WHAT CHICAGO FIRE’S KARA KILLMER AND MONICA RAYMUND’S RELATIONSHIP IS LIKE IN REAL LIFE
Gabriela Dawson and Sylvie Brett were roommates and partners on “Chicago Fire,” but it seems as though the actors playing them were pretty chummy, too. Exhibit A: Kara Killmer’s Instagram.
As fans of the “One Chicago” franchise will know, it’s been a hot minute since Monica Raymund announced that she was leaving “Chicago Fire.” However, her time on the show pre-exit was well-documented. In particular, her on-screen ambulance partner Killmer shared a ton of snaps of their antics behind the scenes. From “Formation”-inspired pics alongside on-screen fire chief Eamonn Walker to gushy posts about the real-life paramedic who inspired Raymund’s character and even a funny video of Raymund embracing her inner Hermione Granger on set, it was pretty clear that they enjoyed spending time together in between takes.
Of course, Raymund ended up leaving the show after just three seasons alongside Killmer. Even then, though, Killmer made a point of giving her former co-star her flowers. Two months after the OG announced her departure, Killmer took to Instagram yet again to send a sweet birthday message to her former co-star. “What are we going to do today, Brain? … Celebrate Monica Raymund!” she wrote alongside a pic of her with her arm around the birthday girl.
It’s possible Kara and Monica drifted apart post-Chicago Fire
That Kara Killmer and Monica Raymund became friends during their time together on “Chicago Fire” makes sense. After all, as Killmer shared in an interview with “Mind Your Body TV with Stephanie Stephens,” the amount of time she and her co-stars spent together meant there wasn’t exactly an option not to. “We spend about 12 to 16 hours a day together every day, so you kinda have to become friends,” she quipped, adding that she, Raymund, and fellow “Chicago Fire” star Miranda Rae Mayo were especially tight as the three women on the show.
Unfortunately, Killmer’s comments on the time aspect may have had something to do with the fact that they don’t seem quite as close anymore. Again, it makes sense: while Killmer continued with those 12-to-16-hour days in Chicago, one of the chief reasons Raymund gave for leaving “Chicago Fire” was to start creating a life for herself in Los Angeles. Of course, picking up a phone isn’t impossible, but the reality is their schedules and the distance between them don’t exactly make for the Instagrammable hangouts of yore.
Fast-forward a few years, and Raymund’s projects after leaving “Chicago Fire” have included “Hightown” and a director’s role on “Dexter: Original Sin” (yup, the “Dexter” reboot Julie Benz told us she was excited about). As for Killmer, she left “Chicago Fire” in early 2024. At the time, she told The Hollywood Reporter that she’d auditioned for a few different roles and was open to going a new direction. She was also game to pop up on “Chicago Fire” again some day. Time will tell if she and Raymund end up collaborating on something again in the future — something tells us “One Chicago” fans would be only too happy to see a reunion.
