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The actress originally appeared in the backdoor pilot in April.
Laurie Holden is checking out of Chicago Med.
The Walking Dead alum has exited the freshman medical drama ahead of its November debut, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
"I am so grateful to Dick Wolf, my fellow castmembers, NBC and the entire Chicago Med team for their understanding," said Holden in a statement. "Sometimes we must make tough choices and, for family reasons, not doing Chicago Med is one of those for me at this time. I know the show is going to be a huge success and I’ll be watching."
Holden's role will not be recast. However, producers plan to add three new female roles to the show, including an emergency pediatrician, a charge nurse and a young first-year resident. Production on the series is scheduled to begin in September.
"We are sorry to see her go," said a Chicago Med spokesperson in a statement. "We are currently casting additional new roles, which we hope to have confirmed very soon.”
In the backdoor pilot for Chicago Med, which aired as an April episode of Chicago Fire, Holden played Dr. Hannah Tramble, a fearless and brilliant ER surgeon whose tough childhood gave her a dark edge. This would have marked her first series regular role since The Walking Dead, on which she played Andrea for three seasons.
This is the second behind-the-scenes change for Chicago Med, which was originally scheduled to premiere sometime midseason. The series was bumped up to the fall schedule when NBC had to move the premiere of its other rookie medical drama, Heartbreaker, due to star Melissa George's pregnancy.
The cast of Chicago Med, the second spinoff of Chicago Fire, also includes Oliver Platt, S. Epatha Merkerson, Nick Gehlfuss, Yaya DaCosta, Colin Donnell and Brian Tee.
Wolf, Matt Olmstead, Danielle Gelber, Peter Jankowski, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas and Andrew Dettmann will exec produce the series, which hails from Universal Television and Wolf Films.
Chicago Med premieres on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 10 p.m. on NBC.
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