IN CONVERSATION WITH DANIEL KYRI
interview by JANA LETONJA
Actor and musician Daniel Kyri stars in ‘Chicago Fire’, which premiered its 13th season on 25th September. Upcoming, Daniel also released his sophomore single ‘Maybe’ on 11th October, which will be followed by a 4-track EP early next year.
You’ve been playing Darren Ritter on ‘Chicago Fire’, the first openly gay firefighter in Firehouse 51, for 7 seasons now. How does it feel to portray such a groundbreaking character, and how has the audience reacted to Ritter’s story arc over the seasons?
It feels empowering. Bringing this character to life is an honor because when I was young, I didn’t even know someone like him was possible. I never saw a character like Ritter on TV or in movies. If I had, it would’ve been so affirming for me to have this proud, positive, expansive example of manhood. Now I get to be him, in all of his humanity, and I can share this character with our audience.
Possibility is such a powerful thing and now Darren Ritter’s existence, as this bad ass, gay ass hero, is tangible. All our fans out there have held him with such loving welcome and warmth over our years together.
With ‘Chicago Fire’ returning for its 13th season, what can fans expect from this season? Are there any particular storylines or developments that we must be especially on the lookout for?
Fans can expect to watch our 51 family go through new challenges and adapt to new changes in the firehouse. There are new faces, a new leader and thus new connections to be explored. The clashes that we see play out within these dynamics are giving drama. I’m excited because, based on what we’ve shot so far, it’s going to be a really rewarding season for our fans.
Expect growing pains in the firehouse, of course, but you should also expect to witness these incredible humans on screen doing what they do best every step of the way, kicking ass and taking names, in a fighting fire kinda way. Questions from last season will be answered for better or worse, there will be epic fires with compelling stories behind them, and a whole lot of action besides.
You’ve worked across a variety of acting mediums, from television, theater, to streaming platforms. How does your approach to acting change depending on the medium you’re working in?
Well, it changes all the time to be honest. Different roles, for me, require different processes. Oftentimes they require a different part of you, and I always try to honor that in my approach. There are some technical differences that, while interesting to me, would probably bore you to tears. Suffice it to say, what is honest and real in any given moment can be received differently based on the medium or context in which it occurs, and so as an actor, that requires some fine tuning on my part. For instance, I don’t regularly need my voice to “reach the back of the house” on a film set and therefore that particular skillset may or may not apply in that context. Developing a sense of scale and manipulating it accordingly can be useful.
Your roles in projects like ‘The Thing About Harry’ and Stephen Cone’s ‘Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party’ explore complex LGBTQ+ narratives. How important is representation to you, and how do you approach stories with such depth?
Representation is why I became an artist. It is the most important thing to me in my work. I believe every person, every story deserves to be held in their fullest complexity and media is where we actively model that. There is a lot of responsibility inherent in representation. You have to become an investigator, a true scholar of something in order to bring it to life. I don’t mean just visibility, which I define as thinly-veiled tokenism.
Visibility is having one bipoc or queer or trans character in your cast and patting yourself on the back because “Hey look! They’re here, right”? Yet it’s much too commonplace for those characters to get the short end of the stick. In my experience, a lot of them are marginal at best and written in two dimensions because some inherent biases dictate that the general public won’t be “comfortable” with a version of these people they haven’t met before.
Representation is more holistic in my view. Done correctly, it engenders empathy by engaging in the full range of human experience with your characters. That’s how people begin to see themselves on the screen. It’s how we affirm their existence and say “You are welcome”, “We see you.”
Empathy and curiosity, and actual adequate research are my ways into these stories. I set the stage for the characters I play by reminding myself the importance of being human. The ugly and the pretty, the good and the bad, the rage and the joy, the toe-curling sex and the heart-aching loneliness. A gay villain is every bit as important as a gay hero. There are no monoliths.
You’ve been praised for your magnetic and vulnerable performances, especially on stage. How do you prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for roles that demand such deep authenticity?
A deep breath. Self-care. I stretch and move my body, I focus myself. I suppose if my body is an instrument, then I need tuning. So I do it. And I journal a lot. And I think my character’s thoughts and let them lead me where I need to go.
Your sophomore single ‘Maybe’ just dropped. What can listeners expect from this track, and what inspired it?
In 2020 I began what would turn out to be a horribly toxic relationship. Possibly one of the worst experiences of my life. 10/10 would not recommend. It was a relationship that wrecked me and shook my confidence. It changed me. When I took the time to really pick apart everything that happened between us, I wrote this song.
‘Maybe’ is about what it’s like to know something isn’t good for you yet still feel the need to fight to keep it. It’s honest, it’s conflicted, and it’s kind of groovy. You may be a few hip rolls in before the loneliness in the lyrics start to sink in. I affectionately describe it as my “crying in the club” song.
Following that, you’ll be releasing a 4-track EP next year. How would you describe your musical style, and what inspired you to blend R&B, Pop, and Afrobeats in your music?
My musical style is fluid. Fun beats, good hooks, and lyrics that cut through the bullshit. I have love and respect for so many different genres of music that I just decided to play with what makes the most sense to me at the time. I like the way afrobeats feel in my body, I like how clever pop songs can be, and R&B is my first love. Why not have them all?
Your music touches on personal and cultural themes. Can you share how your life experiences have influenced your songwriting and the kind of messages you aim to convey through your music?
I spent a good deal of my life lying to myself. I did not receive a lot of positive messaging growing up about being Black or being queer, and what it meant to be living at the intersection both. So I lied to myself and tried conformity at the expense of my happiness. That did not last long. By the time I was sixteen, I began disentangling from most of my family and that chasm between us grew as I left for college the following year. What followed was a kind of estrangement that lasted for the better part of 5 years. In that time, I found out who I really am without the expectations of other people for my life, and I even learned how to celebrate it at some point. That message is in my music if you follow the story I’m telling. My songs are about my Blackness and my queerness and no, you cannot have one without the other.
Between your acting work on ‘Chicago Fire’, your upcoming EP, and your theater work, what excites you most about the direction your career is heading in over the next few years?
I believe anything is possible, with every part of me. I don’t know what comes next, but I know challenge breeds opportunity and I’ve never been content to tread the easy paths. In short, I am plotting world domination.
If you could send a message to your younger self when you were first starting out in the entertainment industry, what advice would you give?
Do it now. Do it scared. Do it all.
TEAM CREDITS:
photography ASHLEY CHAPPELL
styling SAL
makeup SIRENA CROSBY
styling assistant CAELI HARRIS
