Chicago Med won’t have any more cast shakeups in its immediate future. Per Deadline, all of the NBC drama’s remaining original stars have all signed new contracts—and those contracts are for multiple years, meaning that they’ll be staying for Chicago Med season 7 and beyond.
That means S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon Goodwin), Marlyne Barrett (Maggie Lockwood), Oliver Platt (Dr. Daniel Charles), Nick Gehlfuss (Dr. Will Halstead) and Brian Tee (Dr. Ethan Choi) will be under contract for at least two more seasons.
The exact length of their contracts was not disclosed, but since Med has been renewed by NBC through at least season 8, it would stand to reason they’re for at least two years.
Dominic Rains, who plays Dr. Crockett Marcel, was not included in this round of contract negotiations because he’s not an original cast member; he started with the show in season 5.
But Thursday’s move locks up the core cast of the hit medical drama right after two long-running stars had decided to leave. Yaya DaCosta (who played April Sexton) and Torrey DeVitto (Dr. Natalie Manning) chose not to renew their contracts, and their characters were written out in the season 6 finale. However, both arcs were open-ended, so fans are still speculating whether or not they’ll return for the season 7 premiere to get complete exits.
It’s a wise move for Universal Television and NBC, because Chicago Med has been through a lot of recent cast changes for various reasons. Before DaCosta and DeVitto left, the show also chose to drop actors Colin Donnell, Norma Kuhling, and Rachel DiPillo, while introducing Rains as Donnell’s replacement. The turnover has had its effects on the show—such as Platt’s character Dr. Charles no longer having DiPillo’s character Sarah Reese to mentor, and the overall loss of a talent like Donnell from the ensemble.
Now One Chicago fans know that the actors will be staying through at least the show’s current renewal, and that will give them some peace of mind. It may also provide the writers the ability to write longer-term story arcs for more than just season 7. Locking down the ensemble is the best offseason move for Chicago Med as it represents a chance for the show to plan toward its future.
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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