Original 'Chicago Med' Cast Member Exits in Shocking Finale
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After eight seasons on Chicago Med, Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss), who has been unlucky in love the entire time, is finally getting his happy ending. That said, he had to leave Gaffney Chicago Medical Center to do so.
Will has always put patients first, so when Dr. Crockett Marcel (Dominic Rains) told Will that Jack Dayton (Sasha Roiz) was hiding an error that the computer in OR 2.0 made, he felt compelled to act, and arranged for Grace [T.V. Carpio] to sabotage the tech during Jack’s hernia repair.
Of course, he took full responsibility for his actions and then resigned from the hospital and followed his heart. He flew to Seattle in hopes that his ex-fiancée Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto, who previously exited the series) would be happy to see him.
Courtesy: NBC
“Will and Natalie [have] come full circle,” Gehlfuss told TV Line. “Will was, I think, seeking elements of Natalie in every relationship that has followed their breakup. He never really got over her, and so it made such sense to bring these two together and provide some closure for fans. It was a beautiful moment that we [were] able to do. It was so great to see Torrey. We fell right back into our work rhythm, as if we didn’t have any time off. And it was emotional to play, of course. The last scene I shot was saying goodbye to the entire ED, and it was a really emotional day, of course, but so beautiful at the same time.”
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Looking out for patient care is Will’s thing, so Gehlfuss feels that the storyline for his exit was true to his character, because even though Grace programmed 2.0 to malfunction, it was his idea.
“When he took the fall for 2.0 and blowing it up at the IPO, he was protecting Grace,” Gehlfuss told TV Line. “He was also protecting Crockett with not even allowing him to be involved in the sabotage of 2.0, and so it’s true Will fashion there.”
Courtesy: NBC
Gehlfuss had made the decision several months back that his time on the series had come to an end. He felt that his role as Will had run its course. That didn’t make it an easy choice, though, but he picked up the phone and called Dick Wolf and showrunners Andy Schneider and Diane Frolov and broke the news.
“It was a difficult decision [to leave], but I felt, maybe like a few months ago, that I was getting to the point of taking Dr. Halstead as far as I could go with him,” Gehlfuss said in the same TV Line interview. “A difficult decision because, of course, I have for the last eight years grown with a fantastic group of people, and they have become a family, they really have. We use that word a lot, but it’s the only one that makes sense, and it’s also a community of artists. And so, I’ve laid roots in this town. Chicago was never on my radar, and it’s become home. So it’s difficult to think about leaving something that’s so comfortable… [When] an actor gets involved in this profession, we’re attracted by the variety, and eight years is a long time with one character, and I felt as if I went as far as I could go with him, and that was that, really.”
Gehlfuss follows in the footsteps of previous cast members who have exited the series including Brian Tee, Yaya Dacosta, Colin Donnell, Guy Lockard, Sarah Rafferty, and Norma Kuhling.
Chicago Med¸which airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, has already been picked up for its ninth season.
