Jesse Lee Soffer Isn’t Playing Jay Halstead on ‘FBI: International’ — But His Character Is ‘Charming’
Jesse Lee Soffer won’t be reprising his role of Jay Halstead — or returning to Chicago P.D. — but his FBI: International character has been revealed.
Soffer, 40, will play Supervisory Special Agent Wesley “Wes” Mitchell on season 4 of FBI: International, Us Weekly can confirm.
Wes is described as “charming and rakish” and “an agent whose impeccable instincts and unconventional tactics fuel his drive to stop at nothing to achieve justice,” according to TVLine, which was first to report the news.
Us confirmed last month that Soffer is joining FBI: International as a series regular for the upcoming season, which premieres on Tuesday, October 15.
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While the FBI shows are part of Dick Wolf’s universe — and live within the same world as his One Chicago series — Us learned that Soffer would not be bringing his Chicago P.D. character, Jay Halstead, to the drama.
Soffer will instead be playing Wes, who is stepping into the Fly Team in Luke Kleintank’s absence. Kleintank, 34, announced in April that season 3 would be his last as leader Agent Scott Forrester.
“After much thought and consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave FBI: International,” Kleintank said in a statement at the time. “This decision is driven by my unwavering commitment to my family, whose love and well-being are paramount in my life.”
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The Fly Team didn’t officially say goodbye to Scott during the season 3 finale, which aired in May, but Scott did go AWOL toward the end of the season. During the final moments of the episode, viewers learned that Scott had reunited with his spy mom, Angela Cassidy (Elizabeth Mitchell), and the pair were on the run … and not to be disturbed.
Soffer, meanwhile, exited Chicago P.D. in October 2022 after 10 seasons as Detective Halstead. At the time, his character told the Intelligence Unit that he was going to lead a military unit responsible for tracking drug cartels in Bolivia.
He returned to the franchise in March 2023 for his directorial debut and worked behind the camera for the May episode “Inventory.”
After news broke that Soffer was moving to FBI: International, he shared his excitement via social media.
“Cats out of the bag,” the actor teased in June. “Very excited to join the @FBICBS team! Big thanks to @CBSTV, Matt Olmstead, and Wolf Entertainment. Let’s goooooo!”
FBI: International returns to CBS on Tuesday, October 15, at 9 p.m. ET.
