In 2024, it will mark 10 years since the first season of Chicago P.D. aired. As the first spinoff of Chicago Fire, we’ve seen plenty of cast members come and go on the popular Dick Wolf police procedural. Below, we’re sharing the most shocking cast departures on Chicago P.D. over the past decade, including every major cast member who exited since Season 1. See who’s left Chicago P.D. – and most importantly – learn why each actor left the show. (Some of their reasons may surprise you.)
Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) – Seasons 1 – 10
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The most recent cast exit on Chicago P.D. was Jesse Lee Soffer, who left the procedural after 10 seasons playing Detective Jay Halstead. In an interview with Variety in 2023, Soffer told our sister site that he left the series because he wanted “more” as an actor. “I’ve thought so hard about how to answer this question — and there’s no good answer. Except I was ready for more,” Soffer responded. “Eventually, you know the character so well, there’s not much that can shift or transform.” Soffer said that he approached the creators in Season 9 informing them of his desire to leave. He agreed to return for three episodes in Season 10 to conclude Halstead’s story, and he also requested that he direct an episode. “I hadn’t really brought it up to anyone, but it was something I was willing to fight for,” Soffer explained.
The actor also confirmed to the publication that he’s open to returning to Chicago P.D. for guest appearances in future seasons. “Never say never. I feel so bad for the fans that are like, ‘Is he going to come back?’ ‘What’s he going to do?’ ‘What’s going on with him and Hailey?’” he explained. “I like to think — and I hope the fans think this too — that he’s just in another country right now, doing what he does best and making the world a safer place. In a family, sometimes somebody moves away or goes to college somewhere else. I still love it. I still love the fans. And I still love Halstead. Halstead’s always going to be in my blood. That’s never going to change.”
Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) – Seasons 1 – 6
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Jon Seda, who played detective Antonio Dawson, left Chicago P.D. in Season 6. We first met Antonio in Chicago Fire as Gabby Dawson (Monica Raymund)’s brother, and he often appeared in crossover episodes between the One Chicago shows. He even left P.D. in Season 4 to lead yet another spinoff, Chicago Justice, but the show was canceled after one season. Deadline reported in April 2019 that Seda’s departure stemmed from creative reasons related to the characters’ story evolution. “I hear the feeling was that Seda’s character on Chicago P.D. had played out, leading to the actor’s departure,” Deadline said. “But he is very well-liked by the producers, and it is possible for him to wind up in another Dick Wolf show down the road.”
After his character’s exit was announced, Seda paid tribute to his character, Antonio Dawson, in a sweet Twitter post thanking his devoted fans. “It’s been an honor portraying Det. Antonio Dawson in the #OneChicago world. To my cast #Family, I’ll always treasure the time and stories we shared. To all you #chihards out there, THANK YOU for being the best of fans! We’ll Always have CHICAGO,” the tweet said.
Alvin “Al” Olinsky (Elias Koteas) – Seasons 1 – 5
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As Voight’s right hand, Olinsky (played by Elias Koteas) was an integral part of the intelligence unit. But in the show’s fifth season, his character was stabbed and killed. In an interview with TV Line in May 2018, Chicago P.D. showrunner Rick Eid said that the decision to kill off Olinsky was a creative one. “From a creative perspective, it was a decision that evolved organically from the ongoing storyline between Voight and Woods. The writers and I kept coming back to this idea that Voight’s decision to kill Bingham should cost him something,” Ed told our sister site. “Over time, we landed on the notion that Olinsky should be the person to pay for Voight’s sin because Voight admired and loved him so much.”
Rick said that it was challenging to kill off Elias, and the actor was on good terms with the creative forces behind the show. “Elias is a terrific actor and a good person. He’s also been an important part of the show since the very beginning. So this part of the process was really challenging,” Rick added.
Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush) – Seasons 1 – 4
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In Season 4, Sophia Bush left Chicago P.D. on her own accord but later said that she experienced abuse in the workplace, which was the catalyst for her decision to leave. “I quit because, what I’ve learned is I’ve been so programmed to be a good girl and to be a work horse and be a tugboat that I have always prioritized tugging the ship for the crew, for the show, for the group, ahead of my own health. The reality was that my body was, like, falling apart, because I was really, really unhappy,” she said on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast in December 2018. She then talked in-depth about the abuse she experienced on set. “When someone assaults you in a roomful of people, and everyone literally looks away… and you’re the one woman in the room, and every man who’s twice your size doesn’t do something, you go, ‘Oh, that wasn’t worth defending? I’m not worth defending?’” she added.
Her costar, Jason Beghe, was investigated for “inappropriate behavior” and sexual harassment by NBC and Wolf Entertainment in 2016. The actor faced several complaints from members of the cast and crew, according to Deadline. “When it was brought to our attention that there were concerns about inappropriate behavior on set, we promptly began an investigation in partnership with Human Resources and all parties involved,” said the network, Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment, in a statement to Deadline. “As a result of the investigation, we have already taken action, and it is a situation we continue to monitor very closely to ensure all of our employees feel safe and supported.”
Sean Roman (Brian Geraghty) – Seasons 1 – 3
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In Season 3, another shocking Chicago P.D. exit was that of Brian Geraghty, who portrayed Sean Roman – Burgess’ partner. Before the Season 3 finale, Roman was shot and was left seriously injured. He had two choices: be transferred to less active duty or leave the police force with three-quarters pay. In the finale, he decided to leave the police force for good and move from Chicago to San Diego. TV Line reported in May 2016 that Geraghty would not be returning to Season 4 of Chicago P.D. as a series regular. It turns out that Geraghty signed a year-to-year contract, rather than a seven-year contract. “When we wanted to do this Roman character, [executive producer] Dick [Wolf] in particular really wanted Brian Geraghty” for the role, Matt Olmstead, the executive producer, explained. “[Geraghty] had a lot of choices, and we courted him and pitched him what the show could be, and we were crossing our fingers that we’d get him. He is the most level-headed, decent human being you’re going to encounter, and he’s upfront. He was like, ‘I don’t know if I can commit to a seven-year contract. This sounds great, but I’ve got to take it year by year,’ which Dick doesn’t do very often. But the deal was made.”
So, when Olmstead checked in with Geraghty at the midseason point this year, the actor expressed his desire to pursue other projects. The year prior, he was an executive producer on the 2015 film The Stanford Prison Experiment. “He’s also a producer and wants to get stuff off the ground that he’s been working on and wanted to give us a heads-up and include us in the conversation,” Olmstead said. “It was the most civil, level-headed, mutual fan-fest agreement and departure that I’ve ever been a part of, because he was just very decent about it.”
Sheldon Jin (Archie Kao) – Season 1
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The first main character to leave Chicago P.D. was Archie Kao in Season 1, when his character, police detective Sheldon Jin, was murdered. In a July 2014 interview with TV Guide, showrunner Matt Olmstead that he wanted the death to shake everybody up. The showrunner also revealed that neither Archie nor the creators of the show knew that Jin was going to die until they realized his death couldn’t be avoided. “[Archie] didn’t know nor did we. It’s one of those things where the story told was headed in that direction in terms of needing to have a cliff-hanger and a big impact of a season finale and also just show the ramifications of that police work and that unit and street level and no one’s guaranteed anything,” Olmstead explained. “It started to kind of gain momentum; like this character can’t survive this.”
Jesse Lee Soffer also commented on the tragic ending for Kao’s character on Chicago P.D. “It was intense. We were very close. We knew right away we were going to miss Archie a lot,” he said. “That’s a hard blow to take, but it made the finale really intense and kind of amazing.”
Chicago P.D. airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
