It’s been nearly two years since Rome Flynn exited Chicago Fire, but the Emmy-winning actor is keeping busy and has landed a role in a new action-comedy from director Kyle Scott.
As first reported by Deadline, Flynn has joined the cast of Boyz Trip, a new action-comedy co-starring Algee Smith, Desi Banks, and Siv Ngesi. The film will center around four college friends who decide to shake things up by abandoning their yearly meet-up for a boys’ getaway, which quickly spirals into international chaos. The four friends will find themselves thrust into a life-or-death situation in which they’ll have to rely on their old bonds, questionable skills, and a bit of luck if they have any hope of making it out alive.
Flynn, Smith, Banks, and Ngesi are slated to play the group of friends at the heart of the film, with production currently underway in Cape Town, South Africa. An official release date for the film has not yet been set, but Chicago Fire fans will want to keep an eye out for the film, which sounds like a departure from the more serious offerings we’ve tended to see Flynn in over the years.
It’ll be exciting to get to see Flynn show off his comedic skills in the film, as it’s a side of Flynn we don’t typically get to see. This was also true of his Chicago Fire character, Derek Gibson, who wasn’t one to make jokes and took himself quite seriously.
We first met Gibson in season 12, episode 2, when he joined the Firehouse 51 team following the departure of Alberto Rosende’s Blake Gallo. Upon arriving at 51, Gibson kept mostly to himself, which created a lot of questions for his colleagues at 51. We’d come to learn that he was a former boxer who walked away from the sport after accidentally killing an opponent during a boxing match, having hit him so hard that he never got up.
Just as we started to get to know Gibson and get a peek behind the wall he’d built up to protect himself, Flynn’s journey on the show came to a shocking and abrupt end. In season 12, episode 8, we’d come to learn that Gibson was struggling with addiction, and he’d ultimately leave the CFD to seek treatment.
Following his exit, Flynn had nothing but positive things to say about his time on the show and left the door open for a possible return to the show.
“Just like all the fans, I was sad to see Gibson leave. He was a character I very much enjoyed playing,” Flynn told Variety at the time. “I had a wonderful experience during my time on Chicago Fire and have great respect for the cast and crew and hope to team up with Dick Wolf again when the time is right.”
Nearly two years have passed now since we last saw Flynn on Chicago Fire, and with his new role in Boyz Trip, it’s unlikely we’ll see him back anytime soon. However, considering he left on good terms and his character is still alive in the One Chicago Universe, the door remains open for Gibson to possibly return sometime down the line. Given how short Flynn’s time was on the show, we’d certainly welcome the chance to see him return and get a second chance to play Gibson on the show!