It seems Chicago Fire isn’t facing as many cast exits as it previously seemed.
Having been on the air for ten years, it has gone through its fair share of changes, and for a period in 2023, it made due without one of its lead stars, Taylor Kinney, who took a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter, and made his return after over a year away in January 2024.
Now heading into its 14th season, fans who were already prepared for it to arrive without two of its recurring actors, Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett, are in for a welcome surprise.
© InstagramThough Daniel’s exit from the show had been previously confirmed, this week, he revealed that he was back on set as Darren Ritter, even if only for a limited time.
Per TVLine, the actor took to his Instagram Stories and shared a selfie on set, featuring Jocelyn Hudon and Hanako Greensmith.
“Back! For a limited time only,” he wrote, and later reposted more stories from fellow cast members.
© InstagramDaniel’s character was not formally written out of Chicago Fire in season 13 — he reportedly left over budget cuts — leaving the door open for a return, even if just to close out his story arch, and back in May, showrunner Andrea Newman told TVLine that they didn’t have a set plan for addressing his departure, but that there were “lots of possibilities there.”
“We’re going to play with all this and see what we get and how much time we get with Daniel, who we love, and the character, who we love,” she added.
© GettyOne cast member that is seemingly sticking to his exit however is Jake, who starred as Sam Carver.
“While I don’t exactly know what the future looks like, I do know that it won’t be exactly what it was and I am going to miss the hell out of that,” he wrote on Instagram confirming his exit. “It’s been an honor bringing Sam to life and to every one of you, thank you for the love and support over the past three years.”
© GettyAnd though there have been cast exits, there have been cast additions too. HELLO! confirmed last month that Brandon Larracuente — who previously starred in another Wolf Entertainment show, On Call, prior to its cancellation — has joined Chicago Fire as a key member of Firehouse 51 for the upcoming 14th season.
The three One Chicago shows all premiere on Wednesday, October 1, about a week later than usual. Chicago Med premieres season 11 at 8pm, followed by Chicago Fire season 14 at 9pm, and Chicago PD season 13 at 10pm.
