Jesse Lee Soffer has landed a series regular role on the fourth season of the CBS drama FBI: International. It comes over a year after the actor announced his departure from Chicago P.D. after eight years.
But while both shows come from Wolf Entertainment, Jesse will not be reprising his role as Detective Jay Halstead in the One Chicago show, according to Deadline. The show had left the door open for Jesse when his character relocated to Bolivia with the Army for eight months.
Instead, Jesse has replaced Luke Kleintank, who portrayed Scott Forrester in FBI: International since its very first episode and left the show toward the end of season three.
Jesse will play a new character in the procedural drama, although further details about his role have yet to be released.
Sharing the news on social media, Jesse penned: "Cats out of the bag. Very excited to join the @FBICBS team! Big thanks to @CBSTV, Matt Olmstead, and Wolf Entertainment. Let’s goooooo!"
Fans were quick to congratulate the star on his exciting news, with one person writing: "Congratulations @jesseleesoffer!!" while another added: "Congrats, on your new role! Can't wait to see you in action. You're going to be amazing!"
Others shared their sadness over Jesse's Chicago P.D. departure, with one person writing: "Congratulations! But sad to see the end of Jay and Haley," while another encouraged him to return to the show: "Miss you on Chicago PD but good luck on your new adventure!"
Back in 2023, Jesse opened up about the reason behind his departure: "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," he told Variety.
"I would have turned 40 on the show. I thought, 'You know what? It's time to take a risk.' Eventually, you know the character so well, there's not much that can shift or transform," he continued.
Since Jesse's exit, his on-screen love interest Tracy Spiridakos, aka Hailey Upton, has also left the show. "I decided at the end of my sixth season, which is when I had reached out to Gwen and to everyone at Wolf to let them know that I just wanted to do one more year," the actress told Variety ahead of the season 11 finale. "I wanted us to send out the character with one last season.
"It was a hard decision — very, very hard. I love everybody on the show — cast, crew, producers, writers, everybody. It's such an incredible team. I was just curious what was out there for me and wanted to switch it up, and that was it."
Now that Tracy has left, Jesse's return to Chicago P.D. seems even more unlikely. Plus, he'll have a busy schedule now that he's signed onto FBI: International, which is filmed in Europe.