Celebrity

'Chicago P.D.' and 'Chicago Med' actors Jesse Lee Soffer and Nick Gehlfuss made headlines after saving a driver in trouble.

Published on April 17, 2023

Chicago P.D. is the first show in Dick Wolf’s hugely successful Chicago TV franchise, which also includes Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago Justice. Chicago P.D. follows a group of heroic patrol officers and detectives living and working in the Windy City. The show debuted in 2014 and is still going strong. There are many crossover characters in the franchise, including Jesse Lee Soffer and Nick Gehlfuss. In 2017, the two actors made headlines after saving a driver in trouble.

Jesse Lee Soffer and Nick Gehlfuss star in ‘Chicago P.D.’ and ‘Chicago Med’

Soffer has been a Chicago P.D. mainstay from the beginning. He portrays one of the lead characters, Jay Halstead, a cocky but caring Intelligence Unit detective who battles his posttraumatic stress diagnosis. His brother is Chicago Med‘s Dr. Will Halstead, played by Gehlfuss. The character debuted in a Chicago P.D. episode before featuring in Chicago Med.

The onscreen siblings are instrumental in many of the franchise’s most immersive and exciting storylines. Heroic characters with lots of depth, the Halstead brothers are fan favorites. And the actors behind the Halsteads proved in 2017 they also have what it takes to save lives in real life.

What accident motivated Jesse Lee Soffer and Nick Gehlfuss to save a woman in distress?

In 2017, Soffer opened up to Access Hollywood about a real-life-hero incident involving him and Gehlfuss.

“I totally had a true hero-of-Chicago-first-responder moment,” Soffer said. “Nick Gehlfuss and I … we’re just going to dinner one night and walked out of my building and walked down the street … And we hear terrible screeching tires, and we turn around to see two cars — one’s going through an intersection, and there’s no stop sign here.

“There’s a bunch of construction going on. And this car’s coming here, and they basically T-bone each other,” Soffer explained. “This car gets knocked into a massive ditch ’cause they’re digging a hole where they’re putting a new building. The car goes in and rolls on its side. It was like 10 feet deep.”

Soffer described how he and Gehlfuss ran to the car after noticing a woman trapped inside.

“We hopped in the ditch, and we’re pulling the lady out, and the car is on its side, so we’re pulling her out the passenger window. I’m calling 911, and he’s helping her get out of the car,” the actor recalled.

Soffer noted the woman was fine, just “very shaken up.” He also joked that she recognized him and Gehlfuss after the shock of the crash had subsided.

The actors in the ‘Chicago’ franchise undergo extensive emergency response training

Perhaps it’s not a huge surprise that Soffer and Gehlfuss would understand how to respond in an emergency. The actors in the Chicago franchise reportedly undergo extensive emergency response training before assuming their roles.

In the case of Chicago Fire, real firefighters are on set to advise the cast and provide ride-alongs so that the actors can become familiar with the gear and equipment necessary for the job. It’s this element of realism that has helped the Chicago franchise become so popular.

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