Former Chicago Fire star Charlie Barnett has described being abruptly written out of the show as a “blessing in disguise”.
The actor, who appears in Netflix series Russian Doll, played Peter Mills on the popular NBC show. He starred in the series from 2012 until 2015, when he was written out.
In a new interview, Barnett acknowleged that he was “really sad at the time”, but admitted that he reflects on the situation differently now.
“[The show] was a behemoth that I never really saw coming. I was thankful to be a part of it,” Barnett told Digital Spy. “I really was sad to be let go. It broke me for quite a long time.”
He added: “It was a blessing in disguise, and they all told me that. You never really see that in life, in general. You never see the bad moments becoming the good. It wouldn’t be. It wouldn’t be what it was, I think, if you did recognize it for what it is in the moment. So I’m thankful.”
Speaking about the decision to write Mills out of the show at the time time, the drama’s 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. It was solely based on bringing in new people for new stories. Otherwise, it turns into a clown car.
“We wanted to shake things up and bring in a new character and we started discussing the idea... and here we are. It was an extremely tough decision to make, but we feel good about it.”
Barnett plays Alan Zaveri in Russian Doll, which has just returned to Netflix for a seconf season. His other credits include Tales of the City and You, in which he plays Gabe Miranda.
You can read The Independent’s four-star review of Russian Doll season two here.
Chicago Fire is currently on its 10th season, and has already been renewed for an 11th.
