'Chicago P.D.' Star Jesse Lee Soffer Writes Message to Halstead Fans Amid His Series Exit
Jesse Lee Soffer is thanking fans for their continued support amid his exit from Chicago P.D. During Wednesday night's new episode, "A Good Man," (spoiler alert!), Soffer's onscreen counterpart Det. Jay Halstead turned in his badge and resigned, instead taking up a new position within the Army, and as fans bid farewell to the beloved character, Soffer took a moment to send a sweet message to viewers.
Just moments after the episode closed with Halstead at the airport heading towards his gate, leaving the Chicago Police Department and America in his rearview, at least for the time being, Soffer took to Twitter to pen a message of gratitude. Including a red heart emoji, the actor wrote, "for anyone that's ever been a Halstead fan, I just want you to know that I'm grateful." He went on to add, "thank you for going on this journey with me. I'm just grateful." Before "A Good Man" bid farewell to Halstead, Soffer reflected on his time with the One Chicago universe on Instagram, where he shared a gallery of images from the episode, writing, "I left it all out there for this one," adding in a late September post, "10 years in a blink. I couldn't be more proud."
Soffer's exit marked a major departure for the One Chicago universe. While Chicago P.D. has only been airing since 2014, the actor has portrayed Halstead since 2013, when he joined Chicago Fire in the role in the show's second season. He joined Chicago P.D. when the spinoff series was announced and appeared in all episodes of the police procedural drama up until his exit, which Soffer first announced back in August ahead of Chicago P.D.'s Season 10 premiere.
"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 at the time. "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."
Amid his exit, those connected to the show have paid tribute to Soffer and his tenure as Halstead. The One Chicago Twitter account shared a video message from Soffer's TV brother, Chicago Med's Will Halstead, portrayed by Nick Gehlfuss, who said, "Do you remember when you welcomed me into this whole franchise? I will never forget that you were so kind, patient, and really helpful." Gehlfuss went on to recall how "it was daunting at the time to me and you made it a lot easier, and from then on we developed this wonderful relationship that we have beyond all of this, but I'm really going to miss you, man." Marina Squerciati, who appears on Chicago P.D. as Kim Burgess, also marked the occasion, tweeting, "Jesse, I love you, dude. I cried a lot IRL so you know it's not fake social media stuff. SO MANY TEARS." While Soffer's exit left room for his return, it is unclear if there are any plans for the actor to reprise his One Chicago role in the future.