Jesse Lee Soffer has opened up about the reason why he left the drama series, “Chicago P.D.,” after playing Jay Halstead for eight years.
Even though the 38-year-old actor had announced in August he will exit the show, he hadn’t shared the reason then.
After almost six months, Soffer admitted the reason behind leaving the show was that his character had no chance of growing further.
“I’ve thought so hard about how to answer this question — and there’s no good answer,” Soffer told Variety on Wednesday. “Except I was ready for more. Eventually, you know the character so well, there’s not much that can shift or transform.”
The actor explained he really “wanted to grow and expand” and if he renewed his contract again, he would’ve been playing the same character for another three years.
“I really wanted to grow and expand, and we’ve only got this one trip,” he said. “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.”
Soffer was asked during the interview if he will ever return to the show and the actor teased, “Never say never.”
He added, “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.”
Hailey Upton (played by actress Tracy Spiridakos) is Jay’s love interest on the show.
The actor further shared that after playing Jay’s character for so many years, he feels there will always be an attachment to the character, noting Jay will “always going to be in my blood. That’s never going to change.”
Soffer first appeared on the show in 2014 and his last episode of Season 10 was aired on Oct. 5, last year. The next season of “Chicago P.D.” will air on March 1.
The success of the show has also led to two spin-offs: “Chicago Med” and “Chicago Justice.”
NBC
