From her arrival in Hollywood from West Texas as a young, inexperienced actress, to her starring role on “Chicago Fire” playing paramedic Sylvie Brett, Kara Killmer has proven the adage that when you want something sincerely enough, no dream is beyond your reach.
As the founding series in producer Dick Wolf’s current three-show “One Chicago” line-up, “Chicago Fire” laid the groundwork for what would become one of TV’s most successful slates of episodic procedurals. Airing Wednesday nights on NBC, all three shows reliably pull in enviable ratings for the network, with “Fire” continuing to be one of the most popular scripted dramas (via TVSeriesFinale.com).
In her role as Paramedic in Charge Sylvie Brett, Killmer joins an elite squad of emergency rescue personnel including Rescue truck leader Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), firefighter Stella Kidd (Monica Rae Mayo), former captain Mathew Casey (Jesse Spencer), and others. Since suiting up with her squad mates in the series’ third season in 2014, Killmer has secured her place as a genuine fan favorite on the show.
All of the above being said, now is a great time to look back at the remarkable changes Killmer has seen in her life during her journey Texas to major stardom on the hit TV franchise “Chicago Fire.”
After college, her first gig was a reality web series
Born in Crowley, Texas in 1988, Kara Killmer attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas and followed a curriculum of theater studies before graduating from the school with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Performing Arts in 2010 (via The Stanford Daily).
That same year, Killmer would make the transition from hopeful graduate to even more hopeful aspiring actress when she made the trip from West Texas to Los Angeles. There, she found her initial introduction to the entertainment industry when she was selected to participate in the Hulu reality web series “If I Can Dream” (via IMDb).
As one of a number of young, would-be actors just beginning their attempts to forge Hollywood careers, Killmer moved into the show’s “Dream House” in Los Angeles along with the other young contenders. On the show, they all lived with 60 household cameras trained on them almost 24/7, and also shared a communal Ford Fiesta outfitted with even more cameras.
When asked about the experience and the obvious lack of privacy such a show entails, Killmer told Entertainment Weekly that getting away from her housemates was a challenge, summing up the situation with the admission that “…this is the worst place to play hide and seek.”
She landed bit parts and let down her hair as Rapunzel
After working on the short-lived web series “If I Can Dream” for a single season, Kara Killmer set out on the next phase of her Hollywood career, acting primarily in smaller TV roles. 2011 found her playing the title role of the hair-advantaged heroine Rapunzel in Discovery’s “Scary Tales,” a series that promised to show viewers the dark and frightening side of popular fairytales (via IMDb).
The next several years, Killmer would cut her teeth on smaller parts in TV series including the role of the Blonde Girl in “Jane by Design” and the part of Sandra in “Rosa the Imposer.” She also extended her resume to include the short films “Remnant” and “Prank.”
Then, in 2013, Killmer landed her first role in a made-for-TV feature in the USA Network production “Horizon.” Produced by Gale Anne Hurd, the hybrid WWII/sci-fi story would find Killmer cast as the character Anna Weber alongside Cary Elwes and Ruth Bradley (via IMDb).
She took a leap of faith and met her future husband
There’s no doubt that Kara Killmer remembers 2014 and 2015 as two of the most significant years in her professional life — and in the more intimate world of her personal relationships.
As most “One Chicago” fans will already know, Killmer first joined the Firehouse 51 crew on “Chicago Fire” in 2014, which was kind of a big deal for her. But the next year would see yet another high-water mark for the actress as she landed her first major role in a feature film. Cast as the fiery Charlotte Holloway in the Revolutionary War film “Beyond the Mask,” Killmer would find herself acting on-screen opposite another young actor, the film’s leading man, Andrew Cheney. And, as fate would have it, Killmer and Cheney would later tie the knot, marrying in 2016 (per IMDb).
Speaking to Guideposts.org, Killmer commented on the religious convictions of her character in “Beyond the Mask,” saying, “The [Bible] verse that comes to mind for Charlotte is ‘Gentle as a dove, shrewd as a serpent.’ That was one of the things I really appreciated about her. I think she is very strong in her faith and she’s very rooted in her moral compass.”
Kara Killmer has seen action in all four Chi-verse shows
As the dedicated, resourceful Sylvie Brett on “Chicago Fire,” Kara Killmer has ridden to the rescue of Chi-town residents aboard Ambulance 61 for a remarkable 160-plus episodes and counting (per IMDb). And while long-time viewers are certain to be well acquainted with her fearless exploits on the high-intensity show, Killmer has also spent quite a bit of on-screen time dropping in on sister “One Chicago” shows “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Med.”
This is made possible, of course, by the Chi-verse phenomenon of the crossover event. By sharing casts and storylines across all-three series in producer Dick Wolf’s “One Chicago” empire, fans are treated to a mixing-and-matching of character interactions and narrative arcs. In this regard, Killmer has visited the Emergency Department crew on “Chicago Med” for a total of 17 episodes, met up with the detectives and beat cops of “Chicago P.D.” for 10 installments, and even turned up on the short-lived “Chicago Justice” for a single episode.
So, from the flatlands of West Texas and stage work at Baylor University, to minor parts, to feature film work and a recurring role on network TV, it’s been a meteoric ascent and a true transformation for Kara Killmer from childhood to stardom on “Chicago Fire” and the rest of the “One Chicago” universe.
