Jesse Lee Soffer is opening up about his Chicago P.D. exit.
The 38-year-old star appeared on 189 episodes of the show. He departed the series last year in the third episode of Season 10, but had not publicly spoken in depth about his decision – until now.
Speaking to Variety, he said of why he left:
“I’ve thought so hard about how to answer this question – and there’s no good answer. Except I was ready for more.
Eventually, you know the character so well, there’s not much that can shift or transform.”
He went on to explain:
“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.”
As for his future on the show, here’s what he had to say on whether the door is closed:
“Definitely not. 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?’
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.”
