America's Next Top Model has launched the careers of a handful of successful models and actresses over the years, but it's not necessarily the platform for superstardom you'd think a national television show would provide. In fact, one of its most famous alums sometimes wished she'd never even done the show.
Yaya DaCosta, who currently stars on NBC's Chicago Med, told E! News ahead of the premiere of her new series that being on ANTM was "taboo" to casting directors when she tried to get acting roles after her stint on the show.
"I was really young and inexperienced in a lot of ways when it comes to just being in the public eye. So even though it was a taboo thing that oftentimes I wish I'd never done," she confessed, but don't worry—the actress, who has starred in acclaimed films The Butler and The Kids Are All Right, learned plenty from her experience. "It ended up being a positive thing because it taught me a lot about being in the public eye and it forced me to grow up."
While it might have been a little harder to break through in Hollywood, her time on ANTM was valuable. "It just got me used to all this other stuff that is going to come with [stardom], prematurely—which is a blessing in hindsight," she said.
Find out what else DaCosta thought of her ANTM experience ahead of the series finale on Friday, Dec. 4—including the moment she found out Tyra Banks' series was ending—in the video above. Chicago Med airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.