Charlie Barnett on Being 'Let Go' from Chicago Fire: 'It Broke Me for Quite a Long Time'

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Charlie Barnett is opening up about his departure from Chicago Fire, saying the exit "broke" him.

The 34-year-old actor — whose character Peter Mills was written out of the NBC drama at the end of its third season in 2015 — told Digital Spy, "[The show] was a behemoth that I never really saw coming. I was thankful to be a part of it. I really was sad to be let go. It broke me for quite a long time."

Staying positive, Barnett continued, "Yeah. It was a blessing in disguise, and they all told me that."

"You never really see that in life, in general. You never see the bad moments becoming the good ... It wouldn't be what it was, I think, if you did recognize it for what it is in the moment. So I'm thankful," he continued.

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Barnett went on to share how he keeps in touch with his former costars and said, "Yuri [Sardarov] and David Eigenberg and I just had lunch maybe two weeks ago. I talk to Joe every time in Chicago – Joe Minoso is my f------ brother. I will see him forever."

Continued the Russian Doll actor: "Monica [Raymund], I grew up in Florida. Monica and I went to college together, and we went to Juilliard together. She's the one that convinced me to go to Juilliard. There are connections there that span longer than just Chicago Fire."

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"Joe Minoso, I lived on his couch in Los Angeles for months," Barnett said. "He housed me, and I redid his backyard in LA for f------ four or five months. So I will always, always, always, always see them, and always be a part of that family in a weird way."

Following Barnett's exit, executive producer Matt Olmstead told TV Guide that the decision "was solely based on bringing in new people for new stories," adding, "Otherwise it turns into a clown car. You have affection and admiration for [your cast], so you keep everybody, but it's at the detriment at being objective and making some tough calls in terms of storytelling. So, we wanted to shake things up and bring in a new character and we started discussing the idea ... and here we are. It was an extremely tough decision to make, but we feel good about it."

"His departure goes towards the original mythology we gave the character, which is that he had a dad die on the squad and his mom and sister had a restaurant," Olmstead continued. "He worked at the restaurant and his mom didn't want him to be on the squad anymore, and he was pulled in two directions. Ultimately, he makes the determination that he fulfilled his father's legacy to the extent that he wanted to and he could check that box in terms of walking in the footsteps of his father who he never really knew."