Jason Beghe on Season 11’s Triggering Events for Hank Voight

(This story contains spoilers for season 11, episode seven of Chicago Police“The quick and the dead”).

For Sergeant Hank Voight, played by Jason Beghe, the proverb “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” comes to a painful, climactic conclusion during the final scene of Chicago Policefrom the March 20 episode, “The Living and the Dead.” The seventh episode of season 11 of the NBC drama ends with a stoic look on as the conflicted police detective pulls a barrel out of a body of water containing someone he cared for and tried to protect.

Since the murder of his son, Justin (Josh Segarra), in season three, Voight has carried that death like an albatross, prompting him over the seasons to take a special interest in certain brutalized victims of the city who are treated as waste. In episode seven, audiences see Voight search for a kidnapper who tortured and mutilated a gay teenager named Noah (Bobby Hogan), who was introduced in episode six. Cast out of home because of his sexuality and plagued with pain and nightmares from the brutality of his ordeal, Voight sees something in Noah that reminds him of his troubled son, and perhaps sees a way to help the young man in a way he doesn’t. was able to help his late son.

But Wednesday’s episode again ended in tragedy, as Noah was the body in the barrel. Once again, viewers see that Voight is likely traveling through the dark vortex of loss, failure, and revenge.

The Hollywood Reporter We caught up with Beghe to talk about Voight’s two-episode arc that will continue in the coming weeks. Beghe also spoke about the 25th anniversary of a near-fatal car accident that changed the actor’s life in some ways (and contributed to his famously raspy voice), as well as his deep-rooted connections in Chicago and his hopes for the future with Chicago Police

Why are there certain cases that seem to get so under Hank Voight’s skin that he can’t get rid of them? This is certainly the case in episodes six and seven, with the brutal kidnapping of Noah. Why does Voight care so much about this case?

I don’t think Voight is aware of that. But I think what happens is that somehow Noah triggers something about his own dead son, Justin (Josh Segarra), and Voight feels like he could have done better as a father. And obviously, since his son is dead, there’s nothing he can do about it; So in a sense, this is his way, psychologically, of correcting some mistakes and correcting some behaviors and things that he did in the past that he wishes he could take back.

Do you think Hank Voight will ever find some kind of redemption in feeling like his son’s death was his fault, even though it wasn’t? (Justin was shot in the head at the end of season three and left in the trunk of a car..)

He feels it was his fault. He feels that he should have avoided it and he could have avoided it. But, as far as redemption goes, I think what he’s trying to do is the best he can. And that’s all he can do… There’s something about this character that’s changing, and that’s kind of what’s creating the vulnerability. It was a great solution that the way he always survived was completely rooted in the present, right in this moment. He did not worry about what was going to happen and did not regret what had already happened. And there is a lot of power to be able to be this present. You know, you miss out on a lot of life; A lot of joy and a lot of sadness. And so what’s happening now is that he’s starting to think about things for the first time. It’s triggering a lot of emotions that he’s not used to experiencing and it’s making him feel weak and vulnerable. My personal opinion is that it is actually what makes it stronger and more complete.

Voight did not answer Noah’s phone calls (While interrogating a suspect in Noah’s kidnapping, Voight ignores several calls. When he finally listens to the messages, Voight realizes that Noah has been tricked again and left the detective’s house where he was protected.). This may or may not have made a difference, but Noah does not survive and at the end of the episode we discover that he has been murdered. What will this do to Voight?

At this point, you will do your best. I’ve only played that moment, which is the discovery, the last moment of episode seven, and the reaction that Voight has is obviously the initial loss. But it’s too much. He also expects it at that time. And he sort of goes back to his safe response which is, “I’m going to rip your throat out!” So we’ll see in the future how much he’ll be able to allow his feelings and how much he’ll stay in this wild, more animalistic Voight kind of way, which he’s also a very compelling guy.

How do you disconnect from some of the stories that can sometimes be dark, disturbing and full of trauma?

Well, I know these are stories. I mean, there are terrible things happening all over this planet. They are starting again in Africa and we look at Gaza; We are a flawed species. And for me, there are kinds of inexplicable impulses and behaviors that I try to consider as part of my species. And there are some great people, but there are others who aren’t. All I can do is try to be part of the solution and not the problem. That’s how I approach it. You know, the individual stories are heartbreaking, I mean, really, they’re heartbreaking! I mean they really break your heart and in a way that you know is not temporary.

So when we met Hank Voight for the first time in Chicago firebefore Chicago Police It started as a series, the character seemed like a dirty cop, a villain that no one wants to cross. But throughout the 11 seasons of his show, Voight, while still sometimes committing questionable actions, shows empathy and care for people regardless of their race, culture, sexuality, etc. Were these always important personality traits that he hoped his character would evolve into?

You know, it’s funny but that’s the thing. When I first showed up to shoot Chicago fire, the producers were like, “Oh, you’re playing a bad guy,” and I was like, “No, I’m not.” I never thought of him like that. Nobody is bad or good. And I told them, “Okay, yeah, I’m hurting your boy (Matt Casey’s character in Chicago Fire who investigates Hank Voight’s son), then from your point of view he’s a bad guy. But you have children? I mean, what would you do to protect your child? Because the only reason I was going after Casey was to protect my son. And I said, here I am this cop and I put half of these guys in that prison. My son did some bad things, but does that mean he deserves to be raped to death? And I have to take responsibility for that. I know for my own son, there isn’t much I wouldn’t do to spare him that kind of fate. And I don’t care what the situation is, because I know him and I love him.

So the thing is, no one is one thing. We are all gray! It’s not black and white, it’s all shades of gray, and those shades of gray change from moment to moment, let alone from day to day and year to year. And that’s the way it is. And then I tried to understand. The thing is, you can’t understand someone without loving them. You don’t have to like them, but if I want to understand them, I have to love them. I must be willing to accept their points of view.

Yesterday was your birthday, but this year is another anniversary for you. It’s been almost 25 years since you were in a terrible car accident that gave you that raspy voice that the public identifies as Hank Voight’s, right?

It made it much rougher.

How did that experience influence your way of life, your acting style, and, in particular, your way of playing Hank Voight?

It was huge and that’s how it was. And I really died. I was in a coma for three and a half weeks. And I died in a coma, which was a very interesting experience. That’s very important and it changed me, I’m sure. But just as this conversation also changed me and changes me. There is nothing but the good. It’s neither good nor bad, it just is. You know it’s the truth and I try not to think about what’s good and bad. Even when people say “I feel bad,” I understand that there are emotions that are very uncomfortable, but are they bad? They are my emotions, I have them, I don’t create them just to suffer. They’re not wrong, that’s me trying to say, “Hey, something’s wrong, something’s wrong!” So, in the same way, yes, that changed me. As? I don’t know. Like everything else, I’m just trying to be. I’m just trying to be.

What have been your experiences with the city of Chicago over the 11 years working and filming here?

I have a long history with Chicago. I have deep roots, long before I was born. Deep and somewhat important roots. Politics with my great-grandfather (his great-grandfather was two-term Illinois governor Charles S. Deneen, who was also a United States senator in the late 1920s.). I used to come see my grandparents, my parents grew up here and I used to come here when I was a little kid until they died when I was a teenager. It’s always been a bit ironic to me. My sister went to the University of Chicago, my brother went to Northwestern (University); he he lives here.

The funny thing is that my parents were deeply in love and met in Chicago when they were 13 and 15 years old. So when my mother died, my father, it was one of those things where I couldn’t live without her, and he died a couple of months later. And I buried him, he had an interesting life and he had moved to Washington, DC, at that time, I buried him and I went back to his house, I grabbed my bag and I got on a plane and I flew to Chicago to shoot my first scene in Chicago fire. And I always thought they would have loved to see his youngest son playing Hank Voight in such an iconic part of the Chicago theater pantheon.

How long will you continue to tell Hank Voight’s story and be a part of it? Chicago Police?

I will always be part of Chicago Police I know that. I certainly have the interest. And I think NBC has interest in both the show and Voight. So I’m not done yet, I have more to do and I’m looking forward to it. I love my job. I don’t know what the ending will be, whether it will be Thursday or Friday, but I guess it will end at some point. But now I feel like I have stories to tell and a job to do.

new episodes of Chicago Policeproduced by Universal Television in association with Wolf Entertainment, airs Wednesdays at 10 pm on NBC.