Tracy Spiridakos (Chicago P.D.)
Spiridakos, who has played detective Hailey Upton on P.D. since Season 4, will make her final appearance during the upcoming 11th season. (FULL STORY HERE.)
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Mass Exodus at Dick Wolf’s Law & Order, #OneChicago and FBI Franchises: 6 Cast Members Out
Courtesy of NBC
Dick Wolf’s myriad TV universes have been beset by unprecedented churn in recent weeks.
Since late October, the Law & Order, #OneChicago and FBI franchises —which are heading into shortened 13-episode seasons in the wake of Hollywood’s now-resolved labor disputes — have been rocked by six major cast departures.
All broadcast TV dramas — particularly those well into their second decade of existence — weather their fair share of turnover, but Wolf’s stable of procedurals has been hit particularly hard.
And while the customary “creative decisions” excuse has (unofficially) been tossed around to justify many of these departures, post-strike belt-tightening is also believed to have played a role. (Note: Wolf’s empire is also navigating considerable revolving door activity behind the scenes.)
Scroll down for a quick refresher on the six actors whose resignations were tendered in the past month-plus, and then riddle us this in the comments: Which loss is hitting you the hardest?
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Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC -
Kara Killmer (Chicago Fire)
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Fire‘s forthcoming 12th season will be Killmer’s swan song as paramedic Sylvie Brett. The exact timetable/episode for her exit has not been revealed yet. (FULL STORY HERE.)
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Alberto Rosende (Chicago Fire)
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Rosende, who has played firefighter Blake Gallo for the past four seasons, will make his final appearance in the Season 12 premiere, airing Jan. 17. (FULL STORY HERE.)
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Jeffrey Donovan (Law & Order)
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC After portraying the ever-abrasive Det. Frank Cosgrove in Seasons 21 and 22, the Burn Notice vet was released from his contract for creative reasons, TVLine exclusively reported last month. Donovan made his final appearance in the mothership’s Season 22 finale last spring. Meanwhile, Veep‘s Reid Scott has been brought in to fill the void. (FULL STORY HERE.)
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Alexa Davalos (FBI: Most Wanted)
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS Davalos, who joined the CBS spinoff’s cast at the start of Season 3 as agent Kristin Gaines, will not be returning for the procedural’s upcoming fifth season. (FULL STORY HERE.)
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Heida Reed (FBI: International)
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS As TVLine exclusively reported on Dec. 7, Reed — who has played Special Agent Jamie Kellett since the CBS offshoot’s 2021 launch — will be leaving early into Season 3. (FULL STORY HERE.)
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I don’t understand when these actors leave a top rated show! It really ruins the show.
It doesn’t always ruin it. Sometimes you get Jimmy Smits to replace David Caruso, and NYPD Blue was better for it.
Some of them may not have left voluntarily either. Sounds like Donovan didn’t. Maybe some of the others were let go, as opposed to leaving for their own reasons.
Have always wondered what “creative difference” meant.
It means that the production company was trying to get creative in reasons to not pay the given actor what they deserve because they don’t understand the actor’s value to that show.
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I mean, that’s gotta be the reason that they let FBI: International’s best character and actor, Kellet/Heida Reed, go.
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Okay, there really are instances of productions and actors not seeing eye to eye on the direction of the show – Henry Cavill and The Witcher is the most obvious recent example — but it’s generally about money and often about pay cuts or episode-count cuts (de facto pay cuts).
Paget Brewster exposed the “creative reasons” lie over a decade ago. It means it was financial.
It’s a bad lie, too, because if the issue is “creative reasons”, then it sounds like it’s the writers that are the problem, not the actors, so surprised if writers aren’t more annoyed by that lie than we see.
Donovan has always been an interesting actor. I’ve seen people love and hate him for the same role. I thought his best was Burn Notice, he’s very dry and usually plays hard-nosed or heavy types so the wry humor of his character there really helped bring more dimension.
Burn Notice was a great show but it’s was a pretty shallow/easy role for him, Touching Evil was better IMO, had a bit more depth to it (maybe because of the superb books and UK series it was based on), sucks it only got 1 season. Did you see him in Shut Eye? That was pretty decent too.
Shut Eye was fantastic… totally forgot about it until you mentioned it. He proved his acting chops in that one.
They might not all have left voluntarily. We also don’t know if the replacements might be better. NYPD Blue was better after Jimmy Smits replaced David Caruso, for example.
Hope they all find better gigs.
I like Heida Reed and wish she would stay on the show. Its like they didn’t find much for her to do without being in the relationship from season 1. Couldn’t care less about Alexa on Most Wanted. Thought she was bland and all her lines were delivered exactly the same. Other shows I dont watch.
Louise, I’m with you! This is exactly what I came here to say!
I’ll watch a few eps early on, but if she’s gone, I might be as well.
Maybe don’t try to make so many cast members take pay cuts at once next time, Wolf?
This is cost cutting. Wolf doesn’t want relationships or individuals to become the focus. He wants the stories to be the stars.
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Because stories are cheap. They can recycle scripts after 5-6 years with minimal changes, so long as the characters are different.
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There will be no more giant paydays for anyone but the main star of his shows. Everyone else is expendable.
This really makes sense and maybe it’s a bit unfair to the supporting cast. But to add a little context, all the “day player” roles of victims, perps, lawyers, family members, etc. are how a lot of actors get their start, or how working actors stay working. So if it’s between cost-cutting and cancelation, I think the former is better since many actors will still get opportunities (plus keeping the crew employed.)
When the cost-cutting is so stupid that it leads to the cancellation of the show anyway, what was the point of the cost-cutting?
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That’s a question that Chuck Lorre’s probably asking himself about regarding Bob Hearts Abishola right now, after CBS’s budget cuts forced them to demote most of the cast to guest stars (these are SUBSTANTIAL pay cuts, cuts from even recurring to guest status) and *then* they get cancelled anyway.
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Could too many Wolf shows be cutting too many characters — and in four of these six cases *key lead female characters* — at the same time? Could be. I mean, two women off the NBC shows, two women off the CBS shows, it’s as if there’s a continuing pattern of misogyny at both networks. Gee, maybe certain suits at CBS thought that it’s been a decade since they fired Paget Brewster and AJ Cook from Criminal Minds, fired Liz Vassey from Original CSI and caused Melina Kanakaredes to quit CSI: New York when she refused to take a pay cut. Seems like we’ve got a lot more of that sexism here.
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And as for those jobs for day players and guest actors that *might* be saved via this cost-cutting? Why did the women have to take much more of the brunt of it than the men did? Let’s not kid ourselves, the network, producers and stars didn’t come together to say, “Hey, we all need to take one for the team so that everybody can still have a job. The economic model is changing, we still don’t know if streaming is going to work — let’s all agree that no one in front of the camera, behind the camera, or financing the camera [cast, crew, or producers] gets raises this year.”
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This article wouldn’t need to exist if that had happened.
Not real happy on the PD and Fire exits (shows I watch)…unless they were ready to move on. Otherwise, BIG mistake, HUGE
Oh this is a recap of the recent departures. Headline made me think 6 more were leaving which with that universe, seemed possible.
Big phew! But thanks for the recap, I had forgotten one of them.
Hollywood seems to be going backwards in its actions towards mostly women actors. What with Weinstien and the Me Too movement, these directors and producers use pathetic excuses like creative differences. Personally speaking women are second rate in Hollywood tv programmes, they deserve better and so do the fans when their favourite actors are ditched
I will miss the actor’s leaving Dick Wolf productions. Good luck.
Maybe now they’ll have enough room to bring back Vincent D’Onofrio
best actor on all. of the Law and Orders
Yes, I agree. One of the best. I would love to see a revival/limited series of Criminal Intent. I have been watching reruns on the channel, Charge and I never get tired of watching them. Now that the USA Network is planning to bring back scripted shows, I would love to see it there.
Shame that Jeffrey Donovan is leaving the mothership – thought they had finally discovered a partnership that captured the chemistry of old that worked. It’s the DA office that still doesn’t work for me.
Hailey leaving Chicago PD is a good thing for the show. Nothing against the actress but her character has become seriously whiny. Would be good if Atwater and the new guy get their chance to shine. Any episodes centered around them have been really good. And going forward, no more in-house romances outside of Kim and Adam. More than enough.
Jeffrey Donovan really hit his stride this last season and he and Mehcad Brooks were a strong team.
I will miss Heida Reed the most. I wasn’t aware of her work until this show and I quickly became a big fan. I hope she will resurface int the very near future.
Kara Killmer and Alberto Rosende I’ll really miss. As far as who I absolutely WON’T miss, that goes to Alexa Davalos. Never could stand that character. Hopefully, Kara and Alberto’s replacements will turn out to be equally as compelling as they are.
2 of the top snowbunnies are gone 😢
It’d be interesting to see how many of these were by choice and how many weren’t, because the turnover on Wolf shows post-covid has been potentially concerning, especially as it’s pretty certain they were lying about at least one of those exits (one actor that left stated on social media at the time that the reason the show/NBC had given for the exit was not the truth)
Well the time has come, they will be missed because they’re the main characters whom we’ve gotten to know like they were family. So don’t tell us what to say on here. We kinda pay there salary, cause the neilsen ratings is what counts. I wish they weren’t leaving cause I enjoyed these shows, why only 13 episodes?
Tracy Spiridakos as that has been the only Wolf show I watched from episode 1. The show has been on decline after Al died and even more when Jesse Lee Soffer left. The only thing I really like to see is a happy ending for Upstead
I love all the Wolfe shows. I love all the actors on the shows. It’s understandable that some actors want to move on. I wish them all great success wherever they land. I like to see what new characters/actors bring to a canvas as well. H
I will miss Heida Reed. Jeffery Donovan, not so much!
Whilst I’ll miss some of those more than others, none are irreplaceable, I’ve been watching Wolf’s stuff for over 30 years, you don’t stick with it for that long without understanding that his shows rotate casts.
Lol, you all making it sound nefarious. Actors leave all the time, and they have been leaving more, and not just from Wolf’s shows. Add into the strikes, making actors think about what else they would rather be doing. You cannot do a whole lot more when you are on a 20+ season show. Albiet this season they’re all shorter due to the strikes.
The actors’ strike has given the guy running the show (literally) the excuse to do whatever he wants and point the finger of blame back at the actors. He has a point though – he was likely paying everybody on that list 6 figures – per show – so it’s not hard to see why he might get a little miffed when they all went on strike.
What happened to Chicago med?
I kinda stopped watching Chicago Fire…
Hope they find new gigs. They are all good believable actors.