The actress wants to switch things up after a decade of firefighting.
Sylvie Brett is officially gone. The character spent nine years saving lives on Chicago Fire, and now she’s off to Oregon to live out the rest of her life with her husband, Matt Casey (Jesse Spencer). It’s bittersweet, given how beloved the character is, but the actress who played her, Kara Killmer felt it was time to make a change.
Killmer recently discussed her exit with the Hollywood Reporter, and while she was saddened by the notion of not getting to see the cast and crew every day, she was excited by the possibility of finding a new outlet for her acting talents.
Kara Killmer wants to play different roles
Killmer appeared in almost 200 Chicago Fire episodes over nine years, and she felt that she had done just about everything she possibility could with the character of Brett. At this point in her life, she said she’d rather challenge herself with something different:
“I’ll be excited to try something that’s totally new. Hopefully, the next thing, the next few things, that I get to work on will be a little bit of a different flavor.”
The actress said that she’d already begin putting auditions on tape, and submitting them to films and other shows by the time she wrapped her last day of shooting on Chicago Fire. In her estimation, she became a much better actress by playing Brett, and credited Dick Wolf Productions with giving her the opportunity to do so.
Killmer said that while the decision to join another show, or tackle a film role, may not yield the same, uniquely long-term success of Chicago Fire, it’s important for her to “switch gears” and delve into the “interesting new content” that’s currently being made.
Her last non-One Chicago gig was in 2018
Killmer’s last television role that wasn’t One Chicago related was the TV movie Sleeper aka My Husband’s Secret Life (2018), and her last feature-length film role was in Beyond the Mask (2015) opposite John Rhys-Davies. She also appeared in the short The Follower in 2019.
Chicago Fire fans needn’t worry, though. Killmer told the outlet that she was open to making a cameo as Brett whenever the show’s writers/producers decide to reach out to her:
“The door is wide open for me! I’m more than happy to show up anytime.”
