List of Chicago Med characters

:Portrayed by Nick Gehlfuss

Dr. Will Halstead is an attending in the Emergency Department. He was first introduced to the ''Chicago'' franchise in the ''Chicago P.D.'' episode "Say Her Real Name" as Detective Jay Halstead's estranged brother who drops by to visit in a two-episode arc. The character moved to ''Med'' after being introduced in the show's backdoor pilot on ''Chicago Fire'' and Gehlfuss was made a regular cast member when the characters at Chicago Medical Center who appeared in both ''Fire'' and ''P.D.'' were given their own spin-off.

Dr. Halstead was initially written as a plastic surgeon who left his private practice (or was implied in ''P.D.'' to have been "kicked out") in New York City and returned home to Chicago. After the backdoor pilot of ''Chicago Med'', he decided to switch specialties to emergency medicine. When ''Med'' first premiered, he was Chief Resident. As of season 2 he has been an attending. He is characterized as a competent and compassionate doctor who tries to do what he thinks is best for his patient but his single-minded stubbornness has sometimes clouded his judgment, such as when he insists on a particular course of action that is contrary to both advice and evidence. Charge Nurse Maggie Lockwood, who sometimes uses the nickname "Big Red" when referring to Dr. Halstead, once described him as "a slightly anal, overly stubborn, rule breaking, control freak". Dr. Halstead's relationship with hospital administrator Sharon Goodwin has been historically fraught, and Halstead's job has been jeopardized on multiple occasions.

In season 1 Dr. Halstead clashes a number of times with Dr. Connor Rhodes, a trauma surgery fellow, and Sharon Goodwin, the chief administrator, over hospital practices and policies. He particularly disliked Dr. Rhodes as he felt the latter was an entitled "rich kid" from the more affluent northern suburbs. They eventually call an unspoken truce by the end of the season as they developed a mutual professional respect for one another. During the episode "Choices" he finds himself in hot water after ignoring a patient's DNR and faces a lawsuit as a result. He also earns the ire of attending Dr. Kendra Perrington in the episode "Inheritance" for overriding her at the request of the patient's brother, who was his former schoolmate, only to find out that she was on the hiring committee. This put his job prospects in jeopardy as he was in the last year of his residency. In the season 1 finale he receives a letter of offer for an attending position in the ED, much to his relief. For much of early season 2, he stresses out over his finances as he still had to pay off his student loans and sizeable malpractice insurance (due to his malpractice suit from the episode "Clarity"). He initially sees final-year medical student Jeff Clarke as a rival for Natalie's affections but develops a friendship with Clarke and often encourages him.

During the first season, Dr. Halstead had feelings for the pediatric emergency medicine fellow, Dr. Natalie Manning, who was then pregnant with her late husband's baby. It caused some awkwardness as her mother-in-law (portrayed by actress Annie Potts) was extremely protective and initially viewed him with suspicion. He eventually decided to move on and starts dating pathologist Nina Shore (portrayed by Patti Murin, the real-life wife of Gehlfuss' co-star Colin Donnell). They move in together in the season 2 episode "Free Will". They break up in finale of season 2 because he still has feelings for Dr. Manning. In the first episode of season 3 “Nothing To Fear”, she returns from a three-month sabbatical and tells him she also has feelings for him too and they became a couple. In season 4 they prepare for their wedding but Dr. Halstead finds himself in a difficult position when a neighborhood friend he made a house call to turns out to be federally listed criminal wanted by both the CPD and FBI. His brother convinces him to continue making the house calls in order to feed information to the joint CPD-FBI task force.

When he was first introduced on ''P.D.'', it was implied that he and Jay had not seen each other for some time. Jay still has some lingering bitterness over the fact that Will was not around when their late mother was ill (she died of cancer). Despite this, they remain close and look out for one another. The brothers had a difficult relationship with their late father Pat as he disapproved of both his sons' occupations. The Halsteads are from a working class Irish Catholic background, as implied by Will's statements about growing up in Canaryville, a historically Irish neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago, and being an altar boy in his youth. Will attended De La Salle Institute, where he excelled academically but was also bullied by the more popular students and given the derogatory nickname "Ginger Spice". It is likely that he and his brother were ostracized for coming from a lower socioeconomic background as Jay has also made a reference to being ostracized by his more affluent counterparts at private school.

Dr. Halstead plays the guitar and performed at weddings to pay his way through medical school. It was a reference to actor Nick Gehlfuss's days as a busker in New York City when he first entered the acting industry.

He is a supporter of the Chicago White Sox like his father. Provided by Wikipedia