I didn’t want to think he was evil right away, but I’ve got my eye on him.

Lori Allen/NBC

Burgess and Ruzek have a new house. What can you say about that and when are we going to see it?

It feels haunted, I think, to Burgess. It feels a little haunted. I don’t think she’s happy with the choice and who can’t relate to that, making a big life choice and then regretting it. I like that. I mean, I think it’ll have repercussions, but I don’t think Burgess is happy right now.

When are we going to see it?

Episode 5.

How’s Makayla feeling about it? Because I feel like that’s what also matters to Burgess, is how her daughter feels.

I think what’s important is that everyone’s feeling great and she isn’t, and so she’s keeping a lot inside and that’s not doing great for her.

Burgess and Ruzek, their relationship finally seemed stable. It took a while to get there.

Totally stable. “Whose turn is it to take out the trash?” stable.

So that’s what we’re going to see this season? What can you say about their relationship this season?

I think the tumult is done, so I don’t think we’ll see that, but I think that Burgess is losing her center in a certain way. I don’t really know how to describe it yet because I don’t totally understand it, but she’s not comfortable in the house and is trying to spend more time away from it, and that I think has effects.

What are you liking about where Burgess and Ruzek are now compared to the beginning and where they started? Because that was all messy.

I think it’s great that you can show a marriage on television that’s not the drama. And I think that that’s nice. It’s good to see a healthy marriage on TV. They have drama outside of the home and inside of the home, it’s, again, whose turn is it to take out the trash? And it’s still interesting and still lovely, and fans still engage. Especially

Because they also work together. So it’s like they don’t really get time apart, really.

I don’t know how people do it. I would not be able to do it, but some people can work with their spouse.

You’re saying goodbye to LaRoyce Hawkins with Episode 2. How was that, and what was his last day on set like?

LaRoyce is a consummate gentleman, always perennially happy and just a beautiful spirit. So every day — with his first day, last day, middle day — he’s always the same LaRoyce. And that’s part of the amazing thing that is LaRoyce. He’s always kind and thoughtful and happy, and that didn’t change on his last day.

Because you guys have said goodbye to quite a few people over the years, too, so this isn’t the first time, but it’s been now 14 seasons.

It’s hard. It’s hard to lose a family member. It’s just like, as you get older, people move away, and the people that you thought would be your friends for life are no longer, and you have to make new friends, and it’s part of that. But LaRoyce and I are in each other’s lives forever where he can’t shake me.

Burgess and Atwater from the beginning, seeing them paired together and then we saw them come up, join Intelligence and everything. So when you look back on that relationship, what stands out?

Oh my God, just that him and I were babies together, coming up together, and just it’s a loss. I feel really, really sad about it, and I cried a lot. And I also am proud that we created something. His part of it is over to some extent, but we created this together, and nothing can take that away.

What can you say about what we’ll see in his last episode from Burgess and Atwater? How about having Jesse Lee Soffer direct you guys?

That was amazing and so special to have part of the OG come back and have this full-circle moment. You see Kevin Atwater make some really hard decisions, which I think probably most first responders would have to make when they have a child. I mean, “Do I keep doing this? Do I keep running towards the fire? Do I keep running towards the bullets, or do I not?” And I’m sure there are some parents who decide not to, and so that is what LaRoyce’s character is going to juggle. Do I keep running into the fire or do I step away?

And then does Burgess have to balance being a good friend, being a good teammate, and letting him do what’s right for him?

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I do that as a friend to LaRoyce, too. So yeah.

I do love that Burgess is finally a detective, that we got that for her, but where is she thinking of her career going forward now? Is she thinking about anything about the next step yet?

I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’ve done a lot of press, and this is the first time people are asking if we’re going to have a baby, so maybe that’s the next step. I’m not really sure. I don’t think of it in terms of that. I think of it in terms of the amazing things the writers continue to give me. And in episode five, I get to go undercover in a role that I’ve never played before, and I’ve been on this show 14 seasons. So it’s a testament to the fact that we have these amazing writers and an amazing showrunner that think of these new things, but also that they trust me enough to give it to me. So it’s great. That’s sort of how I view what I’m going to do next.

What can you say about the episode and the case and what leads to Burgess going undercover?

It’s interesting. It’s like a little crack in the teaser that Burgess realizes she can wriggle through and create into a bigger crime syndicate. And I think that that is interesting. Normally, it’s like you fall into this really big thing, but it shows how smart and the ingenuity that she has to create something from nothing.

What else is going on with Burgess this season? Who are we seeing her really partnered up with? Because I know Imani (Arienne Mandi) and Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar), we’ve been getting a lot of them together.

That’s exciting. I mean, I’d rather focus on them. They’re new and exciting and cute, and I like their partnership. I think it’s two sort of damaged people, their characters, and they’re finding solace in each other, and I think it’s really beautiful, and I think they’re doing it really well. I’m mostly partnered with Patty. I would love to partner with Imani more. That’s a dream, but we’ll see.

I know there’s talk about if there’s going to be a crossover or not, but who from Med and Fire would you want to work with more on any kind of crossover, big or small?

Well, I’m doing press with Darren [Barnet] and Taylor [Kinney], and they’re real fun. So maybe a tri-cross of the full universe. We’re just, I don’t know, locked in a room and there’s a bomb we’ve got to use and someone’s having a heart attack, and someone’s having a heart attack, so we need everybody there.

That would be amazing.

Yeah, just you heard it here first. I really like Jessy Schram as a girlfriend, so I’d like to work with her. She’s really fun. Also, the girls on Fire. I just want to hang out with them too. So just everyone, if that’s appropriate, all the girls and also Darren and Taylor.

Chicago P.D., Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC