Actress Sara Bues plays Chicago P.D.'s ambitious Assistant State Attorney Nina Chapman.
A spin-off of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. is an NBC police drama following the officers and intelligence unit of the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department.
Sara Bues' Nina Chapman made her series debut in Season 9 and has continued to appear alongside Chicago P.D.'s Season 12 characters.
Meet Sara Bues - Biography Details
Sara Bues Trained at Acting Studio Chicago
Like her character, Sara has a history with the city of Chicago.
While she grew up in Long Island, New York, and attended Syracuse Universe, she also lived in the Windy City for a time.
While there, she honed her craft at the Acting Studio Chicago, a highly recommended training center offering classes for youth and adults, where she starred in a 2016 short film.
Sara Previously Starred in a Virtual Theater Experience
In 2021, Sara starred in Tiny House, a play from Westport County Playhouse that was rehearsed over Zoom and performed virtually.
Sara played Samantha ("Sam") who has moved with her husband to an off-the-grid tiny house he designed where family and other characters suddenly descend for a Fourth July barbecue.
When Westport Playhouse asked what she loves about her character, Sam, Sara explained, "She has so many layers:"
"Michael [Gotch] has created an incredible script, and Sam, I love her because I think with interesting characters she has so many layers and is flawed in a lot of different ways."
But in addition to Sam, Sara appreciated the play's "family dysfunction" because typically family relationships "have the most impact on us:"
"I also really love the family dysfunction. I just love that so much because family - those are typically the relationships that have the most impact on us, whether we want them to or not, whether we have a good relationship with our family or a bad relationship with our family. And, for most of us, a normal family dynamic is somewhat dysfunctional. There are very few people who have family relationships that are perfect and without flaws, without a lack of communication, without built-up anger or resentment."
The actress went on to share how having to deal with problems instead of running away is "what excites [her] about Sam:"
"So I, not to give too much away about the play, but what excites me about Sam is there's this sort of reckoning with her mother, Billy, that happens in the play. And, you know, Sam she goes to live in this tiny house and it's kind of to run away from her problems, but they always catch up with you. So it's nice in the course of the play you get to experience what happens when she's made to deal with the problems she's been running from."
Sara Has Starred in Law & Order and FBI
Before her role in Chicago P.D., Sara appeared on FBI and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2018.
Her other credits consist of City on a Hill and the 2019 short, Cassandra.
Sara's Role in Cassandra Earned Her an Acting Nomination
In Cassandra, Sara played a police officer named Crawley who can't remember what happened when patrolling a farm where a murder was expected to occur.
Her performance in the 2019 short earned her an acting nomination at the SENSEI FilmFest whose goal is to promote indie creators and recognize their achievements, despite their lack of means or support.
How To Follow Sara Bues Online
Fans can follow Sara Bues online via her Instagram page @buesical.
New episodes of Chicago P.D. air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
