Scott Eastwood left the franchise before his Officer Jim Barnes even had to appear on the police drama, only turning up in the two “Chicago Fire” episodes that served as a “Chicago P.D.” backdoor pilot. Similarly, Sophia Bush’s Erin Lindsay stepped away from “Chicago P.D.” in 2017 after repeated bad experiences while filming the show, while Jesse Lee Soffer’s Jay Halstead departed “Chicago P.D.” in 2022 to explore other roles.
Then, in 2024, another “Chicago P.D.” veteran left the series. After joining the show”s fourth season as Hailey Upton and becoming a franchise mainstay, Tracy Spiridakos chose to exit the show after “Chicago P.D.” season 11. In a 2024 interview with NBC Insider, the actor explained that the reason behind her departure was similar to Soffer’s, as she simply wished to look into other opportunities after so many seasons on the police drama:
“It was a really hard decision, and I don’t know that there’s ever a right time. I think I’ve been on the show for just over seven years, like seven and a half-ish years, and I was just wanting to switch it up and kind of see what else was out there. That was really it. I’m so close with everybody. With our producers, [EP/writer Gwen Sigan], our writers, our cast, our crew. It was a really difficult and emotional time, for sure.”
