Chicago P.D. is back! Here's a look at the cast of the NBC hit, then and now

Jason Beghe (Sergeant Henry "Hank" Voight)

Chicago P.D. ended up supercharging actor Jason Beghe’s career. Before being cast in Chicago Fire as Sergeant Hank Voight in 2012, he was known for starring in George Romero’s Monkey Shines (1988) and making relatively small appearances on the big screen (G.I. Jane and Thelma & Louise) and on the small screen (Picket Fences and Melrose Place).

Fortunately for Beghe, his character on Chicago Fire was popular enough to continue into Chicago P.D. in 2014, and he made multiple appearances as Sergeant Voight on Chicago Justice, Chicago Med, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. 

Unlike some of his early Chicago P.D. costars, Beghe continues to act in this long-running series. Accordingly, he has acted in very few live-action productions in recent years, though he did voice-acting work in Superman: Unbound (2013) and Bojack Horseman (2015). 

In 2017, NBC reportedly launched an investigation into Beghe’s alleged inappropriate behavior on set after costar Sophia Bush filed complaints. 

On the personal front, Beghe married Angie Janu in 2000, but after having two children, they divorced in 2020. He’s also been a vocal critic of the Church of Scientology, having been a member from 1994 to 2007. He’s since spoken about his experience and the dangers of the organization in interviews and documentaries, including Alex Gibney’s Going Clear (2015).

Jon Seda (Senior Detective Antonio Dawson)

Jon Seda is someone who had to fight to get into Hollywood… literally. He used his amateur boxing skills to land a premiere role in Gladiator (1992) followed by Selena (1997) opposite Jennifer Lopez and a turn in Steven Spielberg’s miniseries The Pacific (2010). Thanks to his subsequent TV role as Detective Paul Falsone in Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order (1997–1999), he gained the experience (not to mention face time with Dick Wolf) that would help him shine on Chicago Fire and later Chicago P.D. as Antonio Dawson.  

Chicago P.D. made Seda a major television star who soon headlined the short-lived spinoff Chicago Justice (2017) before returning to P.D. and Fire.

Upon leaving Chicago P.D. after season 6 in 2019, Seda joined the main cast of NBC’s science-fiction drama La Brea. This has kept him fairly busy on screen, but it sounds like his hands are full offscreen as well; Seda married Lisa Gomez in 2000, and when he isn’t starring in projects like the upcoming shark film Into the Deep, he’s helping to raise their four children.

Sophia Bush (Detective Erin Lindsay)

Sophia Bush was already a big name coming into Chicago Fire. She had previously starred as Brooke Davis in One Tree Hill (2003–2012) and made a splash in movies like John Tucker Must Die (2006) and The Hitcher (2007). 

Soon enough, she landed the role of Detective Erin Lindsay on Chicago Fire in 2013 and later Chicago P.D. in 2014. Her character soon appeared in Chicago Justice, Chicago Med, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She might have continued in this role for much longer, but her unhappiness with the show ultimately led to her departure.

As Bush told Refinery 29 in 2017, “the overarching theme for me was that I landed my dream job…And aspects of it, don’t get me wrong, were wonderful. But … I knew by the end of the second season I couldn’t do that job anymore.” Nonetheless, she stuck it out a couple more years, but after season 4 of Chicago P.D., she exited the franchise altogether in 2017.

Since leaving the show, Bush has kept busy. She appeared in movies like Acts of Violence (2018) and The Incredibles 2 (2018) in addition to several TV shows such as Love, Victor and Good Sam, the latter of which she also produces. Meanwhile, One Tree Hill fans have been enjoying her Drama Queens rewatch podcast with Hilarie Burton Morgan and Bethany Joy Lenz.

Speaking of her old show, Bush was briefly married to her one-time costar, Chad Michael Murray, from 2005 to 2006. She later dated her Chicago P.D. castmate Jesse Lee Soffer between 2014 and 2016 before marrying businessman Grant Hughes in 2022, but the two separated in 2023. She is currently romantically linked with soccer player Ashlyn Harris.

Jesse Lee Soffer (Senior Detective Jay Halstead)

Jesse Lee Soffer used to be best known for the soap opera As the World Turns, playing Will Munson for approximately 500 episodes. As fortune would have it, he ended up playing another extensive TV role upon joining the world of Dick Wolf’s police procedurals.

Soffer began starring as Detective Jay Halstead on Chicago Fire in 2013, and he ended up in several different branches of this franchise. In addition to becoming a main character on Chicago P.D. in 2014, he also carried the role into episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Chicago Med. 

The actor was a mainstay in the series, portraying a relatable and imperfect character for nearly a decade. As Soffer told Variety in 2023, Detective Halstead is “deeply flawed, because everybody on Chicago P.D. is. But he’s definitely a good person, with really good motives.” 

Soffer left the Chicago franchise in 2023, but not before directing the season 10 episode “Deadlocked.” 

During his tenure on the series, Soffer dated costar Sophia Bush from 2014 to 2016 and Chicago Med actress Torrey DeVitto from 2018 to 2019.

Patrick John Flueger (Officer Adam Ruzek)

After making his cinematic debut in The Princess Diaries (2001), Patrick John Flueger appeared in several police procedural shows such as CSI: Miami and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit before leading The 4400 (2004–2007). In 2014, he took on his biggest role to date as Adam Ruzek on Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., both of which he continues to star in today.  

Despite starring in this long-running series for years, the actor says that some storylines still catch him off-guard. Speaking to Us Weekly in 2023 after the 200th episode, Flueger remarked, “99.9 percent of the time that I catch an episode that wasn’t filmed yesterday, I’m like, ‘What? That’s surprising…’ I remember what happened after that day of work more than I remember the day of work. Like, ‘Oh, I remember that. That’s where we went that weekend, and we got the party bus to wherever.’ That’s kind of how I measure time — less moments of work and more moments of tremendous fun.”

While mostly focusing on Chicago P.D., Flueger still found the time to have “tremendous fun” on other projects as well, such as the reboot series 4400 (2022).

LaRoyce Hawkins (Officer Kevin Atwater)

Before coming to Chicago P.D. in 2014, LaRoyce Hawkins had a few credits under his belt, including the film The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008) and a couple of television shows. But Hawkins’ role as Officer Kevin Atwater has made up the bulk of his career, extending into Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice.

As the only Black actor in Chicago P.D.’s main cast, his character carried extra significance in recent years as the wider culture reexamined cop shows. “I knew it was important for us to do a few things, and one of them was to uplift the image of the Black man and allow our audience to reimagine policing as we understand it,” Hawkins told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2021. “I knew that change is something that the world needs. Change was a theme of episodes my character was going through.”

While Hawkins is still active on Chicago P.D., he’s also landed a recurring role on the sitcom South Side (2019–present). 

Hawkins has one son, Roman, who was born in 2017.

Marina Squerciati (Officer Kim Burgess)

Before coming to the Chicago universe, Marina Squerciati made small appearances on shows like Damages and Blue Bloods in addition to a recurring role on Gossip Girl (2011–2012) and a gig on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The latter was likely great practice for the actor because it wasn’t long before she went all-in on another Dick Wolf franchise.

Squerciati currently plays Officer Kim Burgess on Chicago P.D. and many of the franchise’s other series, including Chicago Fire and Chicago Med. She also guest-starred in an episode of Chicago Justice in 2017. Despite appreciating the shows that made her famous, the actor has also acknowledged the dangers of copaganda.

In a 2021 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Squerciati voiced support for Black cast member LaRoyce Hawkins’ call for a more realistic portrayal of police work and how it impacts communities. “I think that you can’t start a cop show — a Chicago cop show in a post-George Floyd world — without acknowledging it," she said. "I feel like that would be socially irresponsible. Now, I don’t think the show does everything perfectly because it’s a television show, but I think addressing reform is really important.”

Though she mostly keeps busy playing Officer Burgess, Squerciati occasionally branches out, like when she wrote and acted for the brief series Special Skills (2017). 

Squerciati shares one child with her husband, Eli Kay-Oliphant.

Archie Kao (Detective Sheldon Jin)

Archie Kao was an experienced actor coming into Chicago P.D. Previously, he had impressed young audiences with his role in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy (1999), followed by a longtime role as Archie Johnson in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2001–2012). Time on that police procedural paid off, with Kao starring in Chicago P.D. as Detective Sheldon Jin in 2014.

Sadly, he didn’t appear in future seasons or spinoffs because his character was shockingly killed in the season 1 finale. 

As Kao told the Asian-American podcast Why You No Doctor in 2017, running for vice president of the student body during college convinced him to aim for an acting career, and he now advises aspiring actors to take a similar chance. “I think you just need to be bold, because no matter what, the clock is ticking,” he said. “We only get so much time, so do it because all that other stuff will fade away, but it’s your life. Be bold.”

After leaving Chicago P.D., Kao continued to be bold in the main cast of My Dear Boy (2017) and the sorcery film Legend of the Ancient Sword (2017). He’ll soon star in the television show Interior Chinatown as well as the upcoming movie Captain Tsunami's Army.

Kao married actress Zhou Xun in 2014, though they later divorced in 2020.

Elias Koteas (Senior Detective Alvin Olinsky)

Elias Koteas was well-acquainted with the entertainment industry when he joined the Chicago franchise. Previously, he starred in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Crash (1996), The Thin Red Line (1998), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), and so much more. All of that work helped him play veteran undercover detective Alvin Olinsky on Chicago Fire from 2013 to 2017.

It didn’t take long for “Al” to become a main facet of Chicago P.D., with Koteas also appearing in the spinoffs Chicago Med and Chicago Justice. Sadly, his character was killed at the end of season 5.

Koteas has taken on various roles since leaving Chicago P.D. in 2018. On the big screen, he turned up in The Baker (2022) and Janet Planet (2023), and on the small screen, he’s taken on roles in Amazon Prime’s legal drama Goliath (2021) and Paramount+’s Guilty Party (2021), which has since been removed from the streamer.

Amy Morton (Sergeant Trudy Platt)

Amy Morton has established herself as a dynamic actor on screen and on stage. In addition to receiving Tony nominations for her roles in August: Osage County and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, she also gave killer performances in movies like Up in the Air (2009) and Bluebird (2013). By the time she joined the Chicago P.D. cast in 2014, she brought years of craft and creativity to her role as Sergeant Trudy Platt.

Over the years, Morton has also appeared in the spinoffs Chicago Med and Chicago Justice as well as the original show, Chicago Fire. Fortunately, Morton will continue to appear in Chicago P.D., so Sergeant Platt isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. She also impressed us with her turn in season 1 of The Bear (2022).

Brian Geraghty (Officer Sean Roman)

Before coming to Chicago P.D., Brian Geraghty had established himself as a movie star in films like Jarhead (2005), The Hurt Locker (2008), and Flight (2012). He was also a veteran television actor with recurring roles on shows like Boardwalk Empire (2013) and Ray Donovan (2014). All of this experience helped him deliver a solid performance as Officer Sean Roman on Chicago P.D. beginning in season 2.

Like many of his colleagues, Geraghty also appeared in Chicago Fire and Chicago Med. However, he left the franchise behind in 2020, and to hear him tell the story, he has no plans to return.

“I felt like I got some closure to [Officer Roman],” Geraghty told TV Line in 2020. “The show’s doing great, and there’s no need to bring another character back… I had such a great relationship with the show in general, but also [executive producer] Dick [Wolf]. I certainly am open to it. But I don’t think anybody’s trying to just fill some void.”

Since leaving Chicago P.D., Geraghty has been a fixture in series like The Fugitive and Big Sky as well as the prestigious miniseries 1923. On the big screen, you may have spotted him in the Ted Bundy movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019), and he’ll soon star opposite Orlando Bloom in Red Right Hand.

Tracy Spiridakos (Detective Hailey Upton Halstead)

Tracy Spiridakos came to Chicago P.D. in season 4, arriving with an impressive resume. She made a splash on the children’s show Majority Rules (2009–2010) before proving herself as a serious actor in the post-apocalyptic drama Revolution (2012–2014). After leaving a major impression on Bates Motel (2015), she joined Chicago P.D. as Detective Hailey Upton in 2017.

Once Spiridakos was part of this show, she fully embraced the police procedural life. In addition to starring in Chicago P.D., she has also appeared in Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and FBI. 

According to the actress, playing Detective Upton is a labor of love. “She’s a really well-rounded character,” Spiridakos told Chicago-based magazine Michigan Avenue in 2022. “She’s a strong woman yet also vulnerable; she’s not just one thing. She’s not just tough and badass without anything else… When I read the script, I never really know what’s going to happen with her and what direction she’s going to go. That’s been very fun for me to play.”

While Spiridakos is leaving Chicago P.D. after season 11, she’s currently working on the film Byrd and the Bees.