Chicago Med’s Louis Herthum breaks bad in FBI: Most Wanted

Chicago Med alum Louis Herthum plays the villain in tonight’s FBI: Most Wanted, and gave One Chicago Center the inside scoop on his guest appearance.

The next episode of FBI: Most Wanted features Louis Herthum—but in a very different role than he played on Chicago Med. The actor, who recurred as Pat Halstead in the One Chicago universe, is now a villain of the week in Dick Wolf‘s FBI franchise.

One Chicago Center caught up with Louis to talk about his FBI: Most Wanted experience, how this show compares to his tenure on Chicago Med, and what else he’s been up to since fans said their tearful goodbyes to Pat Halstead last season.

Check out our interview with Louis Herthum below, and then tune into the “Getaway” episode of FBI: Most Wanted tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

More from One Chicago Center

• Chicago Med star on 2024 cast changes: ‘Nice to have new faces’
• Here’s the perfect Chicago Fire episode to watch on Thanksgiving
• Ranking the 8 NCIS Thanksgiving episodes from worst to best
• Mark Harmon does NOT have plans to reprise Gibbs on NCIS
• One Chicago stars tease new seasons on IG: ‘Here we come’

One Chicago Center: There’s a father-son dynamic in “Getaway” but it’s very different from how Pat Halstead interacted with Will and Jay on Chicago Med. How would you describe this parent-son relationship?

Louis Herthum: On Med, Papa Halstead was just an ultra-traditional, hard-ass kind of father who thought that his sons should follow in his footsteps rather than set out on their own. And there are probably some deep-seated issues of jealousy or envy in that kind of thinking, but of course, we finally find out in the end that he was quite proud of both of his sons.

In this case [on FBI: Most Wanted], I’m a father who’s been in prison for 12 years and hasn’t seen his son since he was just a kid. And so he wasn’t there for him. So when he gets out of prison, he reaches out to him and there’s this weird strain between them. At least on my character Blake’s part, it’s hard to tell at times exactly how he feels about it—though his motives in getting in touch with his son are eventually revealed and maybe not as wholesome as he would have his son believe.

So the dynamic was very different in so much as I would say that Papa Halstead, no matter what, in spite of his flaws, there was a lot more love for his sons. Even if it was sort of hidden, if you will.

OCC: Can we talk about your exit from Chicago Med? Pat risked his life to help a neighbor, so he went out a hero in that sense, but it was still sorrowful to lose him. How did you feel about how he left the show?

LH: First of all, any actor who gets to work with such an amazing group of people, hates to die because you always want to come back. And I love those people. I mean, my God, that is just such a wonderful group of not only actors, but the crew and producers, and they take good care of you. They have a great deal of respect for actors and that I appreciate very much.

But yeah, it was sorrowful for me. I would love to have had some more interaction with my sons. But what it did, at least for a short period of time is, it certainly gave my sons a more dramatic arc to play, especially Jesse [Lee Soffer]‘s character.

The scene where he’s holding my hand, when I’m lying there and Will comes in and says, “You’ve got to let him go”—that scene was hard for me to stay still. Because it was so emotional just for me. Right as we started that scene, right as he said “He squeezed my hand” and right before Will comes in, I actually squeezed his hand. And it was just a very moving scene.

When you have a situation like that, when you’re working with actors, it was very similar to when I worked with Evan Rachel Wood on Westworld. It’s hard to give that up because it’s very special.

Watch One Chicago on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!

OCC: You’ve been very busy since then, though. Other than FBI: Most Wanted, what else have you been working on after Chicago Med?

LH: Starting [in] November of 2018, I did [the Netflix series] What/If with Renee Zellweger. And in November, I started a show called Home Before Dark up in Vancouver. So for a couple months, I was going back and forth doing both of those shows.

Home Before Dark is now on Apple TV, and it’s a wonderful show. The star Brooklynn Prince, who’s the little gal from The Florida Project and more recently the horror film The Turning, is incredible! I think she’s one of the finest child actors I’ve ever seen. The work she does in this is just mind blowing. And so it was quite an honor to do that.

And then towards the end of [last] year, I did Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story for USA. In January of this year did FBI: Most Wanted. And then right after that, went back to Vancouver to do an episode in season two of Home Before Dark.

I’d just like to send my best wishes and gratitude out to all the wonderful first responders and health care workers out there saving lives while risking theirs. They are our heroes.

For the latest Chicago Med season 5 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.