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Chicago Fire actor Katelynn Shennett joined the cast as Kylie Estevez in episode 18 of season 8. Shennett wasn’t supposed to stick around for long. Her character was anticipated to have an arc of only a few episodes. However, Kylie has become a recurring character and remains on the show in season 10.

Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd and Katelynn Shennett as Kylie in Chicago Fire. Kylie and Kidd sit in chairs facing each other.
Miranda Rae Mayo as Stella Kidd and Katelynn Shennett as Kylie in ‘Chicago Fire’ | Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC

‘Chicago Fire’ fans first met Kylie when she joined Girls On Fire

In season 8 of Chicago Fire, Stella Kidd was trying to get her Girls On Fire program off the ground. The program is designed to get young women involved in firefighting, but at first, Kidd has trouble getting any takers. Then Kylie shows up with a group of her friends to join the program.

Later Kylie starts working as Chief Boden’s assistant. She even offers to help Kidd with some of the work for Girls On Fire when Kidd begins to feel overwhelmed. Now Shennett is a recurring character on the show. Fans have watched her character grow and Kylie certainly seems to have a bright future with Firehouse 51.

The most recent episode of Chicago Fire saw Kidd and Chief Boden’s protective side come out toward Kylie. The pair intervened when they thought Kylie might get involved with a not-so-great guy named Needles. However, Kylie proved she could handle herself. “Thanks, mom and dad,” she says to Boden and Kidd after they talk with her.

Katelynn Shennett wasn’t meant to stay on ‘Chicago Fire’ for long

When Shennett was first cast in Chicago Fire, she wasn’t expecting it to be in a long-term role. In fact, Shennett almost didn’t audition in the first place. Between working multiple jobs and taking classes to become a massage therapist, Shennett had a lot going on when her agent called her about the Chicago Fire audition. According to The Pantagraph, her roommate encouraged her to audition and Shennett landed the role.

Shennett’s character Kylie was originally supposed to appear in only a few episodes of Chicago Fire, but two seasons later she is still on the show. “I guess they liked the work I did, so they wanted to keep bringing me back, which was really lucky,” Shennett said in an interview with The Pantagraph. “I definitely didn’t expect to land anything like this for many years. It’s pretty uncommon to get anything major right after college, so I was pretty floored to land this role.”

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Playing Kylie in Chicago Fire is Shennett’s first on-screen role, though she previously acted with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival in Bloomington. “It’s such an incredible process working with everybody,” she said of Chicago Fire while speaking with The Pantagraph. “I couldn’t have asked for a better show to start my career with. Everybody is so kind and down to earth. They want to have fun, but they’re all here to do their jobs, and there are no egos.”

Shennett discusses what’s next for her character

Shennett can relate to her character’s curiosity and hunger for knowledge. “It has been fun growing up with Kylie,” she said to The Pantagraph. “I wasn’t a teenager when I started in this role, but I was so new to everything. A lot of her curiosity about everything and that fire of wanting to jump in and grow and improve resonated a lot with me because I was there in a similar place.”

In the future, Shennett would love to see Kylie “come into her own a little more,” she told The Pantagraph. “They’re already working to age her up because she is a high school character. So they’re slowly trying to hint that she is entering a more mature phase of her life. I’d like to see them give her that opportunity to get involved with the action and a little more responsibility in the firehouse.”

Chicago Fire Season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.

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