Chicago PD: Tracy Spiridakos Teases Fire/PD Crossover, ‘Upzek’'s' Future, and Relationship with Halstead

Chicago PD and Chicago Fire are teaming up for yet another exciting crossover! On Wednesday, Feb. 20th, Intelligence and Firehouse 51 will work together after a string of robberies lead to a building fire.

However, Tracy Spiridakos, who plays Hailey Upton, revealed that the situation might get more personal when Voight suspects a firefighter may be involved.

But aside from dosing out justice and catching bad guys, Upton's had a pretty tough season; she's dealt with personal childhood trauma, falling hard for a co-worker, and getting abducted.

When we spoke to Spiridakos, she not only dished about the upcoming crossover, but also elaborated more about the brewing love triangle, the state of her relationship with Burgess, and even gave us some insight about Upton's unique relationship with Halstead.

She also addressed the #Burzek fandom who have shown a bit of animosity towards her character.

And most importantly, she told us about her love for deep dish pizza.

Check out the interview below -- you won't regret it.

We have to address Chicago PD Season 6 Episode 14. Upton and Burgess were abducted, and it was one of a few times where the two ladies shared a really powerful scene together. Tell me about that. How did that feel?

It was great. We got to do some stuff in Season 5, the one where we’re PIs both of us approached, but this one was especially intense due to not only being abducted but also Burgess finding out about Ruzek at the beginning of the episode and the tension that came with that.

But I really like how at the end, they’re bonded beyond anything they’ve ever been and they’re stronger together which is really cool!

Yeah, I love how Burgess and Upton handled their “guy drama.” Rarely do shows allow two grown women to handle something in such a mature fashion. Why was that so important for Chicago PD and specifically, for these two characters?

I think it’s important to just show exactly what you just said that two women can have a conversation about something that’s going on like that and can walk away from that and just be like “things happen, and I understand where you’re coming from and thanks for talking to me about it and we’re good.”

After what they went through as characters in being abducted and not knowing when Burgess walks in and sees Upton tied up and bleeding and not knowing what happened to her and if she was going to survive or what was going on, I think you get sort of stronger bonded going through something like that.

Going off of that, will we see more of Upton and Burgess’ “badassery.”

We definitely would love that. We had so much fun getting to play together. We were very excited about this episode um, so yes, we hope so.

We’re only a couple of episodes ahead of that one, we’re actually pretty close to what they’ve aired so at this point I don’t know what’s coming up in the next few episodes, but I think we will. I think we both would like for that to be the case.

Let’s talk romance! What’s next for Upton and Ruzek? She seems to have developed strong feelings for him that she wasn’t expecting. Will their dynamic change now after the kidnapping? Will they be stronger? What can you tell us?

Well, I wish I could tease a little bit more because I genuinely don’t know! I don’t really know what’s coming up but, I think that based on the episode where Ruzek takes the fall for Antonio, that was a big moment for Upton to realize her feelings.

I think she, for a long time, had kind of said that this was just a bit of a fling and was trying not to get attached, and all of a sudden, when he’s in jeopardy, it all kicked in, and it happened without her knowing it was happening. And so I think that surprised her a lot. And I’m also interested to see what’s coming up after that.

Personally, are you Team Burzek or team Upzek?

I can’t pick. They are both lovely characters, and we’ll see what happens!

Upton and Ruzek’s relationship either gets a lot of love or a lot of hate from fans. What would you like to tell those fans?

I kind of get it. I get it. They were big fans of Burzek, and I totally get it, so I guess just, I’m sorry? For throwing a wedge in there.

It makes it more fun!

Yeah, I think it adds to the drama of things which is always more interesting to watch, I guess. And who knows what will happen? Who knows what will come up in the future… we’ll see!

Speaking of the future, I mean, Halstead has obvious feelings for Upton. Do you think we’ll be seeing that pairing eventually?

Um, I don’t know. I think what’s interesting about their dynamic is that they both have this really cool bond that’s different than anything else that they have with anyone else. They’re really close, and she goes to him for anything that she needs and confides in him more than anyone else.

And I think that’s why it was such a big deal when he found out about Ruzek, you know, at the end scene when they sit down and they talk outside of the interview room, and Upton’s really upset. She tells him everything, and the fact that she held back this information from him made her feel really bad.

And, I think, you know, we get to see that bond between the two of them that doesn’t matter, nothing’s going to come between that. That was probably one of my favorite moments, for sure.

So, I don’t know what’s in store for them, but I think regardless, I think their bond only kind of carries further, and as you’ve gotten to see, he trusts her, and he’s honest with her when Voight tells him ‘don’t tell anybody about what happened’ a couple of episodes ago (Chicago PD Season 6 Episode12).

But Halstead finds the guy, and Voight says ‘don’t say anything to anybody,’ and he confides in Upton and so we get to see a lot of that back and forth where they really trust each other. And that continues to grow.

A lot of fans have suggested that maybe the characters should start dating outside of the unit… do you think in-office relationships work?

I mean, I think for them in this scenario, they spend so much time together that you just end up kind of doing that, but I don’t know.

I mean, I don’t really know where I fall on that, I think sometimes they can work, and I think sometimes they can get pretty complicated based on that, that you’re always working together and you’re around each other all the time. But I think they can, so I don’t know if I fall on one side or the other side of that.

We’re heading into another Fire/PD crossover! What can you tell us about that?

It starts with [Chicago] Fire, and there are a bunch of robberies that come to light after a firehouse lockbox key goes missing. And Voight gets suspicious that a firefighter may be involved so with Boden’s approval he gets Cruz to go undercover and into the firehouse to try and find out some information.

And when we pick up after that in [Chicago] PD, we take the information that Cruz gives us, and we are chasing down and trying to get the robbery crew, and in the meantime, Voight’s under pressure just to get the crew to justice without tarnishing their reputation of a murdered firefighter who may have been involved.

That sounds really interesting; I cannot wait to watch that!

Yeah, it’s a good one, and it was really fun getting to work with um, all the other characters on Fire.

I haven’t gotten to do too many crossovers, I mean the other one that I’ve done before this was with Marina was on Fire, and we were in the bullpen and then at the offender’s house so I didn’t actually get to work with any of the fire cast, so this time I did get to, and it was a delight. It was a treat.

Since I’m from Chicago and the show along with Tracy’s character is rooted in Chicago, I thought I’d ask her some Chicago-based questions.

What is your favorite thing about the city of Chicago?

Oh man, it’s hard to pinpoint because I love this city, but the one favorite thing I think I would say is the people. I love how people are so proud to be from Chicago, and it’s a really cool thing, but I’ve loved all the people that I’ve met in the last two years that I’ve been here.

The deep dish debate: Giordano’s, Lou Malnati’s, or neither?

Lou’s, for me! I’m a big fan of Lou’s; I order every week. Yep, once a week I do pizza day!

It’s gotta be Pizza Friday, right?

It is Pizza Friday!

You’re from Canada, so you’re probably used to the cold, but what is it like filming in the brutal cold? Is it a complete disaster, or do you actually enjoy it?

You do get used to the cold, like when we had the polar vortex here, my family was texting me from Winnipeg and they were like “what? Why are things closing down in Chicago? What’s going on!?” They’re like “we’re going to work."

I actually had friends that came to visit recently, and they were coming from Calgary, and they were messaging saying that they were excited to come down for the warm weather. Ha, I was like “it’s cold here!”

But I think working in it is tough, you know. No matter being from Winnipeg or being from a colder climate, still working in it can be hard, but I enjoy it. I enjoy the snow, I enjoy the winter, as much as I enjoy the summer, so I like it.

It's a good mix.

This is one of my favorite cities.

What can we catch you doing when you aren’t on set?

I like playing video games, so I do a little bit of that on my Playstation.

What are your favorites?

Well, God of War is one of my favorites, and Uncharted, all of the Uncharted series, are my absolute favorites. Right now I’m playing Destiny 2. In the winter that’s usually what I do. In the summertime I just like being outside whenever I can. Go by the lake, go run around with my dog, be outside.

Have you tried your hand at Fortnite?

I haven’t yet, you know I watched my nephew play, but I didn’t get into just yet. So many people are playing it, I’m going to have to check it out.