‘Chicago Med’: Asjha Cooper Leaves NBC Series After Two Seasons
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Chicago Med Season 8, Episode 6, “Mamma Said There Would Be Days Like This.”]
Asjha Cooper is hanging up her white coat, as the actress who plays Vanessa Taylor on NBC’s Chicago Med is leaving the popular medical drama.
According to Variety, Wednesday’s (November 2) episode marked Cooper’s final appearance on the show. In the episode, Vanessa told her birth mother, Maggie (Marlyne Barrett), that she had chosen to leave her job as a doctor at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center for an opportunity to travel to the Philippines and help those in need. “This is my calling,” she said at the episode’s conclusion.
Following the episode, Barrett tweeted a video of the moment, writing alongside it, “She’s going! A New Journey Begins! Will miss this one!” Meanwhile, Cooper shared a video at dinner with her castmates on her Instagram Story, along with the caption, “Gonna miss my OneChicago fam.”
She’s going! A New Journey Begins! Will miss this one! 😭 #ChicagoMed pic.twitter.com/Umqe8zjh22
— Marlyne Barrett (@barrettmarlyne) November 3, 2022
Cooper first appeared in the Dick Wolf drama series in Season 6 and has featured in 29 episodes between 2021 and 2022. She played Vanessa, a first-year resident, who initially had tension with Maggie due to her being her biological mother and not wanting anyone to know.
Her previous credits include Secret Diary of an American Cheerleader, Snowfall, The Fosters, and All American.
Cooper’s exit marks the latest in a string of recent Chicago Med departures. Earlier this season, Guy Lockard and Sarah Rafferty, who played Dr. Dylan Scott and Dr. Pamela Blake, respectively, both left the hospital drama. In addition, Brian Tee, who has played Dr. Ethan Choi since the series premiere, is expected to leave the series in December.
Speaking on Lockard’s exit earlier this year, co-showrunner Andrew Schneider told Variety, “We love Guy. He did a great job and was wonderful to work with. But what was sort of the cornerstone of his character was a doctor who had been a cop and couldn’t escape his past — it becomes very evident in the premiere episode.
He added: “So having really resolved that, we felt we had really covered his story arc, but Guy is so good and was such a wonderful character that we would welcome bringing him back in the future.”
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