Chicago P.D.'s Tracy Spiridakos Describes The Nerves She Felt When Being Promoted To A Series Regular

Joining a massive franchise like "One Chicago" has to be nerve-racking. Not only is the expansive world a long-running series that's a hit with audiences, but it comes from the mind of Dick Wolf, arguably the maestro of television franchises. Not only has the veteran producer introduced the world to "Chicago Fire," "Chicago P.D.," "Chicago Med," and "Chicago Justice," but he's also the name television viewers see first in credits of several "Law and Order" shows — a franchise also connected to "One Chicago" — some of which are still going. On top of his lens into Chicago first responders, Dick Wolf is also a producer that stands behind the current "Law and Order," "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," and "Law and Order: Organized Crime."

"Chicago P.D." star Tracy Spiridakos, who plays Det. Hailey Upton, joined the show as a series regular in the fifth season, per The Hollywood Reporter. Spiridokas appeared in "Chicago P.D." Season Four and had plenty of experience before joining the series as a regular — including "Bates Motel" and the short-lived "Revolution" — but even she felt some nerves before fully joining such a massive franchise. The actress described the nerves she felt before becoming a regular.

According to Tracy Spiridakos, she felt more nerves joining as a regular on "Chicago P.D." Season Five than she did doing multiple episodes at the tail-end of the show's fourth season. She described joining the fourth season as comparable to the first day at a new school, but being promoted to a regular made her realize how much she wanted to be there.

"When I got to know everybody, and I started to see how amazing everybody was, I was like, 'oh, I want to stay,'" the actress told BUILD Series. "Chicago P.D." marks the first time Spiridakos has played a cop in her career and she admitted in previous interviews that there was a learning curve, despite her extensive acting resume. 

New characters being introduced long into a series run is a long-running staple for Dick Wolf. "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" saw a revolving door of detectives through its 10 seasons to compliment Vincent D'Onofrio's Robert Goren and Kathryn Erbe's Alexandria Eames, and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" only has Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson and Ice-T's 'Fin' Tutuola as characters that have been there since or close to the beginning.  

"It's a learning curve. Even just how to stand when you're holding your gun, and your posture, and what you're thinking about and all that is just different. It's been a very interesting process," she said, per One Chicago Center.