Chicago PD's Marina Squerciati Admires Kim's Feminine Toughness

Marina Squerciati's Kimberly Burgess, more commonly known as Kim or Burge, is one of the main characters on "Chicago P.D." starring in nearly 200 episodes of the series since it began in 2014. As an official with the Chicago Police Department in the Intelligence Section, Kim is influential among her peers and known for having a heart of gold. She hates to see people in need not get help and, despite her status as an officer of the law, she understands that the law isn't always fair or just.

For example, when Kim catches a woman shoplifting some bread to feed her son, she doesn't arrest her. Instead, she pays for the food out of her pocket and threatens the shop owner to make sure they don't try to press charges. Although the woman's actions are technically illegal, Kim understands that it's born out of a struggling mother's desperation to provide for her child and ensure that there's food on the table. Since it's a mostly harmless act that only seeks to provide something essential, Kim wants to help the mother rather than punish her.

Despite her kind soul, Kim is a strong and capable woman who doesn't compromise her morals or her personality to do her job to the fullest extent.

As a police officer, Kim has been put in many difficult positions physically, mentally, and emotionally. Marina Squerciati admires her character's fortitude amidst her unwillingness to change or hide who she is. Not long ago, Squerciati was one of three "One Chicago" cast members interviewed by US Weekly about that aspect of her character.

"Kim is tough. Marina still has bruises from every single fight scene. [I'm] just limping along to Season 9," she joked. Kim's physical capability and fighting skills make her stand out, although Squerciati pushes back against the trope (via CXO Media) that "strong female characters" usually must give up some of their femininity to appear strong. "I have these books that I read my kid called 'Princess in Black' and it's like this princess who is a superhero on the side, but she wears pink when she's not a superhero because superheroes don't wear pink," she explained. "I feel like Kim is a superhero that wears pink ... [She] literally wears pink and has pink pens and can still be a badass."

Many "traditional" female traits — like wearing pink — are seen as delicate and the opposite of what power is, so having such a formidable woman still embrace her femininity sends a positive message. "Men and women [have] this different sort of toughness," added Squerciati. "And I like that she embraced the feminine side and can probably take down a bunch of dudes."