The Chicago P.D. Cast Gathered with Jesse Lee Soffer for His 40th Birthday Dinner
The former cast member celebrated with a Chicago night out.
April 23 marks the 40th birthday of former Chicago P.D. star Jesse Lee Soffer (Jay Halstead), and to celebrate, his co-stars got together for a fun night on the town.
On Marina Squerciati's (Kim Burgess) Instagram stories, we saw Soffer having a blast while playing with sparklers at Lyra Greek restaurant in Chicago.
"Jesse loves sparklers. It's his weakness," she wrote on the clip. Benjamin Levy Aguilar (Dante Torres), LaRoyce Hawkins (Kevin Atwater) and Patrick John Flueger (Adam Ruzek) were also seen gathered together at the celebration. Squerciati also shared a selfie with Bojana Novakovic (Jo Petrovic), a new partner with the Intelligence Unit.
RELATED: Why Marina Squerciati Invited Jesse Lee Soffer on Her Mountain Resort Family Vacay
That same day, Tracy Spiridakos (Hailey Upton) posted a candid selfie of herself smiling with Soffer. There, he rocked a baseball cap and green hoodie, while Spiridakos had her hair in a loose ponytail.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY @jesseleesoffer 🥳🥳🥳🥳," she captioned the post.
See the special moment later down in this article.
Happy birthday, Jesse!
How the Chicago P.D. cast honored Jesse Lee Soffer after his exit from the show
Squerciati gave another great shoutout to Soffer in November 2023 when the cast was filming Season 11 of Chicago P.D. There, she shared a funny snapshot on her Instagram story of a plush Soffer-inspired doll sitting on a chair behind the scenes of the set. She committed to the bit, giving him a totally serious look as if they were hashing out a high-stakes case.
"The weird things you do when you miss your co-star," she wrote on the post, tagging Soffer. Although Halstead may have left in Season 10, he is still with the cast in spirit.
RELATED: Tracy Spiridakos Posted a Hilarious New Photo From Set for Jesse Lee Soffer's Birthday
In 2022, showrunner Gwen Sigan explained to NBC Insider the team's thought process behind Halstead's exit.
"We all really wanted to do justice for Halstead's character as best we could — to who he's been for the show — we really wanted to make that decision to leave his own decision. For it to come from him," she told us.
She continued: "It felt important to keep him alive and keep him out in the world trying to do good. The idea of him getting back to who he was gave us that opportunity. The army's always been integral to who he is. I think that time with the rangers shaped him, his morals, his compass, and it was fitting that he'd want to get back to that; to some sort of simplicity and an idea of 'right and wrong.'"
Watch Season 11 of Chicago P.D. on NBC Wednesdays at 10/9c and next day on Peacock.
