Interview
‘Chicago Fire’: Jake Lockett Talks Carver’s New Romance & How He Feels About Violet
Right now on Chicago Fire, Carver (Jake Lockett) isn’t making the best decisions, especially when it comes to his love life. Things got complicated last season when he and Violet (Hanako Greensmith) got together and the question of how serious it was arose. But now, is old flame Tori good for him, even if she might be what he needs right now?
“Sometimes it’s nice to have someone who you can be comfortable with,” Lockett tells Swooon. “I think that Jake would look at that situation and be like, ‘I don’t know if that’s the best situation, bro.’ But I can also see where in life like, man, stuff’s hard and it feels like you’re already going through it. Finding something that’s easy and not stressful is a good thing. Now if that becomes stressful, maybe it changes.”
Right now, it doesn’t seem like it’s anything serious, but could that change? “There’s all sorts of potential for sure,” says Lockett. “They get along well. They have a good time together. And when you’ve gone through a breakup, sometimes that’s the perfect cure.”
If you ask us, bringing Tori to Molly’s may not have been the best decision. “I would agree,” Lockett admits, “but Carver, it’s amazing what the mind thinks is a good idea after you’ve pregamed, if you will.”
Since Carver returned from his trip to Texas during a furlough, Violet has tried to talk to him, but he’s brushed her off. Lockett agrees that he’s pushing her away because he doesn’t want to get hurt.
Peter Gordon/NBC
“Right now, it’s just about protection,” he tells Swooon. “I put myself out there in a way that I don’t think Carver’s done maybe once in his life. So to do that and then have someone just kind of be silent and not really recognize the facts of it … Obviously, he didn’t really give her a chance to respond in that moment, but at the same time as the season was progressing, as their relationship was developing, he was pushing, leaning into the idea of them being a very real thing and she never picked up on it because of her own stuff, and that’s fine, too. But I think right now, it’s just protection. He’s like, ‘Look, you hurt me. You don’t get a second strike.'”
In the Season 12 finale, Carver told Violet he had fallen in love with her. Have his feelings changed after his time in Texas and now with what’s going on thus far in Season 13? Lockett notes that he hasn’t seen anything in the script to indicate exactly how his character feels.
“If I had to assume, I would say there’s definitely feelings there. You don’t just fall out of love with someone that quick,” says Lockett. “There really wasn’t anything major that turned him off. It was the fact that he put himself out there and it wasn’t reciprocated. So I think there’s still feelings there, but that’s part of what leaning into Tori is about and leaning away from interactions with [Violet]. It just makes it easier to move through that at this point—you don’t move through difficult feelings by just staying in that difficult place. You have to get yourself out of that sometimes.”
Looking ahead, don’t expect any conversations in the immediate future about their personal relationship. Instead, things will remain professional—and Lockett likes that that hasn’t changed.
“That part of their relationship is unfazed,” according to the star. “While it’s always there, they’re super professional. Something I really respect about both the characters is that when it’s time to save a life, they don’t let any of that stuff get in the way. I think that’s really the most important thing about their relationship. Even though there’s obviously some personal stuff that’s run amuck and kind of on rocky waters, they are definitely willing to do what they have to do to do the job right.”
For one final tease of what’s ahead, Lockett says Carver will be dealing with Tori: “How does he deal with the pressure she puts on the relationship? She likes to have fun and sometimes life’s about balance. How does he balance that stuff with her with [his work] at the firehouse?”
Chicago Fire, Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC
