Jay Halstead played by Jesse Lee Soffer will not appear in Chicago P.D. after season 10 as the actor left the show for FBI: International to play one of the central characters in the upcoming episode - Wes Mitchell. The Chicago P.D. is about the personal and professional life of Patrol officers. In the previous episodes, Soffer's character Jay who is a Senior Detective and Army Ranger, resigns from the Chicago police department disillusioned with the toll his work takes on him.
In FBI: International he will be playing Wes Mitchell, the supervisor agent. After the last event between Csonka and Wes, which put Wes in a difficult position, the upcoming episodes are meant to center more around Wes. In season 4 onwards of the series, viewers will see him playing Wes Mitchell and leading the Fly Team.
Why did Jay leave Chicago P.D. for FBI: International?
Lee Soffer who played Halstead since season 1 of Chicago P.D. spoke to Variety in an interview that he wanted to provide something "More" as an actor and most likely he was ready for more. He further added that he knew the character so well that there wasn't much to transform.
“I’ve thought so hard about how to answer this question — and there’s no good answer. Except I was ready for more,” Soffer said when asked why he left Chicago P.D. “Eventually, you know the character so well, there’s not much that can shift or transform.”
He further added that Wes doesn't have much history but Jay Halstead had a rich character history and carried so much trauma. He described Wes as more carefree, who acts unaffected and is a much lighter character.
In an interview with TV Insider, he said that how Wes leading the Fly Team will lead to a change in the working style because Wes is different and does things in an unorthodox manner not by the books.
"There’s some fun relationship dynamics to play out because of their uncertainty of, how much trouble is this guy going to get us in? So that’s really fun in the first few episodes."
Lee Soffer also confessed that both the characters, Wes and Jay are cops and sometimes he might get his characters crossed and feel like it's the same as the previous character.
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"Well, they’re both cops, sort of. They’re very different in my mind. It’s tricky sometimes because cop thoughts are cop thoughts," the actor said, describing the similarities between the two. "So there’s scenarios where I find myself like, oh, that feels like the previous guy. And then I got to kind of readjust my brain," he added.
Soffer said that he is grateful for Halstead's journey in 10 seasons of Chicago P.D., which saw him marry Hailey Upton and become second in command to Sergeant Hank Voight. But it wasn't enough to stay again for one more season. He asserts that it's only one trip he has as an actor and he would like to expand, grow, and take some risks. He would not want to turn 40 in the same show.
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