Considering he lives in Chicago during brutally cold months, you wouldn't blame Jesse Spencer for walking into the Langham Resort in Pasadena (temperature: near 80 degrees) wearing cargo shorts and a T-shirt. After all, most people would. But Jesse Spencer isn't most people. The soon-to-be 36-year-old Aussie—warm, hilarious, and yes, good-looking—is wearing a dapper three-piece suit and looks ready to rock the runway rather than a Southern California beach. Spencer dresses the part, knows he has a job to do (in this case, greet the television critics from around the country), and represent one of NBC's crown jewels: Chicago Fire. Listen in as we talk pizza, Lady Gaga, and romance.
Taylor Kinney and Jesse Spencer charm the critics at the TCAs in Pasadena last month.
Glamour: You played a doctor for eight years on House, and now you're playing a firefighter. Is there a hero complex going on here?
Jesse Spencer: [Laughs] I don't, but I think the people that cast me do! I guess it's a good thing, but I certainly do not. I would hope that nobody ever would put their lives in my hands, ever.
Glamour: Could you ever see yourself being a firefighter?
Jesse: I mean, if I had fallen into it, sure. My uncle is a volunteer firefighter, which a lot are in Australia; 80 to 85 percent of all firefighters in Australia are volunteers to fight bush fires because the country is just too big to cover. It's the only way they can even begin to fight that stuff because it's just too big.
Glamour: Your brothers are surgeons. Do they ever look at you think, Damn, I should have followed his lead.
Jesse: Haha! Especially when I was doing House and earning TV money, and they're actually really doing it and in debt trying to get through school and all that. But not to worry, they're doing just fine now! [Laughs]
Glamour: How much training did you have to do prior to the pilot?
Jesse: When I started the pilot, I was flying in from House and had one hour at the fire academy, but then over time I kept going back and going back and hung out in the houses and did ride-alongs. It's not easy what they do. A lot of it is dealing with people that haven't taken their meds, etc. People want to think it's cool, but it's not. We're actually doing it though. We get the Jaws of Life out, and we do it in one take. Or we try to at least. We've become a pretty efficient team. As a lieutenant, my job is to make sure everybody is doing what they're supposed to do it, but watching my boys run in and do it and see how efficient we've become as a team is really cool. Sometimes I'm even surprised! Like, "This is a bunch of an actors doing this! That's pretty cool!"
Glamour: There's not a fireman's pole on the show. I think that bothers my dad because he mentioned it to me the other day. [Laughs]
Jesse: Although there is a fake one. It's a single-story firehouse, so that's why.
Glamour: Does that disappoint you? [Laughs]
Jesse: I'm actually glad we don't because it brings it into the 21st century. That'd be like having a Dalmatian around. It has its place and time in history, but you know what? A lot of firehouses in Chicago actually have them because when tourists come in, they want the pole! So they do it for tourists.
Glamour: Chicago is one of my favorite places in the world. What are the fans like there?
Jesse: They are crazy about the show there. We're kind of...we're not anonymous in Chicago at all. They're so proud of Chicago and love their hometown. It was so funny in season one when no one knew who we were, and now that's totally changed.
Glamour: What do you like to do there?
Jesse: We go to a lot of Chicago Blackhawks games. We go to Soldier Field to see the Bears.
Glamour: What Chicago institutions do you enjoy eating at?
Jesse: The Palm is great. Gibsons is always a classic. Benny's Chop House. Shaw's Crab Shack—I love Shaw's! Sunda and Japonais are great for sushi. As for pizza, I can't do deep-dish. I made the mistake of being extremely hungry and going to eat a deep-dish pizza and ate the entire thing with a glass of wine. Do you know how much cheese that is?! I came home threw it all back up. It was not food poisoning; it was just too much cheese for me. You're just not meant to eat a whole pie! I paid for it severely.
Glamour: OK, I have a solution. Go to Pizano's for their thin crust.
Jesse: Oh, Pizano's, I love that place!
Glamour: And Stella Barra for the best pizza ever and Summer House Santa Monica, which is oddly enough in Chicago and not in Santa Monica. [Laughs]
Jesse: That's funny! I'm going to put these into my phone right now. I'll check it out! Thank you!
Glamour: Your American accent really is on-point. How long did it take you to perfect it?
Jesse: It's still a work in progress. We never stop working on it because you can always improve upon it. I have a dialect coach who is fantastic, and she helps flatten it out and get it in that Midwest area. Obviously being surrounded by the dialect is the best thing there is, and we are. It's like being a musician though...you're always working on it.
Glamour: I know you can't tell me much about Casey and Dawson, but tell me everything.
Jesse: I know you can't tell me everything, but tell me everything! [Laughs] It is really fun. I really like her being under my command. I really enjoyed it. It kind of got my masculinity going. It got my blood going. It was fun to yell at her and order her around. It was kind of a turn on. [Laughs] I liked it!
Glamour: Do you think they are meant for each other?
Jesse: I think probably, but I don't know if they're going to be able to work it out if she stays on the truck. It's timing and placement. If she was a different house, I think it would work, but with her ambition...it's gonna take precedence over the relationship, and Casey respects that, but it's hard as well. But that's fun interplay between us, especially since we're now broken up.
Glamour: What do you enjoy most? Playing the physical scenes or the emotional ones with underlying subtext?
Jesse: Both. If we've been doing a lot of physical stuff outside, it's fun to go in and just do a scene between two people. But the physical stuff is fun too, and this show is both of that. There's nothing more fun than breaking a door down. Your adrenaline gets going no matter how many times you've done it. It's just fun. We get to break stuff! It's great!
Glamour: I can't believe my dad actually came up with this next question because I didn't even think he knew this. He wants to know if Lady Gaga visits the set a lot because of Taylor Kinney.
Jesse: [Laughs] Yes! Taylor and I live in the same building in real life. So we hang out, and she comes around and hangs out on set. I mean, she's busy, but when she can, she comes. She can cook! She cooked us dinner once. It was pasta, and it was amazing. Her parents, I think, own a restaurant. It's funny because we eat on set a lot or on the run, so to have someone actually cook you dinner is a treat. I was like, "OK, I like this girl!"
Glamour: Speaking of girls, how is dating in Chicago? It just seems better out there than here in Los Angeles.
Jesse: I think it's better [in Chicago]. It's more...I feel like the Midwest is more...how do I say it? The temperament of the Midwest is kind of like Melbourne [Australia] in a way. It has this industrial side and a city center, a good community, they love their spots, so I fit right in in Chicago. I think it's a great town to date! Absolutely! L.A. is not a dating town. I agree with you.
Tonight's all new two-part episode of Chicago Fire (and Chicago P.D.) is on NBC at 10 P.M. ET/PT. Don't forget to check out our first look clip here.
