Chicago P.D.’s LaRoyce Hawkins on Jesse Lee Soffer Directing

LaRoyce Hawkins was fully on board with former Chicago P.D. costar Jesse Lee Soffer directing a season 10 episode of the present — and it went off with out a hitch.

“That was amazing. Jesse’s such a talented guy. And he’s been doing this for so long,” Hawkins, 35, completely advised Us Weekly on Monday, June 26, whereas selling his partnership with SimpliSafe. “His eye is very well seasoned when it comes to just pictures and frames.”

The Illinois native, who performs Kevin Atwater on the NBC collection, defined that Soffer, 39, was “something like a player-coach” when he was nonetheless on the present. Soffer portrayed Jay Halstead for 9 seasons earlier than asserting in August 2022 that he was exiting the cop drama originally of season 10. He returned to set in early 2023, stepping behind the digital camera in his directorial debut that March.

“We trusted him right away. We knew that he had that director bug in him and we were excited to watch it activate,” Hawkins advised Us of his former display screen associate. “And I think his episode [‘Deadlocked’] was great. We’re looking forward to working with him again.”

While the South Side alum loved seeing Soffer again with their P.D. castmates, he confessed that it’s “always hard” to regulate when somebody leaves the present. (Soffer is the newest casting shakeup, following Sophia Bush in 2017 and Elias Koteas in 2018.)

“It’s definitely not the easiest thing to deal with because our show is really built on the fabric of family. And when we start finding the rhythm with each other, and the synergy and the chemistry feels great, it’s hard to penetrate,” Hawkins advised Us on Monday. “When we lose a piece, it becomes hard for us to find that new rhythm again with the pieces that we have.”

He added: “The core has been together for a while. So, it doesn’t take us too long to get back into it, but to be transparent with you, we do take something like a synergy hit every time that happens.”

The North of the ten actor famous that the P.D. forged is “very much like a family,” which additionally stretches to the remainder of the One Chicago group.

“It’s like going to your Auntie’s house and playing with your cousin. It’s family,” Hawkins advised Us of working with the Chicago Fire and Chicago Med casts every now and then. “It feels familiar. You’re at home, [but] you still gotta ask permission before you go in the refrigerator, but [when you do] you’re welcome to whatever you want. It is like one of those dynamics.”

The NBC character joked that there’s a “soft sibling rivalry” between all of Dick Wolf’s Chicago-based reveals.

“We tease Chicago Med because they’re never out in the elements and, you know, just kind of stay in their plush scrubs and they’re extremely comfortable,” Hawkins revealed. “We tease Fire sometimes because they’re probably the most dramatic out of all of us.”

The Chicago P.D. group, nevertheless, isn’t resistant to the teasing both. According to Hawkins, the opposite stars say, “‘Oh, what was it like to really have stories?’ And it’s like, ‘Y’all are funny.’”

Hawkins reiterated that all of them “love each other” in the way in which that “distant relatives” do. “When we can share the battlefield together, it’s always a good time,” he added.

As Hawkins gears as much as reunite together with his P.D. household for season 11, he’s retaining his police instincts intact by teaming up with SimpliSafe. On Monday, the corporate launched its 24/7 Live Guard Protection program, which suggests a SimpliSafe worker is monitoring a consumer’s dwelling in actual time in case a break-in occurs.

SimpliSafe additionally created the Smart Alarm Indoor Camera, which has an alarm that goes off the second somebody comes into the area. A dwell correspondent is then in a position to communicate to the intruder as one other degree of safety.

“When I learned about how SimpliSafe was really simplifying the difference between comfortability and safety and how it’s really do-it-yourself easy [I signed on],” Hawkins advised Us. “It is not difficult or complicated it to understand and it’s 24/7, especially with this new product that we’re launching. It just made more sense. It was a perfect combination.”

Learn extra about SimpliSafe’s latest merchandise right here. Catch Chicago P.D. on NBC when it returns in fall 2023 for season 11.

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With reporting by Johnni Macke