Network television's biggest scripted shows may be in the midst of their summer hiatuses, but FBI: International has some big casting news on the heels of former leading man Luke Kleintank's departure in late Season 3. Jesse Lee Soffer, best known for nearly ten years as Chicago P.D.'s Jay Halstead, is returning to the nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe... but not to play his familiar character. Read on for how he's coming to the FBIs and how Halstead actually already has a connection to the CBS branch of the Wolf world.
Jesse Lee Soffer Joins FBI: International
Despite FBI: International seemingly setting former Chicago Med star Colin Donnell up for a potential ongoing role, an alum from a different corner of the One Chicago world is on the way. Deadline reports that Jesse Lee Soffer has joined International as a series regular for the upcoming Season 4, set to arrive in the fall of the 2024 TV schedule.
He's set to fill the vacancy left by Luke Kleintank's Scott Forrester, which presumably means he'll be the new leader of the Fly Team, although his character has not been announced just yet. He officially will not be reprising his role as Jay Halstead, making Soffer the latest Wolf Entertainment alum to join the FBIs after previously starring in one of the NBC series.
In confirming the news on Instagram, Soffer didn't drop any details about his new character, but did share that he's "very excited to join the [FBI CBS] team!" In an interesting twist, joining International will reunite Soffer with Matt Olmstead, who co-created Chicago P.D. and previously served as showrunner. Olmstead joined International as showrunner ahead of Season 3.
How Halstead Already Exists In The FBI World
The nine shows of Dick Wolf's TV universe are the three of One Chicago on NBC, the three of Law & Order on NBC and Peacock, and the three FBIs on CBS. In an unlikely twist back in 2020, NBC and CBS officially connected their branches of the franchise when Chicago P.D.'s Tracy Spiridakos crossed over to FBI as Detective Hailey Upton for what was originally planned as a multi-episode arc prior to COVID shutdowns. (You can find the Season 2 finale of FBI featuring Spiridakos streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.)
Upton's arrival automatically meant that all the characters of One Chicago and all the characters of the Law & Order series officially exist in the world of the FBIs, albeit somewhat tangentially. Halstead's tie is a little closer than any of the other characters aside from Upton, however.
While Jesse Lee Soffer didn't appear in Tracy Spiridakos' episode of FBI, Upton did call up her partner from 26 Fed at the start of the next Chicago P.D. episode for a bit of Upstead banter about pizza. (Those were the days, right?) So, even though Halstead hasn't appeared on any of the FBIs, he was talking to Upton while she was working with Zeeko Zaki's OA and Co. in New York.
If you ask me, that's about as close as any One Chicago character other than Upton comes to playing a part in any of the FBI shows.
Why It's Not A Big Deal
While I wished as much as any other Upstead fan that Halstead had appeared in Chicago P.D.'s Season 11 finale for Upton's exit, showrunner Gwen Sigan's explanation for why he wasn't included makes sense to me, and Halstead hadn't been seen in One Chicago since fall of 2022.
Like many, my knee-jerk reaction to the news that Jesse Lee Soffer was joining FBI: International was that it would be bizarre to see him in the Wolf TV universe as anybody other than Jay after playing the detective for more than 200 episodes. When I thought about it a bit more, however, I realized that it's really not that big of a deal, because Soffer certainly isn't the first to make this jump.
Both Alana de la Garza and Jeremy Sisto were series regulars on Law & Order before later joining FBI, Dylan McDermott went from playing a villain on Law & Order: Organized Crime in March 2022 to debuting as an agent on FBI: Most Wanted in April 2022, Edwin Hodge recurred on Chicago Fire before landing Most Wanted, and even Luke Kleintank appeared on Law & Order: SVU before starring on International. Throw in Chicago Med's Colin Donnell to end International Season 3, and there's plenty of actor crossover without character crossover.
So, even if it'll take some suspension of disbelief, it's not a huge deal that Jesse Lee Soffer will play a second role in the Wolf TV universe. At the very least, more time will have passed since his P.D. exit as Halstead and his International arrival than how Dylan McDermott left Law & Order: OC as a villain and then debuted on Most Wanted as a hero with just over a month in between.
Jesse Lee Soffer is set to make his FBI: International debut when the hit CBS drama returns in the fall. In the meantime, you can revisit the most recent season of International streaming with a Paramount+ subscription and all of Soffer's seasons of Chicago P.D. with a Peacock Premium subscription.
