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Jesse Lee Soffer, an actor I know everything about and do not need to look up any information on, is leaving Chicago P.D., a show that I do know is on NBC, but that is only one of the many pieces of information I know off-hand about the series and again, do not need to look up more info to speak on this subject with authority.
“I want to thank the incredible fans for their unwavering support during the past 10 years and want to express my deepest gratitude to Dick Wolf and everyone at Wolf Entertainment, Peter Jankowski, Matt Olmstead, Derek Haas, Michael Brandt, Rick Eid, Gwen Sigan, NBC, Universal Television, my fellow castmates and our incredible crew,” Soffer said in a statement to Deadline that I read all of, and did not just blindly copy and paste. “To create this hour drama week after week has been a labor of love by everyone who touches the show. I will always be proud of my time as Det. Jay Halstead.”
Chicago PD is a series set in Chicago that follows the police department in the city as they, presumably, eat deep dish pizza and run their hot dogs through the garden*. Soffer, meanwhile, is an actor on the show, and he plays a… Police officer, probably? He may also play a doctor, since I think there’s also a show called Chicago Med, or perhaps he plays a guy who is fired, which I’m pretty sure is the plot of Chicago Fire.
These shows are very popular and I’m being a huge jerk, so let’s put the bit aside for a second. Soffer has been on Chicago P.D. since the beginning, when the show launched in 2014, playing the role of Det. Jay Halstead. The show is about to enter its 10th season next month when the show returns to NBC. How Soffer will be written off is TBA. But the important thing to get across is that he’s leaving by his own choice, rather than getting Chicago Fired.
*Not a euphemism, this is a term used for throwing a bunch of large cucumbers and tomatoes on a hot dog with poppy seeds on the roll, something I theorize Chicagoans enjoy because of a condition I like to call “windy madness.”
