If, at the end of the day, you cannot answer 'yes' to the question, 'Did I do everything I could today to achieve my dream?' then you must adjust.
— Nick Gehlfuss
People are extremely vulnerable when they're brought into the hospital. When you see people in those moments, it's a privilege to watch that and learn from it.
I set a goal for myself in being an actor and moving out to L.A., and I really felt I had achieved it when I landed 'Shameless.'
My character started off on 'Chicago P.D.' as the brother to Detective Jake Halstead, and then I also played on 'Chicago Fire.' So, I really worked on both shows before 'Chicago Med' even started.
When I was in college, I wasn't in a fraternity or anything. I always wanted to jump around to all different types of cliques.
The life of an actor is sort of abnormal in the sense where you never know what's going to happen, which I've really given over to.
I think the better actor I am, the better person I become.
A teacher asked me if I'd audition for a play, and I ended up playing the pirate Red Dog in a production of 'Treasure Island.' And that's where it started, and I really felt part of something special, but I still didn't think about it as something I wanted to do. I was just having fun.
I'll never forget the moment in class when I went from being afraid to fail, to expecting to fail. This informs everything I do.
I'm finding out that I'm not squeamish whatsoever.
As for people I would love to work with, Meryl Streep, of course! She's my favorite.
I think I always wanted to be everyone's friend.
No one's going to make you work on yourself except you.
A thing that makes me laugh is, any time I go to the legitimate doctor, they call me Dr. Halstead.
I look more like Jesse Lee Sofer than my real brother.
The more you have in your toolbox, if you can visualize or have a moment to provide you a visual, as an actor, that's paramount.
After school, instead of going into the restaurant scene, I very consciously took my guitar around everywhere I could, to Irish pubs and restaurants, and I played four nights a week to make ends meet.
When you work on a Dick Wolf show, it's as if you've joined a second family.
My personality is I enjoy constant change and mixing it up.
One time, I was out watching music, and someone whispered in my ear, 'You can do surgery on me any time.'
I come from a pretty positive family and positive environment, and in that sense, I'm very fortunate and grateful; that has kept me grounded.
You try to find the romance in the struggle, or at least that's what you keep telling yourself. But you talk to successful actors, and the struggle always is what they miss the most.
