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Brilliant Minds' "Lovesick Widow" Shares This Real, Emotional Connection with Zachary Quinto
All about Zachary Quinto's "dear, personal" friendship with Brilliant Minds guest star Susan Bay Nimoy.
In an episode about human connection in every form at every age, Brilliant Minds Episode 8, "The Lovesick Widow," wasn't just rekindling connections onscreen but behind the scenes, as well.
"The Lovesick Widow" introduces audiences to June Sullivan, an elderly woman whose sons are concerned by her ... renewed vigor for life. Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) isn't initially concerned by June's elevated libido, but that soon shifts when her mental and physical states start to decline.
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The charming back and forth between Wolf and his favorite new patient constitutes some of the most heartwarming moments of Brilliant Minds so far. And there's a reason their connection onscreen felt so natural.
June Sullivan is portrayed by Susan Bay Nimoy — a name that might cause Quinto fans to perk up their Vulcan ears.
Zachary Quinto talks working with guest star Susan Bay Nimoy
Yes, Brilliant Minds brought Susan Bay Nimoy aboard as just one of its many talented guest stars. For those not in the know, Bay Nimoy was married to the late, great Leonard Nimoy from 1989 until his passing in 2015. Leonard Nimoy famously portrayed Star Trek mainstay Mr. Spock for nearly 50 years, starting with the original Star Trek series in 1966.
Of course, after his turn on NBC's Heroes, Quinto warped into the limelight with his portrayal of Mr. Spock starting with J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009). In that film — and its 2013 follow-up Star Trek Into Darkness — Nimoy reprised his version of Spock as the affectionately termed "Spock Prime."
Quinto and Nimoy's mutual portrayal of the legendary character bonded them in green Vulcan blood, and Quinto has enjoyed a "dear, personal" friendship with Bay Nimoy ever since.
"I know her so well and I just know where she is in her life, and I know how curious she is," Quinto told NBC Insider. "She's 81 years old, but she’s one of the most vital, vibrant people that I know. And so, I knew that she would respond to this opportunity. And when I read the script, I just felt like I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the role. So I reached out to her and said, 'Is [this] something you’d even be interested in?' And she immediately said, 'Yes.' And then, I went to [creator and showrunner] Michael [Grassi] and said, 'Would you consider this?'"
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But as Quinto said, just because they're friends didn't mean Bay Nimoy automatically had the part.
"She auditioned. I mean, she didn’t just get the role," he said. "She auditioned and we watched a lot of tapes of a lot of wonderful actresses, but there was something that she brought to it that was singular and unique."
Quinto called working alongside Bay Nimoy a "wonderful experience."
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"She hasn’t acted in almost 40 years, and so to bring her back into this part of her life — and I kind of want to see her [have] a really robust acting career now because I think she’s amazing," he continued.
"I hope that this generates opportunities for her, even if she wasn’t looking for them," he added, laughing.
Susan Bay Nimoy's Acting Career
Bay Nimoy first started her acting career in the 1960s, making her debut in 1963 in an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. From there, she made appearances in a variety of television series, including Dr. Kildare (1964) and Perry Mason (1965), before making her film debut in the Jerry Lewis comedy The Big Mouth (1967). She also made appearances in a variety of TV series throughout the '70s and '80s, including One Day at a Time (1976), Starsky and Hutch (1977), Hart to Hart (1980), and Family Ties (1983).
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Fittingly, she also played a role in a Star Trek series: Admiral Rollman in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who appeared in the episodes "Past Prologue" (1993) and "Whispers" (1994).
Susan Bay Nimoy & The Original Six
Bay Nimoy also has an oft-overlooked place in Hollywood history as a founding member of the Original Six, a group of female directors who founded the Women's Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America in 1979. Alongside Nell Cox, Joelle Dobrow, Dolores Ferraro, Victoria Hochberg, and Lynne Littman, Bay Nimoy pursued research that resulted in enough evidence to prove gender discrimination in Hollywood against female directors.
The DGA sued Warner Brothers and Columbia Pictures in 1983, and while the case was ultimately dismissed, it laid the foundation for a groundswell of female directors in Hollywood (per Pacific Standard). Upon coming together, the Original Six showed statistics that proved only 0.5 percent of directing jobs were going to women in 1979. By 1995, women were directing 16 percent of projects — a significant (and still growing) improvement.
New episodes of Brilliant Minds premiere on Mondays on NBC at 10/9c and are available to stream on Peacock.
