Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) is not going to be an easy character to replace. She was fundamental to the structure of Chicago PD, not only through her romance with Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), but her father/daughter dynamic with Hank Voight (Jason Beghe).
Taking her out of the equation means having to scrap these long-standing dynamics and start from scratch with someone new. It not only changes the audience’s perception, but it changes the way the established characters will behave as well. It’s a big decision, and it’s one that showrunner Gwen Sigan is not taking lightly.
PD writers haven’t picked Upton’s replacement yet
The showrunner recently opened up about the decision-making process during a recent interview with TV Line, and she admitted that a definitive replacement has not yet been found. “We don’t know yet,” she explained. “We get back in the [writers] room next week, and there’s a lot that we’re going to figure out.”
Josephine Petrovic (Bojana Novakovic) is the obvious choice, especially considering the amount of screen time she had opposite Upton in season 12. The two developed a bond, and it would be easy to flesh out a character who had a strong working relationship with her predecessor.
Gwen Sigan said Petrovic is still a strong candidate
TV Line inquired about the possibility of Petrovic being the replacement, but Sigan would not give up any definitive info. She instead praised the character’s presence within the last season, and left the door open for more:
“I loved Petrovic on the show this season. I think that [Bojana] was such a pro and she made [the role] her own. There’s so much depth to that character and it was acted wonderfully.”
At this point in time, things could go either way. It really did seem like Petrovic was poised to take over, but the more time passes without a definitive answer, the more it seems like she will be either written off the show or relegated to a recurring role within future seasons.
What do you want to see happen? Do you think Petrovic would be a good replacement, or do you want to see someone new?
