Jason Beghe’s birthday: Why we love Chicago PD’s Hank Voight
Chicago PD star Jason Beghe celebrates his birthday on Monday, so we’re looking at the reasons why we love his character, the tough as nails Hank Voight.
Today we’re saying happy birthday to Jason Beghe of Chicago PD, who has brought Hank Voight to life for four and a half seasons, and done it his way.
When we first met Voight it seemed impossible that we would ever like him. He was introduced on Chicago Fire making life difficult for Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer).
But flash forward and Jason Beghe was getting his own spinoff in Chicago PD, where Voight would not only be continuing on, but be the star of the show.
And now into the fifth season Voight hasn’t lost any of his edge, and One Chicago fans have come to root for him as one of our heroes.
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Maybe that’s because there’s no character quite like Hank Voight. He does things seemingly every week that the audience may not agree with, many of which are definitely against the law.
We know that he’s covered up at least one murder, that he lies like it’s nothing, that he spent time behind bars, and as for his personal life? Well, that’s probably best left alone since it involves call girls. He’s very much a man who lives in the grey area.
So why do we love him so much?
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We can chalk that up to the acting talents of Jason Beghe. He’s done an excellent job of showing us that while Voight is a tough guy, he’s also a very wounded character.
This is a man whose son has died, who’s watched the woman he regarded as a surrogate daughter move to New York, and whose one-time partner is currently trying to do everything possible to get him arrested. And that’s just the start of a long list of problems Voight has struggled with. He can be hurt like anyone else, and he’s also shown sides that are compassionate and even funny:
But we also love Hank Voight because he’s a heavyweight. Chicago PD is the darkest of the three One Chicago shows, so it needed a main character who could provide that weight and that edge to keep the show going. Jason Beghe is also definitely that guy.
He’s the kind of person that you just know not to mess with. When he speaks, you instinctively shut up and listen. And he gets to do things that we often wish we could, whether it’s telling off someone who needs it or more often, getting to physically put a bad guy in their place.
He’s larger than life in that sense, and One Chicago wouldn’t be the same without Hank Voight standing in the way of anyone who wants to mess with his city. So we’re thrilled to have Jason Beghe on our team, because we need Voight on our side.
Next: Which other Chicago PD star has a birthday?
Join us in wishing Jason Beghe a happy birthday in the comments, and don’t miss him in the next episode of Chicago PD on Wednesday.
Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.