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Jesse Lee Soffer Talks "Chicago P.D." Crossover Episode
Jesse Lee Soffer is yet giving fans penetration into why he left Chicago P.D.
Having starred connected the NBC transgression play since it premiered successful 2013, last summer, the histrion made the surprising call determination to crook successful his badge during the show's 10th season. And he's ne'er truly explained why—until now.
"I've thought truthful hard astir however to reply this question—and there's nary bully answer," Soffer, 38, who played Detective Jay Halstead connected the procedural, told Variety in an interrogation published Feb. 23. "Except I was acceptable for more."
"Eventually, you cognize the quality truthful well, there's not overmuch that tin displacement oregon transform," helium continued. "I truly wanted to turn and expand, and we've lone got this 1 trip. If I signed up again, it would person been for different 3 years. I would person turned 40 connected the show. I thought, ‘You cognize what? It's clip to instrumentality a risk."
And it wasn't an casual telephone by immoderate means, calling the determination to permission the One Chicago satellite was "one of the toughest decisions I've ever had to marque successful my life."
One of the reasons it was truthful difficult? The highly loyal viewers. "I emotion the fans of our amusement truthful much, and I emotion my fans," helium admitted. "I cognize that they're inactive grieving this, and to immoderate degree, I americium too."
Soffer's final episode aired successful October 2022 and saw Halstead resign from the unit to articulation the service to combat the cause cartel, leaving his woman Hailey (Tracy Spiridakos) down successful doing so.
"I cognize the fans are upset because, like, ‘This isn't the Jay that we cognize and love! Why isn't helium calling? Why is helium doing this?!'" Soffer noted of the storyline down his character's exit. "But, you know, the amusement indispensable spell on. I don't deliberation I truly person the close to consciousness immoderate mode astir that. The writers person to bash what they person to bash to work the communicative and the characters that are inactive there. Also, our show's beauteous dark, and they emotion diving into the ugliest, hardest mentation of life. So for Hailey to person to spell done this, it astir apt conscionable made sense."
Lori Allen/NBC
So has Soffer wholly ruled retired a aboriginal instrumentality to the series?
"Definitely not," helium confirmed. "Never accidental never. I consciousness truthful atrocious for the fans that are like, ‘Is helium going to travel back?' ‘What's helium going to do?' ‘What's going connected with him and Hailey?'"
But until his return, helium shared this connection to fans missing Halstead.
"I similar to think—and I anticipation the fans deliberation this too—that he's conscionable successful different state close now, doing what helium does champion and making the satellite a safer place," Soffer concluded. "In a family, sometimes idiosyncratic moves distant oregon goes to assemblage determination else. I inactive emotion it. I inactive emotion the fans. And I inactive emotion Halstead. Halstead's ever going to beryllium successful my blood. That's ne'er going to change."
Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays astatine 10 p.m. connected NBC.
(E! and NBC are some portion of the NBCUniversal family)
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