Chicago Fire star Daniel Kyri has reflected on the response to his LGBTQ+ character Darren Ritter.
The actor has played firefighter Darren since season seven of the NBC show and was promoted to a series regular for the ninth season.
Darren is openly gay, and in an interview with Out, Kyri has opened up about the positive viewer response to his character.
He said: “The response has been: ‘It’s a breath of fresh air. I’m so glad to see your character on a show like this, a character who is a hero, being represented in the full breadth of his humanity.’”
Kyri also recalled an interaction with a fan after Darren came out on the show – with the firefighter telling Lieutenant Christopher Herrmann that he has a boyfriend, not a girlfriend.
He explained: “This guy came up to me and he was like, ‘Hey, I just want you to know that we’ve always been here.’ Meaning like him as a firefighter. And it wasn’t anything so grandiose as like a ‘thank you’ or anything, but it was a real moment of, I feel seen, and I see you. And whenever I hear anything like that, it lets me know that I am doing my job.”
Kyri himself identifies as queer, and he has reflected on what it means to provide that representation for others as an actor on Chicago Fire – which has recently been renewed for a 13th season.
“When I think of the content or the media that I was met with when I was younger, it left a lot to be desired,” he said. “But those moments that I did come across, representation of queerness, positive representation specifically, it was like oxygen.
“It was like these little breadcrumbs of joy and of affirmation. And that is a goal of mine – if I can impact the world in that way, or if I can do a service to the little queer kid that still lives in me. I’m very happy to take up space and tell the stories that I do on a platform like the one that I have.”
