TV SHOWS
Tracy Spiridakos Leaving ‘Chicago PD’ After Season 11
Tracy Spiridakos/Instagram
Tracy Spiridakos is the latest “Chicago P.D.” officer to leave the Intelligence Unit.
Variety was the first to report the actress is leaving her role as main character Hailey Upton after season 11 of “Chicago P.D.” comes to an end. Spiridakos, 35, made her debut as Upton during the show’s fourth season in 2017.
The show’s 11th season has been delayed by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Hollywood writers ended their strike and were able to return to work last month, but the actors’ strike is still ongoing.
Spiridakos’ departure from the show follows that of Jesse Lee Soffer last season. Soffer was on the show for 10 seasons, and played Spiridakos’ on-screen husband, Detective Jay Halstead, who left Upton behind to join the U.S. Army on assignment in Bolivia.
While Spiridakos has not yet publicly addressed her own departure, she shared a heartfelt message when Soffer left the show.
“Jesse, what can I say, you’re the absolute best,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Thank you for your kindness, your guidance and your friendship. You’re the greatest onscreen husband a girl could ask for. I’ll miss being on set with you every day. I can’t wait to see what the world has in store for you next.”
Soffer, 39, said “there’s no good answer” as to why he decided to leave the show. “I was ready for more,” the actor told Variety in February. He has since returned to the Chicago P.D. set, however, to direct the season 10 episode titled “Deadlocked.”
Tracy Spiridakos/Instagram
“This was the perfect episode for me to direct,” he told Deadline at the time. “I love this episode because it was like a throwback episode to old-school P.D. with Voight [Jason Beghe] going off the rails, Man on Fire kind of stuff, vigilante stuff and living in the gray area off the books. That’s the story we’ve been telling, especially the foil between Halstead and Voight, for so long — it’s something I really know deeply. So to get to do that kind of story with Jason was really fun.”
LaRoyce Hawkins, who plays Kevin Atwater on “Chicago P.D.”, praised his former costar’s directorial debut.
“That was amazing. Jesse’s such a talented guy. And he’s been doing this for so long,” Hawkins told Us Weekly exclusively in June. “His eye is very well seasoned when it comes to just pictures and frames.”
With Upton now leaving the series, there is a possibility Soffer could return to help wrap up their storyline. Soffer previously told Variety that the door on playing Jay was “definitely not” completely closed.
“Never say never,” he said. “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.”
TMX contributed to this article.
