Benjamin Levy Aguilar Says Speaking His Native Language On Chicago PD Was 'The Most Beautiful Thing'
A "rookie" cop, officer Dante Torres first appears on Season 9 of the NBC "One Chicago" drama "Chicago PD." The quiet but professional officer is under the tutelage of Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) before getting recruited into the CPD Intelligence Unit at the start of Season 10. Halstead, however, gets intel suggesting Torres has gang affiliations and a rap sheet. But he soon discovers that while Torres was a gang member as a teen, he actually went to juvie for beating his abusive stepfather after the police didn't do anything for him or his mother. The young man then removed his tattoos and vowed to never neglect the people in need of help.
Torres is played by Guatemalan actor Benjamin Levy Aguilar — who originally appeared as a different character, suspect Franco Chavaro, on Season 7 of the series (via NBC Insider). Here's what Aguilar had to say about getting to speak in his native language on the show.
Aguilar loved speaking in Spanish on Chicago PD
When Benjamin Levy Aguilar appeared on a recent episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," the actor discussed the scenes on "Chicago PD" where Torres speaks in Spanish. Aguilar is originally from Guatemala, so the Spanish language is actually his native tongue.
The "Chicago PD" regular put his hands to his heart, telling Clarkson, "It was the most beautiful thing, and now I understand what Americans feel like when they act in English." Aguilar speaks both languages fluently, but Spanish evidently feels more natural for him. He also high-fived Clarkson when she told him, "Thanks to my Duolingo, I understood most of it, so I'm very proud of myself."
In fact, according to Wolf Entertainment's official Twitter, Season 10, Episode 4 features the series' first scenes performed primarily in Spanish. The production even hired a second script coordinator to make sure the dialogue was correct. Hopefully, then, Aguilar will get some more Spanish-language scenes in upcoming episodes of "Chicago PD."