Speculation about Hank Voight's (played by Jason Beghe) possible exit from Chicago PD surfaced online.
Beghe's hard-nosed Chicago police sergeant has appeared in all but two episodes of the NBC drama (also streaming on Peacock) since its beginning.
Hank has continued to play the de facto leader of the show's central police department for a decade, despite some of his in-universe colleagues coming and going over the years.
Are the 'Voight Leaving Chicago PD' Rumors True?
Several creatives involved in the making of Chicago PD addressed rumors of Jason Beghe's Hank Voight potentially leaving the series.
Speculation sprung up online saying the character would exit the NBC drama sometime during Season 11 (which wraps up on May 24).
Beghe addressed these reports head-on in a conversation with Us Weekly, telling the news outlet that changes are coming, but that is okay.
He called the series "an organism" and said that "when somebody leaves," it is "not going to be the same:"
"When somebody leaves, whether your child goes off to college or somebody dies or whatever it is, the whole thing has to adjust and it’s not going to be the same."
However, he said these things tend to "survive," and he thinks - while using the telling subject of 'we' - "we’ll survive this:"
"Sometimes there are certain things that the organism can’t survive. I think we’ll survive this, and we have to find ways to [grow]."
This use of "we" could be the first indication that Beghe will continue to be a part of the NBC drama as he still sees himself as part of the Chicago PD family.
Despite comments like this, the rumor mill roars with fervent ferocity.
Beghe's Hank Voight was noticeably absent from the recently released Season 11, Episode 10, making fans who believe his exit is imminent lean even further into the speculation.
While Hank may have been nowhere to be seen in the latest entry in the series, that seems like a coincidence in relation to his exit rumors.
In a March 2024 conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Beghe revealed he will "always be a part of Chicago PD," declaring once and for all, "I’m not done, I have more to do:"
"I’ll always be a part of 'Chicago PD' That, I know. I certainly have the interest. And I think that NBC has the interest in both the show and Voight. So, I’m not done, I have more to do, and I’m anxious to do it. I love my job. I don’t know what the end is, whether it’s Thursday or Friday, but I supposed it’ll end at some point. But right now, I feel like I have stories to tell and a job to do."
A Chicago PD Casting Shake-Up
Just because Jason Beghe and his character Hank Voight seem to remain part of the Chicago PD story for some time, that is not to say others will.
As addressed by Beghe in his Us Weekly interview, after seven years of playing TV detective Hailey Upton, Tracy Spiridakos will depart from the series after Season 11.
Spiridakos has been with the series since Season 4 and has slowly become a member of the core cast of the NBC crime drama.
She is just the latest member of the Chicago PD cast to get an on-screen goodbye.
Series mainstays Alvin Olinsky (played by Elias Koteas) and Antonio Dawson (played by Jon Seda) left the show in Seasons 5 and 6 respectively, opening the door for new characters to come in and fill the void left by them.
With any series that goes as long as Chicago PD has, casting shake-ups are to be expected.
It is rare to do anything for more than a decade, so it is understandable why some stars want to leave or their characters are written out of future stories.
However, it feels like Jason Beghe and Hank Voight are not quite there yet in the Chicago TV universe.
Chicago PD Season continues with new episodes debuting on NBC on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
Read more about Chicago PD on The Direct:
Full Cast of Chicago P.D. 2024 - Season 11 Main Characters & Actors (Photos)
Who Is Bojana Novakovic? 4 Things to Know About Chicago PD Actress
