‘Chicago Justice’: Nazneen Contractor Exits NBC Legal Drama (Exclusive)

Chicago Justice is parting ways with one of its stars ahead of its premiere.

Nazneen Contractor, who appeared in the backdoor pilot for the Dick Wolf spinoff, has exited the forthcoming NBC legal drama, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

Contractor played Dawn Harper, the second-in-command to Philip Winchester’s prosecutor Peter Stone. They both appeared in a May episode of Chicago P.D., which served to introduce the characters of Chicago Justice one day before NBC officially ordered the new project to series.

Instead, Contractor has boarded Frank Spotnitz’s forthcoming CBS drama Ransom, which begins shooting its 13-episode first season this fall in Toronto and France.

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Contractor was cast in Chicago Justice following a role on NBC’s Heroes Reborn. Her other credits include 24 and The Carmichael Show. She is repped by Greene & Associates and BMK-ENT.

The Chicago Justice cast also includes Joelle Carter (Justified), Carl Weathers (Rocky) and newcomer Ryan-James Hatanaka.

Chicago Justice is slated to begin production in September for a midseason bow. Wolf will executive produce with Matt Olmstead, Derek Haas, Michael Brandt, Arthur W. Forney, Peter Jankowski and showrunner Michael S. Chernuchin. The series hails from Wolf Films and Universal Television.

Wolf’s Chicago shows are no stranger to recastings. Several castmembers that were originally introduced in a backdoor pilot of Chicago P.D. left after that May 2013 episode of Chicago Fire. Scott Eastwood, Tania Raymonde, Kelly Blatz, Melissa Sagemiller and J.B. Smoove exited, making way for new regulars Sophia Bush, Jesse Lee Soffer, Patrick John Flueger, Elias Koteas and Marina Squerciati.

Last year, The Walking Dead grad Laurie Holden appeared in the backdoor pilot for Chicago Med, which aired as an April episode of Chicago Fire. She then exited the series in July citing “family reasons.” Torrey DeVitto and Rachel DiPillo subsequently signed on.