Tracy Spiridakos revealed which of her Chicago P.D. costars have already tried to score roles on her new crime-drama show, Anna Pigeon.
“I love them all so much. So I would love for them to all come play. Jason [Beghe] sent me a video where he said he wanted to play my dad,” Spiridakos, 38, exclusively told Us. “And when I got the part, he sent me a video saying congratulations on my first day — and that he wanted to come play my dad.”
Spiridakos has also seen fans weighing in about who should join the cast. “I’ve heard them say that they want Jesse [Lee Soffer] to come and play a villain on the show,” she noted. “I’m up for that. So that would be fun.”
After Us brought up how Soffer, 42, has pitched the idea of him playing a park ranger on the upcoming USA Network show, Spiridakos added, “You have to talk to the boss.” Director Lea Thompson, meanwhile, seemed to give her stamp of approval during the joint interview.
“No, that would be great. He’s wonderful,” she told Us. “I’d love him to direct too.”
Anna Pigeon, which airs Fridays, follows Spiridakos in the lead role as a former city girl who becomes a park ranger after a tragic loss changes her life. Along the way, Anna finds herself solving crimes in Glacier National Park.
The series marks Spiridakos’ return to TV after her shocking exit from NBC’s Chicago P.D. Spiridakos recently reprised the role of Hailey Upton during a One Chicago crossover event, which also featured Soffer.
At the time, Spiridakos addressed the chances of her reuniting with Soffer on her new project.
“Oh, my God, that’d be amazing,” Spiridakos said in March after playing onscreen love interests with Soffer in Anna Pigeon. “We’ll have to do some calling [around to the] producers and [have] conversations, but yeah, that’d be really fun.”
Soffer seemed thrilled by the possibility. “That’d be crazy. The green hat, little green hat,” he quipped. “[That would be] so funny.”
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For Spiridakos, Anna Pigeon was a fun challenge after her time playing Hailey.
“I read the pilot and completely fell in love with it. I wasn’t familiar with the books before this project came along but I loved the character. I thought she was so interesting and complicated,” she told Us about the story line. “I loved that even though she’s going through this personal grief and growth and this tragedy that she’s experienced, she doesn’t take herself too seriously. She has moments of levity and I love that she’s funny and sarcastic.”
Spiridakos was thrilled to try something new, sharing, “I was really drawn to that. And I think the thing for me is that Hailey was a very intense character — and so fun to play. But her emotions were always … she put a lid on them and that was part of her. But Anna is wild. She just goes on impulse and on whatever feeling she’s having. She lives very outwardly. I love that. It was such a fun difference.”
She concluded: “They’re both really complicated and powerful women but they do it differently. So it was really attractive for me to get to know her better.”
Anna Pigeon premieres Friday, August 7, at 10 p.m. ET on USA Network.
