CIA just got some great casting news, but good news for the CBS show may mean bad news for NBC’s Chicago Med. It was announced that CIA has cast Nick Gehlfuss to star opposite Tom Ellis as the FBI partner of Ellis’ CIA agent, Hart Hoxton. Michael Michele was also cast in a role that is speculated to be the chief of the New York department of the CIA.
It’s an exciting bit of casting. Nick Gehlfuss is a veteran network TV presence, so his addition to CIA is a big plus for that aspect alone. It will also simply be great to see Gehlfuss back on screen, period, as he hasn’t had a role since exiting Chicago Med a few years ago. Ironically, however, it’s his new role as co-lead of the CIA that might spoil his recently announced return to the One Chicago universe.
Nick Gehlfuss Landed The Co-Lead Role In Tom Ellis’ FBI Spinoff CIA
Ellis’ Hart Hoxton is described as a morally ambiguous CIA agent who can’t be trusted to follow the rules. It’s been reported for a while that he’d be partnered with an FBI agent who is described as a steady, veteran law enforcement agent, one who does things by the book and is a much more upright guy.
It will prove an interesting dynamic, as both Gehlfuss and Ellis are network TV veterans who can bring a lot of experience and charisma to their roles. CIA has been hard at work looking for the right guy to act as Ellis’ counterbalance in CIA, and CBS clearly found that in Gehlfuss. His grounded, steady presence will act as an interesting foil to Ellis, the white knight to Hart Hoxton’s moral shades of gray.
That experience means both actors should be able to step right into the roles and hit the ground running in terms of their on-screen chemistry, along with Michael Michele, who was also just cast in the third main role, reportedly as the chief of the CIA’s New York department. Unfortunately, Gehlfuss’ new leading role in CIA could have a negative impact on his return to his other major network role.
Gehlfuss’ New CIA Role Means He Likely Won’t Appear Much In Chicago Med Season 11
It was announced a few weeks ago that Nick Gehlfuss will make a grand return to the upcoming Chicago Med season 11, reprising the role of Dr. Will Halstead. Gehlfuss played Halstead in the One Chicago universe show for eight seasons, stepping away three years ago, so his return was an exciting proposition for fans.
It’s been confirmed that Gehlfuss will appear in a guest star capacity this season, but it still isn’t known how many episodes that will entail. The term “guest star” has become increasingly ambiguous over the years; for some actors, it may mean a one-off appearance, but for others, it can be something closer to a recurring role.
With Gehlfuss, it could honestly go either way. Will Halstead was a huge part of Chicago Med for so many years, so if he were to return to the medical drama for multiple episodes, it wouldn’t be a surprise. On the other hand, it would be equally as unsurprising if he were to simply pop in for a fun, nostalgic episode and leave it at that.
When Will Halstead was last seen at the end of season 8, he left the show by metaphorically riding off into the sunset. He got his happy ending, finally reconnecting with Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto). He decided to relocate to Seattle to build a life with Natalie and her young son, Owen, and left the show on that high note.
Since his departure, it’s been assumed that Will has been happy and thriving with his new family, so it’s not clear what story will bring him back to Chicago and Chicago Med. It likely wouldn’t be for his brother, detective Jay Halstead, as actor Jesse Lee Soffer exited Chicago P.D. in 2002.
Either way, the fact that Gehlfuss has now landed a proper lead role in one of network TV’s most anticipated upcoming series complicates his Chicago Med return. His role in CIA means it just got far less likely that his return to Chicago Med will be a lengthy one, and it definitely shuts down any possibility that it will be a test run for a permanent return, as some fans have speculated.
Gehlfuss Can Still Make Both CIA & Chicago Med Work
However, even if his return stint on Chicago Med may not be as long – or as permanent – as some audiences have hoped, that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost of seeing Gehlfuss’ guest star role be a substantial or impactful one. Chicago Med season 11 started filming in late July, meaning that a handful of episodes are already in the can.
Conversely, Tom Ellis revealed that CIA would start filming this month, September, and with the announcement of Gehlfuss’ and Michael Michele’s castings, it would appear the show is on schedule and will indeed begin filming within the next few weeks. That means that, by the time CIA begins production, Gehlfuss could still easily have completed work on half a dozen episodes of Chicago Med.
While a six-episode stint is possible, however, it’s unlikely. Instead, the likeliest reason that Gehlfuss is returning is for the 200th episode, which will officially be Chicago Med season 11, episode 2 – quite early in the season. Whether Gehlfuss returns for that episode alone, or for a multi-episode arc that will incorporate the events of that milestone is unclear, but it makes the most sense that he would return for the anniversary.
Either way, it means that the actor has already had enough time to wrap up his work and turn his focus to CIA without any scheduling conflicts. It gives audiences the best of both worlds. Fans of Chicago Med now get a proper return for Will Halstead while also seeing what Gehlfuss brings to the table in his new show.
