Jesse Lee Soffer (born April 23, 1984) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Will Munson in the CBC soap opera As the World Turns (2004), Hatfields & McCoys (2013), In Time (2011) and Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret (2013). From January 2014 to December 2022 he starred as Detective Jay Halstead in the NBC drama series Chicago P.D. After his departure he directed the episodes Deadlocked and Inventory.
Biography[]
Soffer's acting career began at age six when he landed a Kix cereal commercial. In 1993 at age of eight, he made his feature film debut with John Goodman and Cathy Moriarty in the comedy Matinee
In 1994, Soffer co-starred as Percival in the drama Safe Passage. In 1995, Soffer co-starred as Bobby Brady in the comedy The Brady Bunch Movie and reprised his role in A Very Brady Sequel a year later. Continuing the pattern of working with Oscar-caliber and A-list talent, Soffer starred as a runaway-turned-sleuth Jamie Kincaid in the TV movie From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. He worked with director Richard Shepard in the AMC TV movie The Royale. In 1998, Soffer was cast as Taylor Donovan with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on the ABC sitcom Two of a Kind
After graduating from high school, Soffer returned to his television career. In 2004, he took over the role of troubled youth Will Munson on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. He played the role until April 4, 2008. As of 2008, he was nominated three times for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his work on ATWT as well as a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Younger Lead Actor in 2005. In 2007, Soffer returned to his film career and co-starred with Carly Schroeder in Davis Guggenheim's sports drama Gracie, based on a true story. In July 2010, Soffer reprised his role as Will Munson on As the World Turns. In 2011, Soffer co-starred in the dystopian science fiction action thriller In Time. Since then, he guest-starred on a number of television series including CSI: Miami, The Mentalist and Rizzoli & Isles. In 2012, he co-starred with Jordana Spiro in the short-lived Fox medical drama The Mob Doctor as Nate Devlin, the streetwise brother of Dr. Grace Devlin (Spiro). Later that year, he co-starred as Travis Alexander in Lifetime's original movie Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret.
In June 2013, it was reported Soffer had joined the cast of the NBC police procedural drama Chicago P.D., the first spin-off show from the drama Fire as Detective Jay Halstead. Halstead was introduced in the second season of Chicago Fire. Chicago P.D. premiered on January 8, 2014. Soffer does his own stunts on the show.
On September 24, 2014, Soffer appeared in the second season premiere of the YouTube comedy/talk webseries Talking Marriage with Ryan Bailey. [1]
Notes and Trivia[]
- As of the 2021 fall break, his character Jay has made the most crossover appearances on Chicago Med.
- He has received three Emmy nominations for his roles as Will Munson in the CBS soap opera As the World Turns.
- He attended New York University.
- He has two younger sisters, one older brother, and one older sister.
- He enjoys playing soccer.