Dermot Mulroney Teases 'Chicago Fire’ Debut: Pascal Isn't Anybody's 'Friend'

Dermot Mulroney had an “incredibly warm” welcome from the Chicago Fire cast, but the same can’t be said for his character, Chief Dom Pascal.

“He starts pretty strong. I don’t think he’s there to be anybody’s best friend,” Mulroney, 60, exclusively told Us Weekly of Pascal’s Firehouse 51 entrance during the season 13 premiere, which airs on Wednesday, September 25. “He’s gonna lay down the way he sees that things should go.”

Us previously confirmed that Mulroney was cast as the new chief after Eamonn Walker announced in May that he will no longer be a series regular starting with season 13. (During the season 12 finale that month, Walker’s Chief Wallace Boden won the Deputy Commissioner race, which means he will no longer be working out of Firehouse 51.)

Mulroney’s Pascal will have big shoes to fill as the new leader, which the actor told Us won’t be easy to do.

Dermot Mulroney.

“He’s an extremely moral guy. … He’s tested on it a couple of times early in the season,” Mulroney explained, noting that Pascal, who is from Miami, will lay down some “new rules around the firehouse” that don’t sit well with everyone.

He teased, “He’s not there to get along with everybody. By the opposite token, he’s a boots on the ground firefighter.”

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Mulroney revealed that Pascal “walks right into” all the fire incidents when he first joins the Windy City crew “without any hesitation.” That shows that “he’s as much a part of taking a fire out as everyone else that pulls up from the firehouse,” he added.

Hanako Greensmith, who plays paramedic in charge Violet Mikami, exclusively told Us earlier this month that Pascal “comes in a bit like a firecracker.” She called the new character a “bit of an anomaly” and a “bit of mystery.”

Miranda Rae Mayo, who portrays Lieutenant Stella Kidd, agreed that Pascal is “a tough one to read and he is also very confident in his way forward.” She exclusively told Us that the new leader “comes in and has his way,” but the rest of the crew has “a certain pride” in how they’ve always worked together.

Mulroney said that Greensmith’s “firecracker” descriptor is very accurate, teasing season 13 is “really physical” and leans “into the action” more than he expected. “Things are bigger, louder and [there’s] bigger explosions,” he shared.

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The actor revealed that “every week is a surprise,” insisting that Pascal is a “really cool character” who will “run into his own sort of moral dilemmas” as the season progresses.

“He’s really a person who defends people, his own crew, his family,” Mulroney told Us, noting that’s the thing he “might have in common” with Boden. However, their “bedside manner is a little different,” he joked.

Ultimately, Mulroney couldn’t have asked for a better start to shooting Chicago Fire. “It’s been a thrill to tumble into this cast. They really put me in at full speed to join up,” he gushed. “It’s been incredible.”

Season 13 of Chicago Fire premieres on Wednesday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET.