Chicago PD star Jason Beghe talks ‘responsibility’ of season 8
Jason Beghe feels a “sense of responsibility” in Chicago PD season 8.
Today is two weeks until Chicago PD returns, and series star Jason Beghe is speaking frankly about his thoughts on the new season airing amidst tensions surrounding police.
“We feel this sense of responsibility to kind of address these issues,” Beghe told FBI: Most Wanted lead Julian McMahon in the latest episode of Wolf Entertainment’s Unscripted video series.
He called approaching the subject matter “fun and challenging,” adding, “Thankfully we have some good writers and good advisors.
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“I’m really proud of our first [Chicago PD season 8] scripts. I hope they’re not only entertaining but we’re trying to, without being grandiose, maybe be useful.”
The actor, who’s played Intelligence Unit leader Hank Voight for the entirety of the series (and originated the character on Chicago Fire), also explained how the cast and producers did additional preparation for the upcoming season.
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“Ours is such a police show,” he explained to McMahon, “and because of all the stuff that’s going on with police and Black Lives Matter and all that stuff, for the three weeks before shooting we were in heavy communication with each other and certain advisors. I talked to a bunch of cops.”
Chicago PD has already announced it will be exploring police reform again next season, with Nicole Ari Parker in a recurring role as a reform-minded officer from Atlanta who becomes Chicago’s new Deputy Superintendent. It previously titled its fifth-season premiere “Reform.”
Elsewhere in Unscripted, Beghe talked about what he believes is his show’s key to success—the commitment of the cast and crew to turning in more than 100 quality episodes.
“One of the reasons I believe we’re still on the air and going strong is we won’t go below that level and it doesn’t matter what it costs,” he said. “If it’s not to their, or our, standard, we’ll fix it.”
Watch the full Jason Beghe and Julian McMahon interview below; Beghe’s commentary about Chicago PD season 8 starts at roughly 16:00 into the video.
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