‘Chicago Fire’ Losing Original Cast Member

The 15^th season of NBC’s hit drama Chicago Fire is going to look quite different than the previous 14 seasons.

Actor Joe Minoso, who plays the character of Joe Cruz, is exiting Firehouse 51 during the show’s upcoming season. Minoso has been a series regular since appearing in the series’ pilot episode in fall 2012. Minoso was considered a recurring character in the opening season and a main cast member ever since.

According to Deadline, Minoso will appear in a handful of episodes in season 15 before closing his character arc and leaving the show. Along with David Eigenberg, Christian Stolte, and Taylor Kinney, Minoso is one of only four remaining original cast members on Chicago Fire.

No reason has been publicly provided as to why Minoso is leaving the show, but the long-running series did add BMF’s star, Da’Vinchi, to the cast as a firefighter head of the upcoming season. 

Season 15 is highly anticipated among the show’s fans after last season’s finale ended on a cliffhanger. Viewers heard an explosion and firefighters from Firehouse 51 rushed into a burning storage facility with little to no visibility, leaving viewers to wonder who, if any of the firefighters, made it out of the blaze alive. Prior to the massive fire that ended the season, Minoso’s character, Cruz, finds out that he and his wife are expecting twins.

In addition to being cast in Chicago Fire, Minoso, 47, has had several film and TV roles including appearances in 2013’s Man of Steel, Prison Break, Shameless, and Get Shorty. He’s also reprised his role of Joe Cruz in Chicago Fire spinoffs, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med.

He married Caitlin Murphy Miles, a makeup artist working on Chicago Fire, in October 2016.

To date, Chicago Fire has aired 294 episodes. The 15^thseason is scheduled to premiere on October 7. New episodes air on NBC with Peacock streaming episodes the next day.