Chicago P.D. vet Jesse Lee Soffer is returning to the Dick Wolf TV universe as a series regular for Season 4 of CBS‘ FBI: International, TVLine has learned.
Soffer thus fills the void created late last season by the exit of original FBI: International cast member Luke Kleintank, who since Season 1 had played Supervisory Special Agent Scott Forrester.
The “twist” is that although NBC’s #OneChicago and CBS’ #TheFBIs share a universe — P.D.‘s Tracy Spiridakos crossed Hailey Upton over to the FBI mothership in October 2020 — Soffer will not be reprising his role as former Intelligence Unit member Jay Halstead on FBI: International; instead, TVLine hears he will be playing a new, yet-to-be-named character.
Soffer exited Dick Wolf’s Chicago P.D. in October 2022, a few episodes into Season 10, after playing Halstead since the show’s launch in 2014. (He returned later that season to make his directorial debut.)
On-screen, Halstead left for Bolivia, where he has been leading a military unit tracking the most dangerous cartel targets. Coincidentally, Halstead in abruptly leaving the Intelligence Unit “ghosted” the aforementioned Hailey, his new wife.
Soffer confirmed at the time that he left P.D. of his own volition, saying, “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. I would have turned 40 on the show. I thought, ‘You know what? It’s time to take a risk.’”
“It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my life,” he added.
Soffer’s FBI: International predecessor, Kleintank, announced his “difficult decision” to exit the Budapest-based procedural in April, saying, “[It] is driven by my unwavering commitment to my family, whose love and well-being are paramount in my life.”
Kleintank’s character went AWOL in last season’s penultimate episode, after which the finale revealed that Scott had synched up with his spy-crafty fugitive mom, Angela Cassidy, and they are now on the run.
In addition to his Chicago P.D. run, Soffer’s previous TV credits includes crossovers with Med and Fire as well as Law & Order: SVU, Fox’s The Mob Doctor and the CBS sudser As the World Turns, where he played Will Munson.
FBI: International Season 4 will premiere this fall (exact date TBA), airing Tuesdays at 9/8c. The cast also includes Carter Redwood, Vinessa Vidotto, Christina Wolfe and Eva-Jane Willis.
