For Chicago Fire fans who are invested in the show’s characters, it is only natural for them to also care about the actors who portray them. As a result, it can be heartbreaking when a Chicago Fire fan learns that actors they care about are leaving the show. That makes it very sad that Chicago Fire fans have recently learned that another one of the show’s actors is leaving.
Michael Bradway Is Leaving Chicago Fire
In the modern media landscape, it has become a lot more common for shows to continue after their main characters leave. Unfortunately for fans of the One Chicago TV franchise, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med have all lost a lot of actors over the years. Even though many Chicago Fire actors have come and gone, it doesn’t make it sting any less when a beloved character departs.
Unfortunately for Chicago Fire fans, they have recently gotten a lot of bad news in terms of actors departing the show. Most recently, Chicago Fire fans learned that Michael Bradway won’t be starring in Season 14 of the show.
In July 2025, E! News published an article that reported on Michael’s Chicago Fire departure.
That article revealed that Michael was leaving Chicago Fire for reasons outside the control of the show’s producers and writing team.
According to E! News’ report, Michael is leaving Chicago Fire solely because of a scheduling conflict.
Based on his IMDb page, Chicago Fire was Michael Bradway’s first notable acting role. Prior to landing his role on the show, Michael’s only other credits were in a handful of short films. Michael also appeared in a 2025 movie titled Marked Men, but the film was released after his first episode of Chicago Fire aired.
In fact, E! News reported that Chicago Fire’s producers hoped that Michael could return to the show in the future if his schedule frees up.
Instead of returning to his Chicago Fire role, Michael will be starring in a high-profile new series for Amazon. In July 2025, People announced that Michael would be part of the cast for a TV series adaptation of the novel “Every Year After.” In the upcoming show, Michael will be portraying a character named Charlie.
Michael celebrated the casting news with a July 17th, 2025 post on his Instagram account. Alongside a screengrab of a Deadline article revealing his casting, Charlie included the following caption.
“Couldn’t be more excited to be your Charlie 🚤”
Before moving on to star in the TV show adaptation of “Every Year After,” Michael appeared in 17 episodes of Chicago Fire as a character named Jack Damon.
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| Chicago Fire’s Best Characters, According to Screen Rant | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Fire Character | Actor | Rank |
| Darren Ritter | Daniel Kyri | #10 |
| Stella Kidd | Miranda Rae Mayo | #9 |
| Joe Cruz | Joe Minoso | #8 |
| Sylvie Brett | Kara Killmer | #7 |
| Kelly Severide | Taylor Kinney | #6 |
| Matt Casey | Jesse Spencer | #5 |
| Wallace Boden | Eamonn Walker | #4 |
| Brian “Otis” Zvonecek | Yuri Sardarov | #3 |
| Christopher Herrmann | David Eigenberg | #2 |
| Leslie Shay | Lauren German | #1 |
Michael’s Chicago Fire character is the half-brother of one of the most important characters in the show’s history, Taylor Kinney’s Kelly Severide.
Chicago Fire Has Recently Lost Two Other Actors
According to Deadline, one of the ways that the budgets were going to be reduced was by having actors appear in fewer episodes during the season.
Unfortunately for the One Chicago shows’ stars, some of them wouldn’t be that lucky. Instead, it would be revealed that some One Chicago actors would be leaving their shows outright.
On top of Chicago P.D. making cuts to its cast, an April 2025 Deadline article revealed that two Chicago Fire actors were departing.
Unlike Michael Bradway who’d joined the cast relatively recently, one of the departing Chicago Fire had been a part of the show’s cast for several years before his exit.
After having a recurring role during Chicago Fire’s 11th and 12th seasons, Jake Lockett was promoted to the main cast for Season 13. Unfortunately for him, that promotion wasn’t to last and Jake Lockett left Chicago Fire after starring in the show for only one season.
