PHOTOSSophia Bush Reveals Why She Had To Leave ‘Chicago PD:’ ‘I Was Miserable’
Dec. 19 2017, Updated 5:11 p.m. ET
Sophia Bush thought she found her dream gig when she was cast on Chicago P.D., but the actress soon became “miserable” on the NBC show and by season four, she decided to leave. But in an interview with Refinery29’s UnStyled podcast, Sophia revealed that her decision to quit the show was not spur of the moment, and that as early as the end of the second season, she knew she was ready to go!
According to Sophia, her role on Chicago P.D. was her “dream job.” "And aspects of it, don't get me wrong, were wonderful,” Sophia explained. “But, I realized...by the end of the second season I couldn't do that job anymore."
Sophia revealed that before the start of season four, she even gave her bosses “23 episodes notice.” “I said…‘If something really drastic doesn’t change, I’m leaving at the end of the year,’” Sophia explained.
She said she held the meeting so far in advance so that no one could accuse her of being “hysterical, emotional,” or an “irrational female.” “I'm literally sitting in front of you like cool as a cucumber. If this has to be, like, a big swinging dick competition, I promise you I will win,” Sophia recalled saying.
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The actress informed her bosses she’d leave the show if they weren’t “having a very different conversation by Christmas.” Sophia called the conversation “so liberating.” “And it was then that I realized I had been drowning, and it was then that I knew just how miserable I was going to work every day," she explained.
Sophia said that while she grew close to her fellow cast and crew, she knew she had to leave for her own good. "What you start to realize is that, like, if your house was burning down, you wouldn't hang out inside because your brother was in there and you loved him,” Sophia said. “You'd be like, ‘Yo, I love you. Let's get out of this house!'"
“I was just so unhappy and it was my dream job and I was miserable and I had to go,” she added. Since leaving the show, Sophia has signed a talent and development deal with 20th Century Fox TV. “I could not be more proud or more excited to put on my executive producer cap and get to work,” she said when she announced the news in October.
What do you think of Sophia’s decision to leave Chicago PD? Sound off in the comments below.
