CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Benjamin Levy Aguilar on the Torres Reveal and ‘Thousand Pounds Off’ His Shoulders

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Wednesday, May 17 episode of CHICAGO P.D., “New Life.”]

CHICAGO P.D.’s Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) got a tip that led him to a nearly-dead body on the Wednesday, May 17 episode, “New Life”…and it led to an unraveling of his life pre-Intelligence.

Initially, Torres tried to distance himself from the victim, but the truth quickly came out: Torres used to be an enforcer for the man, and it was rumored he did vicious things in his pre-cop days…including waterboarding people.

For Aguilar, he learned about Torres’ past “literally two, three days before filming,” he explains to Give Me My Remote in the video below. “It was not something that I knew. I loved that as an actor. I loved learning and experiencing that through Torres. I feel like these intense episodes of these moments that I had to actually live, because I have lived them with my body. I have suffered them with my heart. They give me more absolute understanding of who he is for the next episodes. So it’s a great gift from the writers.”

Though it wasn’t all true—Torres acknowledged he did things he was ashamed of, but he never waterboarded anyone; in fact, it was done to him—the still-new cop worried the reveal would mean the end of his time in Intelligence.

As some of the subject matter hit close to home for Aguilar, he depended on the cast and crew to help him get through some of the more difficult moments. “I couldn’t have done it without a director that…my God, he cares so much,” he says. “Carl [Seaton] cares so much. And even in moments where I was too emotional, he would just seek understanding…[he] brought out the best of me, with no ego. He had no ego. He just knew he knew a little bit about my past, as a person. And he honored that, through my finding this pain onscreen. And I’m so grateful for him. [CHICAGO P.D. producer Brian] Luce, who’s like our consultant of everything, he was there and I have moments that I will never forget.”

The actor grows emotional as he continues, “I have moments that I will never forget, where I hugged Luce, and I cried with him. He was incredible. He was my safe place during this episode. Jason [Beghe, who plays Voight] was also there for me. Those three people were really, really supportive.”

With the truth now out there, Aguilar hopes Torres “takes time to allow these feelings to happen,” he says. “And I think he does at least in the sense of how he speaks to Voight at the end [when Voight confirms he still has a job]. And you can tell he’s allowing his vulnerability and I hope he does more of that.”

Going forward, “I think there’s a thousand pounds off his shoulder,” Aguilar notes. “And maybe there’s more secrets, but at least a big secret is out. So like, there’s no hiding what I did and why I did it… I think this makes for a lot of growth. And I think it just makes for a lot of freedom for him to just feel more of himself and be more authentic…I think there will be some different authenticity after this.”

While how this plays out is still TBD, Aguilar is grateful for this experience. “This has been one of the most beautiful episodes or experiences I’ve ever had as an actor, this specific one. So I’m really excited for people to see it.”

CHICAGO P.D., Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC

RELATED:

• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘New Life’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: LaRoyce Hawkins Previews Intelligence’s Quest to Save Upton
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Fight’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: LaRoyce Hawkins on Atwater’s Healing with His Father and the ‘Great’ Season Finale
• CHICAGO P.D.: LaRoyce Hawkins Previews Atwater’s Unlikely Team-Up with His Father in ‘The Bleed Valve’
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘The Bleed Valve’ Photos
• NBC Renews LAW & ORDER, SVU, ORGANIZED CRIME, and ONE CHICAGO Trio
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘You Only Die Twice’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D. Recap: Burzek Makes a Big Move
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Out of the Depths’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Jesse Lee Soffer on His Favorite ‘Deadlocked’ Scenes and the ‘Rewarding’ Directing Experience
• CHICAGO P.D.: Jesse Lee Soffer on Directing the ‘Action-Packed,’ ‘Throwback’ Hour ‘Deadlocked’
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Deadlocked’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Blood and Honor’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger on How Kim—and Burzek—Will Handle the Fallout From Her Big Therapy Decision
• CHICAGO P.D.: Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger Reflect on Their Real-Life Friendship
• CHICAGO P.D.’s Marina Squerciati and Patrick John Flueger Preview the ‘Ambitious,’ ‘Firing on All Cylinders’ Episode 200
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Trapped’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘The Ghost in You’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: NBC Teases the 200th Episode, ‘Trapped’
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Gia-Rayne Harris on Directing the Upstead Twist and the Tension-Filled ‘I Can Let You Go’
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gia-Rayne Harris on Sean and Upton’s Showdown, Making Her Network TV Directorial Debut
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘I Can Let You Go’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Long Lost’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: Benjamin Levy Aguilar Reflects on the ‘Beautiful’ Experience of Filming Torres’ Big Episode
• CHICAGO FIRE’s Derek Haas and Andrea Newman on Utilizing CHICAGO P.D.’s Amy Morton for Lighter Moments
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gwen Sigan Previews Burgess Seeing Ruzek in ‘a Different Light’
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Gwen Sigan on the Sean Twist and Upton’s Upcoming Emotional Reckoning
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gwen Sigan Teases the ‘Pressure Cooker’ Fall Finale, a Burgess-Centric 200th Episode
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Proof of Burden’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Under the Skin’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Into The Deep’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: LaRoyce Hawkins on Drawing on His Real History for the Emotional ‘Sympathetic Reflex’ Ending
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Sympathetic Reflex’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.’s LaRoyce Hawkins: ‘Every Empathetic Bone’ in Atwater ‘is Going to Be Tested’
• CHICAGO P.D: Jesse Lee Soffer to Direct a Season 10 Episode
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gwen Sigan Teases Diving into the Upton and Burgess Dynamics, Plus Atwater as a ‘Leader’
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Pink Cloud’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Benjamin Levy Aguilar on Torres ‘Transformation’ Post-‘Donde Vives’
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘Donde Vives’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D.: Benjamin Levy Aguilar Previews Torres’ Adjustment to Intelligence and a Close-to-Home Case
• Jesse Lee Soffer and the CHICAGO P.D. Cast Bid Farewell to Jay Halstead
• CHICAGO P.D. Recap: ‘A Good Man’ Says Goodbye
• CHICAGO P.D. Gwen Sigan Previews a ‘Fully Grounded and Authentic’ Exit for Halstead
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gwen Sigan Teases Burzek in a ‘New Place,’ Finding Stability in Season 10
• CHICAGO P.D.: ‘A Good Man’ Photos
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Gwen Sigan and Jason Beghe on the ‘Fractures’ in Intelligence and Voight’s Decision
• CHICAGO P.D.: What You Need to Know About the Season Premiere
• CHICAGO P.D.: Marina Squerciati Teases the Theme for Season 10
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gwen Sigan Teases ‘Tension’ for Voight, Halstead, and Upton in Season 10
• CHICAGO P.D. Season 10 Premiere: ‘Let it Bleed’ Photos
• ONE CHICAGO: NBC Reveals New Posters for CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO FIRE, and CHICAGO P.D.
• CHICAGO P.D.: LaRoyce Hawkins Teases ‘Conflict’ Within Intelligence
• CHICAGO P.D.: Patrick John Flueger and LaRoyce Hawkins on Ruzek’s Big Gesture to Burgess
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gwen Sigan and Jason Beghe Tease the Pressure of the Op Getting to Voight and Anna
• CHICAGO P.D. Recap: Burzek Make a Big Decision About their Future
• CHICAGO P.D.: Marina Squerciati on Burzek’s Uncertain Future
• CHICAGO P.D.: Gwen Sigan Teases a Performing ‘Tour de Force’ in ‘Closer’
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: Gwen Sigan Previews Burzek’s ‘Fragile’ Next Steps: ‘Things Will Come to a Head’
• CHICAGO P.D. Post-Mortem: LaRoyce Hawkins on Atwater and Celeste’s Confrontation
• CHICAGO P.D.: LaRoyce Hawkins Previews Atwater’s Connection with an Informant
• CHICAGO P.D.: Tracy Spiridakos and Jesse Lee Soffer on How Upstead’s Relationship with Voight Has Changed
• CHICAGO P.D.: Tracy Spiridakos and Jesse Lee Soffer Break Down Upstead’s Big Decision
• NBC Boss Teases Potential LAW & ORDER and ONE CHICAGO Crossovers
• Daily Dose of Joy: ONE CHICAGO Stars Play Trivia for Charity

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page or our Instagram.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.