It seems one Chicago P.D. character was always destined to die.
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Showrunner Gwen Sigan weighed in on Shawn Hatosy, who played Deputy Chief Charlie Reid in Season 12. Sigan really wanted Hatosy to become a mainstay presence on Chicago P.D. But the character was a corrupt cop whose arc naturally ended in death.
Writers reluctantly chose to kill off the character because it was right for the story despite wishing they could keep the actor on board.
"I don't think we ever thought we could redeem him as a character and make him less dark than he is. But we certainly got to a point where we were like, 'Are we actually going to kill him? We don't want to kill him. How can we get him back?'" she said.
'Chicago P.D.' Death
The staff felt that the actor played a great villain. But there wasn't a way they could make the story work with the character being alive. The Chicago P.D. team felt they would be doing a disservice to the character not to kill him off.
She continued, "He is just a great actor, such a professional, and was always reliable. We did think about it a lot. We couldn't find the perfect way. It just felt like this is what it was all leading to."
Sadly, the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Hatosy was praised for his acting and enjoyed working with the team, especially Jason Beghe.
"It was just nice to be there alongside [Beghe], trying to annoy him, because he's got this unmoving face," he said.
"I was really excited to share scenes with him, and seeing how somebody who's been playing a character for that long is still excited about the process, working hard, and figuring out how to make it real. It was a joy."
