After the Chicago Fire season 13 finale, the show lost some notable characters, although Daniel Kyri will briefly appear during upcoming episodes. Fortunately, one of the biggest strengths of the One Chicago franchise has always been its ability to introduce new characters that viewers care about. Now that it is known that Chicago Fire season 14 is introducing a new main character, it hopefully won't take long for viewers to embrace the new addition to the show's cast.
Chicago Fire fans will soon be introduced to Sal Vasquez, a character brought to life by Brandon Larracuente. When fans are introduced to Vasquez, it won't take very long for it to be clear that the character is cocky, to say the least. While that may rub some viewers the wrong way, it turns out that the character will have a lot more layers than it may seem at first.
Chicago Fire's Sal Vasquez has a lot more depth than fans may think at first
Ahead of the season 14 premire, the One Chicago YouTube channel published a video designed to introduce fans to Chicago Fire's new character. That video doesn't take long to make it clear that Sal Vasquez has a huge ego. The video shows that during his first conversation with Lieutenant Stella Kidd, Vasquez is told that he is replacing an incredible driver. The character's hubris is then put on display when he replies by saying that the driver he is replacing was "Not as good as [him]."
Based on a moment like that, it could be easy for viewers to worry that Vasquez may be an insufferable character, as even the actor recognizes. NBC's website published an article after talking to Brandon Larracuente about his new character. While talking to the website, Brandon stated that Vasquez's cockiness would cause some strife.
"Sal is really confident in his ability to be a firefighter. He’s extremely sure of himself. He knows how to do his job. So he knows sometimes that can rub people the wrong way. 'Cause when he has a lot of self-assurance, that can be mistaken for cockiness."
However, as Brandon continued to speak about his Chicago Fire character, he revealed that Vasquez shouldn't be judged by his ego alone. As the actor explained to NBC's website, Vasquez's ego may be a facade that he will struggle to maintain over the coming Chicago Fire season.
"But as the characters in the show get to learn more and more about Sal, they’ll realize that there’s a reason for it, the way he carries himself. Because on the surface, he may appear a certain way. But as the season progresses, that self-assurance in himself starts to break because of the things that are happening around him. He’s trying to maintain the composure on the exterior that everybody sees... I feel like the writers are really leaning into [the drama] this season, especially when thinking about my character. As we start to learn more, peel back the layers, per se, of my character, it starts to bleed and affect the other characters in the show. So I think that’s really interesting."
While speaking about the arc his character will have during Chicago Fire season 14, Brandon teased that the cockiness he carries himself with will suffer a break. More than that, the actor hinted that Vasquez will eventually find himself depending on Firehouse 51's other firefighters to get through.
"But when you deal with things like family issues, and you deal with things like relationships in the firehouse and all those things, you start to crumble as a human being. And it’s nice to see the other characters in the show lift him up."
Based on the promotional material and Brandon Larracuente's comments about Sal Vasquez, I have a lot of hope that the character will be a marvelous addition to Chicago Fire's cast. After all, I have grown to love many One Chicago characters I initially couldn't stand. On top of that, Brandon is a great actor who has been impressive in shows like 13 Reasons Why, The Good Doctor, and On Call, so I believe he could be fantastic in his new role.
Chicago Fire season 14 premieres Wednesday, October 1 at 9/8c on NBC.