Hank Voight is the hero of Chicago PD in the loosest sense. He's the guy we root for, but he doesn't always make the most just decision. We met him on Chicago Fire, where he was very clearly abusing his power to protect his son. But such is the beauty of Chicago PD. It's a show that welcomes contradiction and moral ambiguity.
Voight has softened somewhat, since his introduction, but he may need to implement his rough and tumble approach once more if he wants to protect his unit from Chief Charlie Reid (Shawn Hatosy). Jason Beghe, the actor who plays Voight, recently spoke to TV Insider about the season 12 villain, and how he's proven to be a mirror version of his own character.
"We look similar. It’s almost like Voight’s looking in the mirror, and I find it interesting," Beghe told the outlet. "That’s obviously metaphorical. But somebody is going down." The actor noted that Voight has always been able to come out on top because he's been more experienced or tactical than his foes... but Reid has been a CPD member almost as long as he has.
Jason Beghe claims Chief Reid is like Voight
The two men have had similar experiences, and been forced to make some grim choices for what they considered to be the greater good. They are the same kind of animal, and this is something that Voight is going to have to reckon with as season 12 reaches its climax.
"We’re getting into that area," Beghe explained. "But the thing that’s interesting is that I think what’s implied, even though we don’t have the same kind of history, that Reid is the same. This is not the guy you F with. Just like you’re not going to F with me."
The decision to bring in a foe who resembles Voight, and forces him to view his own tactics from a different perspective, is a brilliant one. The character has been struggling to make sense of his own life over the last few seasons, between the departure of close friends and the death of a teen victim, Noah (Bobby Hagan), who reminded him of his late son.
Voight will try to take Reid down in season 12
Voight has been through a lot over the years. Hell, he almost died in the season 11 finale. The character is on a quest to reconcile with his past, and make peace with everything he's been through. It's something Beghe himself has talked about during interviews.
"Voight is not aware of his own psychology, I think in many ways,” Beghe told TV Insider in 2024. “He’s becoming aware more than ever, which is an interesting kind of exercise for me as an actor." We have seen brief glimpses of this self-awareness throughout season 12, but you can tell the character still struggle to find the right balance.
This desire to improve, coupled with the desire to stamp out Reid, puts the character in a tough spot. It feels like he'll have to revert back to his old ways to protect his team, which is something that Beghe alludes to. "I can feel it heading somewhere," he opined. "I said to Shawn, 'At some point, we’re going to be grabbing each other’s shirts at least.'"
We are excited for the shirt grabbing and whatever else materializes in Chicago PD season 12.