LaRoyce Hawkins was utterly on board with former Chicago P.D. costar Jesse Lee Soffer directing a season 10 episode of the present — and it went off and not using a hitch.

“That was wonderful. Jesse’s such a proficient man. And he’s been doing this for therefore lengthy,” Hawkins, 35, solely instructed Us Weekly on Monday, June 26, whereas selling his partnership with SimpliSafe. “His eye could be very nicely seasoned in relation to simply footage and frames.”

The Illinois native, who performs Kevin Atwater on the NBC sequence, defined that Soffer, 39, was “one thing like a player-coach” when he was nonetheless on the present. Soffer portrayed Jay Halstead for 9 seasons earlier than asserting in August 2022 that he was exiting the cop drama at first of season 10. He returned to set in early 2023, stepping behind the digital camera in his directorial debut that March.

“We trusted him instantly. We knew that he had that director bug in him and we have been excited to look at it activate,” Hawkins instructed Us of his former display screen accomplice. “And I feel his episode [‘Deadlocked’] was nice. We’re wanting ahead to working with him once more.”

Whereas the South Aspect alum loved seeing Soffer again with their P.D. castmates, he confessed that it’s “at all times laborious” to regulate when somebody leaves the present. (Soffer is the latest casting shakeup, following Sophia Bush in 2017 and Elias Koteas in 2018.)

“It’s positively not the best factor to take care of as a result of our present is admittedly constructed on the material of household. And once we begin discovering the rhythm with one another, and the synergy and the chemistry feels nice, it’s laborious to penetrate,” Hawkins instructed Us on Monday. “After we lose a chunk, it turns into laborious for us to seek out that new rhythm once more with the items that we’ve got.”

He added: “The core has been collectively for some time. So, it doesn’t take us too lengthy to get again into it, however to be clear with you, we do take one thing like a synergy hit each time that occurs.”

The North of the ten actor famous that the P.D. forged is “very very similar to a household,” which additionally stretches to the remainder of the One Chicago group.

“It’s like going to your Auntie’s home and taking part in together with your cousin. It’s household,” Hawkins instructed Us of working with the Chicago Fireplace and Chicago Med casts now and again. “It feels acquainted. You’re at dwelling, [but] you continue to gotta ask permission earlier than you go within the fridge, however [when you do] you’re welcome to no matter you need. It’s like a type of dynamics.”

The NBC persona joked that there’s a “gentle sibling rivalry” between all of Dick Wolf’s Chicago-based exhibits.

“We tease Chicago Med as a result of they’re by no means out within the parts and, you realize, simply form of keep of their plush scrubs they usually’re extraordinarily snug,” Hawkins revealed. “We tease Fireplace generally as a result of they’re most likely probably the most dramatic out of all of us.”

The Chicago P.D. staff, nonetheless, isn’t resistant to the teasing both. In keeping with Hawkins, the opposite stars say, “‘Oh, what was it like to actually have tales?’ And it’s like, ‘Y’all are humorous.’”

Hawkins reiterated that all of them “love one another” in the best way that “distant family members” do. “After we can share the battlefield collectively, it’s at all times an excellent time,” he added.

As Hawkins gears as much as reunite along with his P.D. household for season 11, he’s maintaining his police instincts intact by teaming up with SimpliSafe. On Monday, the corporate launched its 24/7 Dwell Guard Safety program, which suggests a SimpliSafe worker is monitoring a person’s dwelling in actual time in case a break-in occurs.

SimpliSafe additionally created the Sensible Alarm Indoor Digicam, which has an alarm that goes off the second somebody comes into the house. A stay correspondent is then in a position to converse to the intruder as one other stage of safety.

“After I discovered about how SimpliSafe was actually simplifying the distinction between comfortability and security and the way it’s actually do-it-yourself simple [I signed on],” Hawkins instructed Us. “It’s not troublesome or sophisticated it to grasp and it’s 24/7, particularly with this new product that we’re launching. It simply made extra sense. It was an ideal mixture.”

Study extra about SimpliSafe’s latest merchandise right here. Catch Chicago P.D. on NBC when it returns in fall 2023 for season 11.

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With reporting by Johnni Macke