Chicago P.D. star Tracy Spiridakos is getting candid about working in the industry. As a teen, she said she had a cruel encounter with a modeling agency after winning a contest.
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The Chicago P.D. star explained what happened.
"I got there and they gave me a bikini and told me to put the bikini on and they were going to take some pictures," Spiridakos recalled on the I've Never Said This Before podcast. "So I went, I put the bikini on, I came out and they took Polaroid pictures of me and then laid them out in front of me."
According to the actor, the agent then "took a Sharpie and circled all my body flaws with a Sharpie and laid them out and they said, 'You have to lose weight here, here, and here if you want to do this.'"
'Chicago P.D.' Star Was Gut Punched
According to the Chicago P.D. star, it was a gut punch.
"Both of my brothers are very protective. So my brother got defensive and he was like, 'You guys brought her out here. You told her she won this contest and now you're telling her that she needs to lose weight? They said, 'You know, look, she's pretty for guy-meets-girl kind of pretty, but if she wants to make it in this industry, she's got to lose weight,'" she recalled.
Her brother was furious and stormed out with the actor from the agency.
"'You're not modeling anymore,'" he told her. "'I'm telling mom you're done.'"
It's an incident that stood with her for years, even now.
She said, "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. I see those flaws, even though they're not flaws, because you're at such a young age and so impressionable."
Ultimately, she went on to have a very successful acting career.
