A rising star, Scott Eastwood is forging his own path with action-packed roles in Wrath of Man (2021), Dangerous (2021) and Fast X (2023). The son of Hollywood legend, Clint Eastwood, Scott may be associated with cinema, but did you know that in the early days of his career, he turned down a lucrative deal with NBC?
Cast as Officer Jim Barnes, Scott had landed a guest role in two episodes of Chicago Fire and subsequently appeared in Chicago PD’s backdoor pilot, but after introducing his character, the star seemingly disappeared from the One Chicago universe altogether.
© Getty ImagesSpeaking to CBR 10 years later, Scott, 38, has opened up about the decision, revealing what really happened behind the scenes.
“I was offered one of those lead roles and it shot in Chicago… and at the time I was like, I can’t do that. I don’t want to move to Chicago,” he explained.
© Getty“I’m not going to sign up for something [for] six and a half years. That’s just too long. I don’t know what I’m going to be doing in six months from now, let alone six and a half years. So I said no — and they were all like, you’re crazy. It’s Dick Wolf. And I was like, well, that’s not my path. That’s great, but that’s not my journey.”
Scott added that in the acting world, it’s important to “follow your gut” and that it’s only when he’s chosen to ignore it, that he’s experienced regret.
Prior to his comments, it had been widely believed that both Scott and his former co-star, Tania Raymonde had been axed from Chicago PD over creative differences, but based on his latest comments it appears there was more to the story.
Scott may have turned down a role in the long-running series, but he’s continued to thrive nonetheless. As of 2025, the California native has several projects in the pipeline. Among them, Scott has been promoting Alarum, a crime thriller in which he teams up with Sylvester Stallone and Willa Fitzgerald.
According to IMDb, he has also entered the post-production stage on the film, Tin Soldier, which has Scott acting alongside Hollywood heavyweights Jamie Foxx, Robert DeNiro and John Leguizamo.
On a personal note, Scott confirmed in 2023 that he’s been living in Texas, and enjoying simple pleasures like fishing, hiking, camping and boating. “I think that’s why people who come to Texas really can fall in love with it. There’s more community, people are more neighborly, people are nice,” he told Flaunt
