Why did Peter Mills leave Chicago Fire?
CHICAGO Fire fans were shocked when Peter Mills left the NBC hit series after just three seasons. Mills starred on the show since it premiered in 2012, playing a rookie firefighter whose father was killed in the line of duty. Actor Charlie Barnett starred as the rookie firefighter for three seasons. Barnett has starred in several TV series including, The CW's Valor and the superhero show Arrow. The 33-year-old has appeared in several Netflix series, including Russian Doll, Tales of the City and You. In 2019, Barnett was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Alan Zaveri in Russian Doll. During season 3, Mills' decision to leave the firehouse to work at his family's restaurant in North Carolina took fans by surprise, as the young firefighter was getting his feet wet in the team. Despite the shocking decision on the scene, there was a concrete explanation for Mills' exit from Chicago Fire behind the scenes. "It was just a normal day of filming," Barnett recalled in an interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "I hadn't heard anything about it and then [the writers and producers] pulled me into a room, sat me down and apologized. "They expressed that it wasn't about me or myself as an actor or my personality. But they felt that Peter had reached a plateau and the writers didn't know where to take him because he'd done so much already." Nevertheless, the decision to cut Barnett's character also had to do with introducing new characters to the show. 2 Barnett's character was written off after just three seasons on the show Credit: Getty  At the time, executive producer Matt Olmstead told TV Guide, "The hardest part of this job is when you feel it's the right time to make cast changes. "[Losing Barnett] was solely based on bringing in new people for new stories. Otherwise, it turns into a clown car. "You have affection and admiration for [your cast], so you keep everybody, but it's at the detriment of being objective and making some tough calls in terms of storytelling," he said. Olmstead added: "So, we wanted to shake things up and bring in a new character  and here we are. It was an extremely tough decision to make, but we feel good about it." Chicago Fire's season 9 wrapped up on May 26, 2021. The series has already been renewed for a tenth and eleventh season; however, the official release date for season 10 has yet to be determined. Fans can expect to see Chicago Fire return sometime in 2022.