‘Chicago P.D.’ Alum Jesse Lee Soffer Joins ‘FBI: International’ Season 4 — Will He Play Halstead Again?
Chicago P.D. alum Jesse Lee Soffer is joining FBI: International Season 4, set to premiere this Fall on CBS.
This comes after Luke Kleintank‘s recent exit from the NBC procedural, one that’s been known to crossover with Chicago P.D. Despite Tracy Spiridakos having played Hailey Upton on FBI in 2020, Soffer won’t be reprising his P.D. role as Jay Halstead, but will instead play a so-far unnamed new character, according to TVLine. TV Insider confirmed the casting with CBS.
Soffer played former Intelligence Unit member Halstead from Chicago P.D.‘s first season in 2014 through his Season 10 exit in 2022. Halstead and Upton, known to fans as “Upstead,” got married in the series but were revealed to be divorced in the Season 11 premiere. Soffer returned to P.D. in Season 11 not as an actor, but as a director for an episode — his directorial debut.
Soffer’s new FBI: International character can now fill the space left by Kleintank’s exit in the most recent season, Season 3. Kleintank played Scott Forrester in the CBS series. His final episode aired on May 7. Shortly after, Spiridakos officially left P.D. in the May 12 episode.
Soffer left P.D. to explore more career opportunities after eight years on the cop drama. “Eventually, you know the character so well, there’s not much that can shift or transform,” he told Variety of his exit in 2023.
He continued: “I really wanted to grow and expand, and we’ve only got this one trip. If I signed up again, it would have been for another three years. I would have turned 40 on the show. I thought, ‘You know what? It’s time to take a risk.’ It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my life. Let’s be honest: I love the fans of our show so much, and I love my fans. I know that they’re still grieving this, and to some degree, I am too.”
It seems he’s ready for his next on-screen adventure, one that’s in a similar vein to his last major role.
FBI: International, Season 4 Premiere, Fall 2024, CBS
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That's fantastic! Jesse Lee Soffer will make a great addition to the cast! I did think that Colin Donell was being set up to take over, based on the last two episodes of Season 3. Hopefully, Donell will make more appearances in Season 4.
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That works for me although I was kind of hoping that Colin Donell would be added to the cast. Funny thing is that they look alike😀
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Me too! But I really like Jesse Lee Soffer as well!
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I knew it wouldn't be Colin, because Brian was NSA, not FBI. Colin also does a lot of Hallmark movies on the regular Hallmark channel and Hallmark Mystery, so I figured Brian was just a recurring character for a very specific arc - Scott's exit.
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That would be a great addition to the show.
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Chicago P.D. fans are funny. lol They were actually still hoping he would return to Chicago P.D., even when it no longer made any sense. Hailey left and Jay/Hailey were divorced for no reason. Why would anyone think Jesse was returning to Chicago P.D. as Jay anytime soon?So excited! I was worried about who would replace Luke Kleintank and this is perfect casting. I don't know why certain tv journalists are making such a big deal out of this, acting like it's some major continuity problem because he's playing a new character. lol It's called suspension of disbelief. Plenty of actors have played multiple roles on Dick Wolf shows, and nobody made a big deal out of it. Why is it an issue all of a sudden? lol
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