Breaking into the entertainment industry is already like climbing Everest, but it can be especially complicated for teenagers, who are often entering a world where appearance is scrutinized just as closely as talent. For Tracy Spiridakos, one of those early experiences happened long before she became known for playing Detective Hailey Upton on Chicago P.D. 

The actress recently looked back on a modeling opportunity from her teenage years and the encounter that ultimately sent her walking away from the industry.

Tracy Spiridakos revealed while talking to Tommy DiDario on his podcast that a modeling agency once circled parts of her body with a Sharpie and told her she needed to lose weight if she wanted to succeed in the industry. The incident happened when Spiridakos was just 17, after she had won a modeling contest and traveled to meet with a major agency alongside one of her brothers. What should have been an exciting opportunity instead became a humiliating experience that ultimately made her walk away from modeling.

“They said, ‘You have to lose weight here, here, and here if you want to do this.’” Spiridakos recalled. She said the agency had first given her a bikini to wear before taking Polaroid photographs of her. The pictures were then laid out in front of her, with an agent using a Sharpie to circle the areas of her body they considered flaws.

Tracy Spiridakos recalled the experience during an appearance on the I’ve Never Said This Before with Tommy DiDario podcast. She described the moment as “like a gut punch” and admitted that she did not really know what to say at the time. Her brother, however, immediately knew that the agency had crossed a line.

Spiridakos said both of her brothers were “very protective,” and the brother who accompanied her confronted the agency about what had happened. According to Spiridakos, the representatives defended their assessment by telling her that she was “pretty for guy-meets-girl kind of pretty,” but claimed she would need to lose weight if she wanted to make it in the industry.

Her brother refused to accept that explanation. He pointed out that the agency had brought Spiridakos there after telling her that she had won a modeling contest, only to tell the teenager that her body needed to change once she arrived. The confrontation ended with Spiridakos and her brother walking out of the agency.

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At 17, Spiridakos could leave the agency behind. What she could not leave behind so easily was what those people had taught her to see whenever she looked at herself.

After the modeling agency told 17-year-old Tracy Spiridakos that she needed to lose weight and marked the areas they considered her “flaws” on Polaroid photographs, she revealed that the experience continued to affect the way she saw herself years later.

“It’s funny, because, like, those places on my body that they circled, even now — and it’s been a long time — I still see those things in the mirror." Spiridakos said. She explained that she still sees those perceived flaws despite knowing that they were never flaws in the first place.

Spiridakos reflected on how deeply impressionable she was at that age, making the agency’s words particularly difficult to shake. What happened in that room became something she carried with her long after she had walked away from modeling. Still, the experience did not stop Spiridakos from pursuing a career in entertainment. She landed her first screen role on Supernatural in 2007 before appearing in shows including The L Word and Psych. She later earned a Saturn Award nomination for her performance in NBC’s Revolution.

Spiridakos eventually joined Chicago P.D. in Season 4 as Detective Hailey Upton, becoming a main cast member in Season 5. She remained with the series through Season 11 before returning for a guest appearance in Season 13.

The modeling agency may have convinced a teenage Spiridakos that she needed to change her body to make it in the industry, but her acting career ultimately proved that their judgment was never a measure of her potential.

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What do you make of Tracy Spiridakos opening up about an experience that still affects the way she sees herself decades later? Let us know in the comments!