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Brilliant Minds' Tamberla Perry Reveals How the Series & Characters Are Changing Her Life
The actress admits Brilliant Minds is making her take a look at her own mental health journey in a new way.
In the upcoming NBC medical drama Brilliant Minds, actor Zachary Quinto (Heroes) returns to the network to play Dr. Oliver Wolf, a fictional doctor inspired by the real-life neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks (1933-2015).
As the returning Attending for Neurology at Bronx General Hospital, Wolf is just as unconventional as the real Sacks, who treated his profession and patients with more empathy and curiosity than is typical for health providers under the pressures of modern medicine. In Brilliant Minds, it's Bronx General's Dr. Carol Pierce, the chief of psychiatry, who wants to bring Wolf back to her hospital so he can treat their backlog of neurologically challenged patients.
RELATED: Meet the New Characters of NBC's Medical Drama Brilliant Minds
Actress Tamberla Perry, who recently co-starred in They Cloned Tyrone and appeared in the television series All-American: Homecoming, plays Dr. Pierce, who will keep a close eye on Wolf's unorthodox methods. As Brilliant Minds premieres on September 23 on NBC, Perry gave NBC Insider some insight into her character.
Tamberla Perry Shares Audition Details for Dr. Carol Pierce
At the recent Television Critics Association press panel for Brilliant Minds, Perry explained that Dr. Pierce will serve as the observer and guard rails for Dr. Wolf at Bronx General. "I'm not pulling out scalpels or doing any of those things," she explained. "But I get to watch the [doctors] figure out what to do with their hands."
Going back to when she was first asked to audition for the series pilot, Perry remembered being instantly inspired by the script.
"I read it and I immediately walked into my house and said to my husband in the living room, 'Get ready to tape this because I'm about to book this job!'" she said, laughing. "It had been an amazing opportunity."
RELATED: Zachary Quinto Medical Drama Brilliant Minds Gets NBC Premiere Date: Everything to Know
That audition eventually got her the job as Dr. Pierce, and soon enough, she, Quinto, and the rest of the cast were shooting the series in Toronto, Canada.
Realizing the Importance of Therapy
Asked if she felt a personal kinship with her character, Perry said, "As I've gone through this journey of developing this character, I've realized that we are not as alike as I thought we were. In terms of the way we think, matters of the heart, and matters of the mind, we're not. I'm a very logical person. She handles things a lot with her heart, and that's often the way she treats her patients. She is unwavering. She is fiercely loyal.
"And I'm going to be very transparent, I have never done actual therapy in my life," she continued. "And in watching this, because mental health is at the forefront of most conversations right now, it's really making me take a step back and I decided that that might be my first step. As soon as we wrap up. I don't have time for it right now," she joked. "But it's really showing me the importance of it."
Brilliant Minds premieres on NBC on September 23.
