Chicago P.D. added a new member to the Intelligence Unit in Season 12 for the fall 2024 TV schedule, following Tracy Spiridakos' departure as Hailey Upton back in the spring. Toya Turner was already a familiar face on NBC for any One Chicago viewers who had tuned in to the fifth and final season of New Amsterdam, in which she played traveling nurse Gabrielle opposite Jocko Sims. Turner spoke with CinemaBlend about going from one NBC show to the other, and I can definitely understand why her new show seems "so hot" in comparison to the medical drama.
As the wait is currently on for One Chicago to return in the 2025 TV schedule with the winter premieres, I recalled what the New Amsterdam-turned-Chicago P.D. actress told me in addition to the super sweet BTS stories about her new co-stars. As a fan of the medical drama back in its day, I asked what it was like for her to switch over to crime for P.D., and she shared:
It's definitely different. I mean, my first episode, they had me in all polyester, and I was running down stairs and down alleys and going into abandoned warehouses. So physically, it is completely different, and I've been challenged in ways that I've never been challenged physically before in any role. And we do a lot of on locations. When I did New Amsterdam, I think we only left the hospital set maybe once. I got a chance to do [that], but other than that, it was just me on this built set on New Amsterdam, so that's different too.
Toya Turner's Officer Kiana Cook debuted in the second episode of Season 12, which you can revisit streaming now with a Peacock subscription. By pure happenstance, she was in the area when Ruzek was chasing down the criminals who had shot and killed Detective Martel. They teamed up, which eventually gave her an in with the Intelligence Unit.
For Officer Cook, it was an intense and dangerous case with bullets flying. For Toya Turner... well, it was a lot of cardio while wearing polyester instead of the cooler scrubs of New Amsterdam. After I admitted that I'd wondered how hot it was filming for her and Patrick John Flueger when I watched Episode 2, she laughed and confirmed my suspicions, saying:
I don't know why a designer hasn't made a new, breathable material, but it was very, very hot. I had on long sleeves. It was in the middle, the height of summer in Chicago. It was so, so hot. [laughs] But it worked, because it helped with the heat of the episode. The intensity of it all. So it was nice.
Having been to Chicago in the heat of the summer, I was not surprised to learn that polyester was not the most comfortable material for filming chase sequences on location in the Windy City! Of course, it wasn't a comfortable episode as Ruzek reeled from Martel's death while also chasing justice (with Burgess absent), so as Toya Turner said, "it worked."
Turner's big Cook-centric episode later in the fall was also physically grueling, as she spent most of it doused in water due to heavy rain being scripted into the case. It was enough to bond Cook and Torres and something that the actress really enjoyed as her character went from a patrol cop to member of the Intelligence team. The actress said:
As soon as they got me out of that polyester, I was like, 'Baby, I'll take the rain. I don’t even care. Give me the rain as long as I can get out of this shirt!' [laughs] Even though I personally think Kiana looks really good in the blues, personally. But yes, it's a lot tougher. It's a lot [more] fun than writing parking tickets for sure.
Whatever the future holds for Kiana Cook, I think it's safe to say that Toya Turner is on board for whatever option keeps her from having to wear the very hot polyester again! Her character went on her first undercover op in the final two episodes of Chicago P.D.'s fall season, and may still need a bit of practice. Then again, if Gloria hadn't been able to suss out the truth and make a connection to Torres, Cook might have had an easier time.
Fans still have weeks to wait before the end of winter hiatus, but the promo for the winter premiere previews an intense moment for Kiana Cook:
Chicago P.D. will return to NBC on Wednesday, January 8 in its usual 10 p.m. ET time slot, to pick up on Chief Reid revealing himself as an antagonist. As always, the network's One Chicago Wednesdays open with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and then P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. The new year will also deliver One Chicago's first three-part crossover event since 2019, so be sure to tune in!
