Dick Wolf’s One Chicago reveals have tons and many memorable characters at any given time, however a few of them stand out from the huge crowd of Windy Metropolis first responders. That is why it got here as a blow when, in 2022, “Chicago P.D.” favourite Jesse Lee Soffer bid the present farewell. Soffer’s Jay Halstead was a fan darling for a lot of his time on the present, each by himself and as one half of the favored “Linstead” relationship with Sophia Bush’s Detective Erin Lindsay.
In contrast to “Chicago Fire” star Yuri Sardarov — whose character was written out as one of many main emotional blows the franchise likes to deal each now and again — it was instantly clear to all that Soffer’s departure from the present was the actor’s private selection. He did not actually elaborate on his causes on the time, however in a 2023 interview with Variety, Soffer lastly opened up on his choice to depart the procedural.
“I actually needed to develop and broaden, and we have solely received this one journey. If I signed up once more, it could have been for one more three years. I’d have turned 40 on the present. I assumed, ‘You understand what? It is time to take a threat.’ It was one of many hardest choices I’ve ever needed to make in my life. Let’s be trustworthy: I really like the followers of our present a lot, and I really like my followers. I do know that they are nonetheless grieving this, and to a point, I’m too.”
Soffer did not enterprise fairly as removed from Chicago P.D. as you may count on
Whereas Jesse Lee Soffer selected to stroll away from his position in the binge-worthy crime show, he however stayed surprisingly near “Chicago P.D.” in additional methods than one. The truth is, he returned to the present virtually instantly after ending his final scene … solely, this time he served the collection as a director. He is directed two episodes of the present to date — the season 10 episode “Deadlocked” and season 11’s “Stock” — and credit the transition behind the digital camera to the work he already put in when he was nonetheless taking part in Halstead. This is what he needed to say concerning the directing expertise within the Selection interview:
“A few of it was easy. A few of it was irritating. A few of it was tremendous rewarding. A few of it was humbling. It was simpler than I assumed it was gonna be, as a result of we’re storytellers on this business, and I really like telling tales. Once I’d get a script that was a Halstead-centric story, I would break that sucker down a lot, calling the producers with strategies. I have been doing that each one alongside, so it was a simple shift.”
His post-One Chicago performing work has additionally been surprisingly near his “Chicago P.D.” gig. In 2024, he joined the cast of “FBI: International” as Wes Mitchell, a brash supervisory particular agent who joins the present’s Worldwide Fly Workforce in season 4, and shortly establishes his spot throughout the group. Because it occurs, the “FBI” franchise is one other Dick Wolf joint that very a lot exists in the identical universe because the One Chicago reveals. This might make issues very attention-grabbing if Soffer ever returns to the position of Halstead and Wolf Leisure performs its crossover playing cards nicely.
Dick Wolf’s One Chicago reveals have tons and many memorable characters at any given time, however a few of them stand out from the huge crowd of Windy Metropolis first responders. That is why it got here as a blow when, in 2022, “Chicago P.D.” favourite Jesse Lee Soffer bid the present farewell. Soffer’s Jay Halstead was a fan darling for a lot of his time on the present, each by himself and as one half of the favored “Linstead” relationship with Sophia Bush’s Detective Erin Lindsay.
In contrast to “Chicago Fire” star Yuri Sardarov — whose character was written out as one of many main emotional blows the franchise likes to deal each now and again — it was instantly clear to all that Soffer’s departure from the present was the actor’s private selection. He did not actually elaborate on his causes on the time, however in a 2023 interview with Variety, Soffer lastly opened up on his choice to depart the procedural.
“I actually needed to develop and broaden, and we have solely received this one journey. If I signed up once more, it could have been for one more three years. I’d have turned 40 on the present. I assumed, ‘You understand what? It is time to take a threat.’ It was one of many hardest choices I’ve ever needed to make in my life. Let’s be trustworthy: I really like the followers of our present a lot, and I really like my followers. I do know that they are nonetheless grieving this, and to a point, I’m too.”
Soffer did not enterprise fairly as removed from Chicago P.D. as you may count on
Whereas Jesse Lee Soffer selected to stroll away from his position in the binge-worthy crime show, he however stayed surprisingly near “Chicago P.D.” in additional methods than one. The truth is, he returned to the present virtually instantly after ending his final scene … solely, this time he served the collection as a director. He is directed two episodes of the present to date — the season 10 episode “Deadlocked” and season 11’s “Stock” — and credit the transition behind the digital camera to the work he already put in when he was nonetheless taking part in Halstead. This is what he needed to say concerning the directing expertise within the Selection interview:
“A few of it was easy. A few of it was irritating. A few of it was tremendous rewarding. A few of it was humbling. It was simpler than I assumed it was gonna be, as a result of we’re storytellers on this business, and I really like telling tales. Once I’d get a script that was a Halstead-centric story, I would break that sucker down a lot, calling the producers with strategies. I have been doing that each one alongside, so it was a simple shift.”
His post-One Chicago performing work has additionally been surprisingly near his “Chicago P.D.” gig. In 2024, he joined the cast of “FBI: International” as Wes Mitchell, a brash supervisory particular agent who joins the present’s Worldwide Fly Workforce in season 4, and shortly establishes his spot throughout the group. Because it occurs, the “FBI” franchise is one other Dick Wolf joint that very a lot exists in the identical universe because the One Chicago reveals. This might make issues very attention-grabbing if Soffer ever returns to the position of Halstead and Wolf Leisure performs its crossover playing cards nicely.
