New Details About Jesse Lee Soffer's FBI: International Character Are Here, And I'm Glad It's Not A Carbon Copy Of Chicago P.D.'s Halstead
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After FBI: International's Luke Kleintank exited the series, the creative team behind the CBS procedural got to work in order to find an actor who could play a new member of the Fly Team. It was recently announced that Wolf Entertainment vet Jesse Lee Soffer, best known for playing Detective Jay Halstead on fellow Dick Wolf-created series Chicago P.D. until he left during Season 10, would join International in an undisclosed role. Initially, not much was known about the role other than the fact that Soffer would not be reprising Jay. Now, details have finally been released, and I’m really glad this new character is not a straight-up carbon copy of the Chicago cop the actor previously played.
The FBI and One Chicago franchises take place in the same universe as established when Jesse Lee Soffer’s former co-star, Tracy Spiridakos, reprised her role as Hailey Upton on the former series. However, fans should be pleased that Soffer's Fly Team character is totally fresh. TVLine reports that the actor is set to play Supervisory Special Agent Wesley “Wes” Mitchell. Described “as charming and rakish,” Wes employs unusual methods but also had keen instincts. With all of that, he will apparently “stop at nothing to achieve justice.”
Jay was a bit cocky and a military veteran, he was known to be a bit more serious from time to time. He was also a by-the-book kind of guy, unless a situation called for him to bend the rules. Perhaps the only commonality between Jay and Wes is that they want nothing more than to seek out justice. It does sound like Wes will be bringing some new vibes to the Fly Team and, while he can’t fully replace Forrester in this fan's eyes, I'm very curious to see how this all plays out.
More on Jesse Lee Soffer
Even though it might be strange that Jesse Lee Soffer is playing a completely different character on FBI: International despite it existing in the same continuity as Chicago P.D., the actor isn’t the first person to make that switch. Fellow One Chicago star Colin Donnell went from playing cardio-thoracic fellow Dr. Connor Rhodes the first five seasons of Chicago Med to playing NSA agent Brian Lange on the final two episodes of International Season 3.
Without seeing Jesse Lee Soffer’s new character in action at this time, it’s hard to predict the actor's exact approach to the role, even with the newly released character description. I'm also eager to see Wes’ dynamic with the rest of the team, of course. I'll give Lee and the producers the benefit of the doubt, though, as the series does well when it comes to bold cast changes, So I'd imagine that Wes will fit in with the group as time goes on. Let's just hope that he also proves to be a stark departure from Jay Halstead as seemingly promised.
Luckily, it won’t be long until fans see Supervisory Special Agent Wesley Mitchell in make his debut. FBI: International Season 4 premieres on Tuesday, October 15 at 9 p.m. ET as part of the 2024 TV schedule on CBS. You can also stream Season 3 with a Paramount+ subscription or for free on Pluto TV.
