From the very first episode of Chicago Fire, Taylor Kinney has been a central part of the cast in his role as Lieutenant Kelly Severide. He’s appeared in nearly 300 episodes (and counting) across the One Chicago franchise and has long been one of the most beloved members of the entire franchise.
While Kinney has had many roles over the years, his time as Severide has become one of his most iconic roles and is now often the first role to come to mind when thinking about the actor.
Kinney might be best known to One Chicago fans as Lieutenant Kelly Severide, but there is so much more to the man behind the character than meets the eye — including a few surprising talents and past roles that might leave fans surprised!
Taylor Kinney dated Lady Gaga
Taylor Kinney and Lady Gaga indeed dated back in the day. In fact, they were even engaged at one time!
The pair met back in 2011 when Kinney appeared alongside Gaga in the music video for her song, “You and I.” After hitting off, the pair dated for four years before becoming engaged on Valentine’s Day 2015. Sadly, the pair broke things off in July 2016, more than a year after their engagement was first announced.
Taylor Kinney is a Philadelphia Eagles fan
Having been born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania it likely comes as little surprise to know that Kinney is a die-hard Eagles fan! In fact, he was even in attendance when the team won their third Super Bowl back in 2018.
Taylor Kinney was in The Vampire Diaries
Before his career-defining role on Chicago Fire, Kinney appeared in a number of shows and movies including The CW’s cult-classic The Vampire Diaries. On the show, Kinney played werewolf Mason Lockwood, appearing in a total of 10 episodes.
Taylor Kinney was an athlete in college
While he never played sports at a professional level, Kinney was quite the athlete during his younger years. In high school, Kinney was a star on his school’s volleyball team and even led them to district playoffs. He would also take up boxing during his time in college, which we imagine has helped him stay in killer shape over the years.
He began acting in college and originally studied business
Although Kinney has made a career as an actor, he actually didn’t get bit by the acting bug until his sophomore year in college!
In an interview with USA Today, Kinney once revealed that he didn’t discover his passion for acting until he took an elective theater course that held his interest outside of the classroom more so than any other subject he’d ever taken. After discovering his passion, he chose to leave school and spent a year in Hawaii before moving to LA where he began auditioning for roles.
His first break would come in 2006 when he booked the role of Luke Gianni in the short-lived soap opera, Fashion House.
Interestingly, before getting bitten by the acting bug, Kinney was preparing for a very different life. Prior to pursuing a career in modeling and acting, Kinney went to West Virginia University, where he studied business management!
Taylor Kinney is an avid motorcycle lover
If you happen to follow Kinney on Instagram, you’ve likely discovered the Chicago Fire actor has quite a passion for motorcycles! Kinney is an avid rider and fan of motor racing, having helped to host and appear at a number of events including some for NASCAR.
Taylor Kinney doesn’t like Chicago style pizza
There are a lot of things Taylor Kinney loves about the people and city of Chicago… but Chicago-style pizza is not one of them. During an interview with Daily News back in 2017, Kinney revealed that he prefers a thin crust and shared some harsh critiques about Chicago’s iconic deep-dish pizza.
"“I like it but I’m a thin crust guy,” he explained. “I’ll have a piece but I prefer thin slice. You have a slice and you feel like a concrete cinder box. It’s heavy, there’s a lot of cheese going on.”"
Taylor Kinney is a middle child
Not only is Taylor Kinney not an only child, but he actually has more siblings than you might guess! Taylor actually has three brothers; older brother Adam Kinney and younger brothers Trent Kinney and Ryan Kinney. Sadly, Taylor’s younger brother Ryan passed away in 2008 at age 17.
For the latest Chicago Fire spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.
Add us as a preferred source on Google