Why did Joe Miñoso leave ‘Chicago Fire’? Actor explains his sudden exit
After 15 memorable seasons, Joe Miñoso, who played Firefighter Josef "Joe" Cruz, exited 'Chicago Fire' in its 300th episode. The exit was announced before the season premiere and left long-time fans by surprise. Like the fans, the actor was shocked to hear that he was being let go. "I remember I was sitting in the producers' office, and I was staring at all of the headshots in the room, and I just kept looking at my picture and recognizing that it would no longer be in the mix of the ensemble [with my exit]," Minoso told TV Insider. "And it was hard to hear at first, but at the same time, I really understood it. When you spend this much time, there are some firefighters that get maybe 20 years out of a career, and I'm five short of that. So I feel like I might as well have gone through the actual service."
This suggests that producers decided to write Cruz out. Neither the showrunner nor anyone behind the scenes has revealed the reason for the decision. The team probably took the call to shake up the narrative. Initially surprised, Miñoso ultimately was satisfied with his long journey in the show. "What's great about what we did with the character was, you know, I never imagined him becoming such a leader, or really even a father," Miñoso told US Magazine. "The arc, whether or not by design from the very beginning, really felt like a really fulfilling arc. And we did it in such a positive way. So I’m super proud of it."
Miñoso also appreciated how his story was wrapped up. "It's been an incredibly bittersweet experience," the actor shared with NBC. "Weirdly, for half the season, I was like, 'This feels like it might be right,' you know? Especially once we went into that twin storyline, it just feels like we've really hit a really sweet spot for the character and have told such a lovely story." Miñoso added that it was an "appropriate, lovely goodbye." Miñoso was really emotional during the filming. "It really was a love letter to the character, and so it just all felt really good. But at the same time, there wasn't a day that I filmed the scene in Episode 5 where I wasn't bawling my eyes out; I could barely get through them," he said.
Miñoso was happy that the team agreed with his request to include Otis (Yuri Sardarov) in his farewell episode. "They are wrapped in the same cloth, those two, and their journeys are intertwined, even in Otis's death. He named his first child after him, and that's how the scene at the memorial was born," he shared. Cruz's journey might have ended with 'Chicago Fire,' but Miñoso isn't going anywhere. He will direct the show's future episodes. "I'm going to be directing later on in the season, and that's given me the opportunity and time to sit and shadow a lot of directors that have come through in the last couple of episodes [including that rescue]. It was just such a multi-layered rescue with insane stunts," he said to TV Insider. To catch Miñoso's directorial debut, tune in every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
