For seven years Tracy Spiridakos starred as Detective Hailey Upton on NBC’s procedural Chicago PD. Over those years, Tracy appeared in over 20 episodes per season with actions and decisions made by Hailey becoming ingrained in Tracy as well.
So it makes sense that the actress would have to make a 180-degree turn when it came to how she approached her new role as Anna Pigeon, a national parks ranger, with Tracy telling HELLO! that she had to “unlearn” long-formed habits.
“The training that they go through for Park Rangers and a police officer is similar, basic training, but then the training is really different after that,” the 38-year-old shared.
“I actually had to unlearn and unknow the things that I knew, because I would go to kick in a door and I’m like, ‘Wait, Anna doesn’t do this,’ whereas Hailey was doing it every day. Those subtleties were information I had to unlearn.”
© GettyThe Bell Media/USA Network procedural is based on Nevada Barr’s series of books, first published in 1993, and set in the stunning but terrifying world of Glacier National Park in northwest Montana; production shot in Alberta, Canada.
Season one uses the first two books in the series, Track of the Cat and A Superior Death, restricting the setting to Glacier National Park instead of moving Anna to a different National Park for each new story as Nevada’s books do.
The 10-part series introduces viewers to the titular Anna, a theater stage manager turned Park Ranger in her late 30s who moved from New York City after the murder of her husband in a home invasion.
© Getty ImagesAs each episode focuses on a new crime taking place inside the park, Anna’s backstory, and the mystery around her husband’s death, is slowly unveiled across season one, thanks to phone conversations with her therapist sister (Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer), Anna’s flashbacks via nightmares, and the help of FBI friend-turned-potential love interest Agent Stanton (Star Trek: Discovery’s Ronnie Rowe Jr.)
“I was really grateful to be a part of the project,” said Tracy, whom Back to the Future star – and executive producer – Lea Thompson shared was her “number one choice” for the role.
“I hadn’t read the books, but I read the pilot and completely fell in love with the character. She’s funny, she’s edgy, she’s impulsive, and there’s so much to her that I couldn’t wait to get in there and start,” added Tracy.
Tracy left Chicago PD in 2024 at the end of season 11 after joining the show during season four, and becoming a series regular in season five. Her character, Hailey Upton, wed Detective Jay Halstead, played by Jesse Lee Soffer, in season nine, but Jesse shocked viewers when he confirmed he would be leaving in season ten.
The character of Jay left to join a task force in Bolivia, but fans were devastated to see that their marriage then crumbled over the course of the season as Jay ghosted Hailey.
They reunited on screen earlier in 2026 when both characters returned to Chicago for the One Chicago crossover. Their status was left open-ended when Hailey asked Jay if he wanted to get a drink.
In real life, however, Tracy and Jesse found their own romance; the pair have never officially confirmed their romance but soft-launched across social media in 2024 with European vacation pictures and have continued with rare pictures of their home life.
In 2026, they adopted a pet dog together, Cali, after the passing of their first dog, Nala.
Jesse and Tracy were both in Chicago shooting the One Chicago crossover episodes, which aired in March, when they got the call that their adoption of Cali had been confirmed. They flew back to Los Angeles during a break to welcome her to their home.
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