Chicago P.D. Star Hints at Which Promoted Officer Could Replace Upton in Season 12: ‘Somebody Should Probably Step Up’
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A work promotion may be on the horizon for LaRoyce Hawkins‘ Chicago P.D. character, Officer Kevin Atwater. Following Hawkins’ co-star Tracy Spiridakos’ departure in the Season 11 finale, Hawkins expressed his wishes for how her exit could actually be good news for Atwater.
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Hawkins opened up about Spiridakos — who played Detective Hailey Upton on the NBC police drama — and how her exit will affect the direction of his own role in Season 12. He also noted his hopes that Atwater will become a detective now that there’s an open space in the Intelligence Unit with Upton gone. “To be honest with you, I don’t think I’m really worried about teammates as much as I would really love to be a detective, since it doesn’t seem like we have any detectives on the unit,” he confessed to TV Insider in July.
More: Where former Chicago P.D. cast members are now
“Somebody should probably step up. Somebody might deserve that role with those responsibilities, but it’s up to the powers that be, naturally,” he said, adding that the Chicago P.D. cast will be fine without Spiridakos going forward.
Upton left Chicago P.D. in the Season 11 finale after a kidnapping situation with her and Sergeant Hank Voight led her to reevaluate her job as a detective and make the decision to resign to focus on healing from her past trauma. Atwater, for his part, has been an officer with the P.D. since Season 1, so he’s well overdue for a promotion, along with Kim Burgess and Adam Ruzek who have also been police officers since the start of Chicago P.D.
While it makes sense to promote either Atwater, Burgess, or Ruzek as detective to replace upton in Chicago P.D. Season 12, fans also speculate that the spot could go to Detective Jo Petrovic, who joined the IU as a recurring character in Season 11.
Prior to Upton’s exit, Hawkins got candid in May about how he felt about Spiridakos leaving the One Chicago franchise after eight seasons. He even got a little choked up when he spoke to NBC Insider about his co-star’s exit. “It’s very heartbreaking, to be honest with you,” he told the outlet. “She grew into all of our lives as, like, just a favorite. She brings a light to set that you can’t really match, you know what I mean? She’s just extremely funny, extremely sweet. She’s really like a sister.”
He went on, “Watching her go is gonna be tough for us… but [we’re] also very excited for her, right? For whatever’s next. Whatever she touches is gonna turn into gold. And so we’re proud of her, you know? We’ll see what happens, but hopefully she leaves a little bit of that light with us.”
More: See Hailey Upton and Jay Halstead’s full relationship timeline
Spiridakos appeared on Chicago P.D. for eight seasons, beginning in Season 4. She detailed why she decided it was time to leave the popular procedural series in May, telling NBC Insider that she “wanted to switch it up” and see what other projects “were out there.”
“It was a really hard decision, and I don’t know that there’s ever a right time,” she explained. “I think I’ve been on the show for just over seven years, like seven and a half-ish years… I’m so close with everybody. With our producers, [showrunner Gwen Sigan], our writers, our cast, our crew. It was a really difficult and emotional time, for sure.”
Chicago P.D. is available to stream on Peacock.
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