Skip to content 
Joe Minoso opens up about his upcoming departure Chicago Fire.
The 48-year-old actor has played Cruz for 300 episodes, since the first season of the long-running NBC show and fans were shocked to learn of his exit.
Cruz suffered from serious injuries from a large warehouse fire that carried over from the end of season 14 to the beginning of season 15. As the last season began, viewers learned that the firefighter had broken his back and was unable to continue at Firehouse 51.
What did Joe Miñoso say about his exit from Chicago Fire?
Joe He spoke to TV Insider in a new interview and shared that his first reaction to learning about his character’s injury was “shock” and revealed that he was “saddened to hear” that he would be leaving after such a long time.
I remember I was sitting in the producers’ office and I was looking at all the heads in the room, and I kept looking at my picture and realizing that it wouldn’t be in the ensemble mix anymore. [with my exit]. And it was hard to hear it at first, but at the same time, I really understood it. When you spend this time, there are some firefighters who get maybe 20 years out of service, and I’m five short of that. So I feel like I may have gone through the real service as well.
He had some input on Cruz’s exit arc
The actor also said he had “some discussions” with the writing team to help shape Cruz’s exit arc.
“I mentioned some things that maybe some of them hadn’t considered or thought about because they weren’t right here at the very beginning, so it’s just a lot of story that could be swept under the carpet and not remembered,” he said.
Joe continued, “I brought up a couple of ideas and they were always so receptive to the discussions. Victor [Teran] has been just an amazing showman. “
What to expect from his latest episode
He also explained what people can expect from the emotional farewell, specifically mentioning a scene he’ll be sharing with Severide (Taylor Kinney).
There is a very important scene between Severide and Cruz that was actually the last scene we shot for the episode, or at least for the Cruz character. And it was unbelievable. It was very emotional. There were a lot of tears, and it was really nice to get to do that scene with him Taylor because it was something we don’t do often on our show. Cruz is always there, he always gets Severide back, and that doesn’t necessarily change, but you just don’t see this kind of special moment between those two characters, I think, ever on the show. So it was really, really special.
He said the program is “entirely tied in the idea of family.”
Joe will be back later this season in a new role
Although Cruz is not returning, Joe he’ll still be around to host an episode later this season!
Its final episode will be the 300th episode which will air on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
Posted to:Chicago Fire Joe Minoso
