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Zachary Quinto Promises Brilliant Minds Has an Undeniable "Message of Hope"
Life getting you down? Zachary Quinto says his new medical drama will leave you feeling hopeful.
There are all kinds of television drama fans. Some like their procedurals gritty and true to life, like the Law & Order audience. Or, those who love the dark and twisty turns of NBC's hit drama Found. But for actor Zachary Quinto, who has starred in a lot of dark dramas from Heroes (streaming on Peacock) to American Horror Story, he's more than happy to be starring in the new NBC medical drama Brilliant Minds, which is all about discovering the depths of human potential.
At last month's Television Critics Association press panel for Brilliant Minds, Quinto told outlets, including NBC Insider, how "grateful" he is to be the lead on a series that had the potential to lift audiences up.
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"Frankly, at this time in the world and in this day and age, to be on a show that has a message of hope, a message of how we're similar more than how we're different and actually what brings us together instead of what pulls us apart... that, to me, feels really vital right now," Quinto said.
How does Brilliant Minds pursue a kinder kind of hospital drama?
Brilliant Minds centers on Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), who is mentoring a team of exceptional neurology interns through some of the most confounding neurological cases at Bronx General Hospital. Wolf is actually inspired by real-life British neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks (1933-2015), who held a similar role and documented his case studies regarding brain disorders and their treatment in his nonfiction books.
Brilliant Minds will update and remix some of those actual Sacks cases, as well as introduce original, modern neurological mysteries. Together with his interns, Wolf will work to diagnose and treat these patients.
"I'm always drawn to characters that are interesting, complicated, and he certainly is that," Quinto said of his character, Dr. Wolf. "I think he struggles with aspects of how to relate to the world and to himself. There's something very universal about that."
The Wolf character also has a neurological condition known as "prosopagnosia," aka "face blindness," which gives him unique insight into what his patients may be experiencing.
"He's someone who is committed to helping people, and through helping other people, he oftentimes learns how to help himself and how to dig deeper within himself," Quinto said. "You will see that journey and the conflicts that come up. He is a character who is always driven by a sense of compassion and a sense of encouraging his patients to find their dignity. He wants to do that at any cost, really."
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Together with his spectrum of diverse interns with their own medical issues, Wolf makes it "all about the patients" during rounds.
"These people have minds that are unconventional and maybe not the minds that they wish that they had," Quinto said of their case-of-the-week patients. "But our doctors are teaching them how to recognize their own brilliance. And that's something that I think is a throughline on the show as well."
Brilliant Minds premieres on NBC on Monday, September 23 at 10 p.m.
