Chicago Med’s Nick Gehlfuss celebrates his birthday

Chicago Med star Nick Gehlfuss celebrates his birthday today, so we’re celebrating him and looking back on the year for his character, Dr. Will Halstead.

Today we’re saying happy birthday to Chicago Med‘s own Nick Gehlfuss, who brings to life the scrappy Dr. Will Halstead. Will’s life and career have been full of ups and downs, but he’s been a fan favorite since the very first episode.

The last year has been incredibly hard on Will—which ironically means it’s given Nick incredible material to play with. The more trouble Will gets into, the more screen time Nick gets and fans have seen him juggle some pretty crazy stories.

In the second half of last season, Will struggled with the aftermath of being drunk and kissing another doctor, which drove a wedge between him and his longtime crush Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto).

After he rushed after an upset Natalie and proposed to her, this season was supposed to be the one where they got married and lived happily ever after. But instead, Chicago Med had Will cross paths with a gangster and then become an undercover informant!

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Now he’s back, but still dealing with issues from nearly being shot and in the most recent episode, he was forced into mandatory counseling.

Will has had more than enough headaches in his life recently, and if we’re honest, some of them have not been the best-written. The entire aforementioned drunk subplot with Dr. Maya Frisch (recurring guest star Emma Duncan) was really a mess.

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But through all of that, Nick Gehlfuss has been a rock star. It takes talent for an actor to juggle a character arc that’s going through so many changes, especially if they’re so big and dramatic as what Will has had to live with.

Even as Will’s life has gone completely upside down, Nick has kept him together. He’s shown the One Chicago audience every possible emotion—from Will’s romantic side with Natalie to his fear and anger at the whole Ray Price storyline, and how he’s matured on the job now that he’s gone from chief resident to attending physician.

It’s been important to see Will Halstead mature from the reckless doctor we met in the first season and understand that he’s capable of learning from his mistakes. And now, as the show’s response to that newfound stability has been to try and destabilize him at almost every turn, Nick has been able to keep us caring about him. He’s a wonderfully talented actor, in addition to being a great person.

Hopefully the rest of the season is going to be easier on Will at some point, but whatever gets thrown at him, fans know Nick can handle it. And on his birthday, we’re tipping our proverbial cap to how he’s handled a character who’s gone through more than many characters will experience in an entire series. It’s been a pleasure to watch and we can’t wait to see what he does next.

For the latest Chicago Med season 4 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.