Chicago Pd Cast, then and now: how 13 seasons reshaped careers, choices, and life off set
On a long-running set like chicago pd cast, change is never just about haircuts, wardrobe, or new faces in a squad room. Over 13 seasons, the series has become a timeline of career leaps, difficult exits, and personal turning points—moments that played out away from the cameras as much as they did in the show’s storylines.
The show began in 2014 as a spinoff of Chicago Fire and grew into a series focused on the working and personal lives of the 21st District’s Intelligence Unit. It follows officers and detectives as they adjust to evolving societal issues while policing Chicago streets. Along the way, some actors stayed from the start, while others stepped away to pursue different paths.
What does “then and now” mean for the Chicago Pd Cast after 13 seasons?
“Then and now” is less about nostalgia than it is about the realities of endurance: who remained part of a long-running production and how that continuity shaped careers. The series has seen many actors come and go since the procedural premiered. Some, including Jason Beghe, Patrick John Flueger, and Marina Squerciati, stayed on the show from the start. Others, including Jon Seda and Sophia Bush, chose to leave to explore new opportunities.
That churn—staying, departing, reinventing—has become part of the show’s public narrative. For some, the series functioned as a stabilizing anchor. For others, leaving became an act of self-protection, ambition, or both.
How did Jason Beghe’s long run shape his career and personal spotlight?
Jason Beghe’s trajectory illustrates what a durable role can do. The series “supercharged” his career, building on earlier work that included starring in Monkey Shines and smaller appearances on Picket Fences and Melrose Place. Before the procedural’s run, he had been cast on Chicago Fire as Sgt. Hank Voight in 2012.
Remaining in a long-running show can narrow the bandwidth for other on-camera work. Beghe has appeared in very few live-action productions during the series’ run, though he did voice-acting work on Superman: Unbound and BoJack Horseman. In other words, the stability of a central role brought visibility and longevity—while also shaping what “outside projects” could look like.
His time around the show also brought scrutiny. In 2017, NBC launched an investigation into Beghe’s alleged inappropriate behavior on set after costar Sophia Bush filed complaints.
Off set, Beghe’s personal life has been part of his public arc as well. He was married to Angie Janu from 2000 to 2020, and they share two children. He has also been a vocal critic of the Church of Scientology, having been a member from 1994 to 2007.
Why did some actors leave, and what happened next?
Departures from a long-running series can be framed as creative evolution, personal necessity, or the pull of different opportunities. Jon Seda’s career is presented as a story of persistence: he used amateur boxing skills to land a premiere role in Gladiator, followed by Selena opposite Jennifer Lopez and work in Steven Spielberg’s miniseries The Pacific. He built TV experience as Det. Paul Falsone on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order, before appearing on Chicago Fire and later Chicago P. D. as Antonio Dawson.
After leaving Chicago P. D. after season 6 in 2019, Seda joined the main cast of NBC’s science-fiction drama La Brea, starring on it from 2021 to 2024. His personal life, too, marks time: in 2000, he married Lisa Gomez, and they have four children.
Sophia Bush’s departure, meanwhile, was tied directly to her experience of the job. She landed the role of Det. Erin Lindsay on Chicago Fire in 2013 and later Chicago P. D. in 2014. But she described reaching a point where she felt she could not continue. In a 2017 interview with Refinery 29, Bush said: “the overarching theme for me was that I landed my dream job…And aspects of it, don’t get me wrong, were wonderful. But… I knew by the end of the second season I couldn’t do that job anymore. ”
After leaving the show in 2017, Bush continued working across TV and film, including a recurring role on Grey’s Anatomy starting in 2024. She also co-hosts the Drama Queens rewatch podcast with Hilarie Burton Morgan and Bethany Joy Lenz. In her personal life, she was briefly married to Chad Michael Murray from 2005 to 2006, dated her Chicago P. D. castmate Jesse Lee Soffer between 2014 and 2016, and married businessman Grant Hughes in 2022; they separated in 2023. She is currently romantically linked with soccer player Ashlyn Harris.
What does the “chicago pd cast” story reveal about longevity, pressure, and reinvention?
The arc of the chicago pd cast shows how a single production can become multiple things at once: a career engine, a steady paycheck, a public platform, and—at times—a site of conflict or dissatisfaction. One actor’s stability can coincide with limited outside live-action work; another’s exit can open the door to a different genre entirely; another’s departure can be a declaration that the cost of staying has become too high.
After 13 seasons, the most striking “then and now” shift is not simply who looks different. It is how the series has served as a hinge point—connecting early careers to later projects, and intertwining professional identity with personal lives that continued evolving beyond the set.
Image caption (alt text): chicago pd cast reflected in a behind-the-scenes moment that hints at 13 seasons of change
