‘Chicago Med’ interview: Brian Tee on upcoming season 2 stories, tackling tough material
The second season of “Chicago Med” will be airing its midseason finale on Thursday night, and over the course of “Free Will,” you’re going to have a chance to see a few different stories reach their zenith. For Dr. Sarah Reese, she’ll have to figure out what the future holds for Danny, while more than likely we’ll see how April recovers from the incident at the end of this past episode “Inherent Bias.”
So how does Dr. Ethan Choi factor into this episode? That much is still relatively unclear, but rest assured that whether it is in Thursday’s episode or beyond, Brian Tee has quite a bit coming up in terms of story. We spoke to the actor about a wide array of topics at the One Chicago Media Day recently, including his season 2 evolution and a storyline that he provided some personal input on.
CarterMatt – So how do you think Ethan’s character is evolving so far into this season, and where do you see it going?
Brian Tee – We’re going to be delving deeper into Ethan’s character [moving forward this season], and the things with PTSD and Dr. Charles. They’re all coming to the forefront, and he’s now at a point where he can go on [with] his life. I feel like he treats patients differently, and I feel like his personal life is different. I feel like the writing staff wants to develop that more. Last year you saw Ethan see a lot of things in black and white. In this season, you’ll see him in multiple shades of gray.
How much information do they give you about the character in advance? Did they give you a lot of personal information about Ethan’s backstory that we haven’t seen on the show?
They’ll broad-stroke it. I for one as an actor don’t like to know what happens in the end. I like to be spontaneous, especially with my character and be able to mold and do different things. I feel like the writers have allowed us to have input, which is great.
Are there any specific stories coming up that you were able to provide this sort of input?
There’s one episode coming up that deals with racism in a particular way that I think is very poignant, and the thing that you want to do is get it right, but you also don’t want to shy away from it. I was able to provide some input on that particular storyline and that situation; [the writers] were completely open to it. I feel like we really nailed it, so I’m really excited to showcase that storyline maybe in February.
Obviously you want to see your character happy and to have good things, but this is ‘Chicago Med,’ a show where terrible stuff can and does often happen. What’s that like trying to balance wanting great material, even though that may mean devastating things for Ethan?
For me as an actor, [what’s great] is great material. You don’t want to have the trend where everything is happy and everything is good, because where’s the drama in that? You want to meld and mold and move around and go in and out of your character and develop that story arc. When things go dark, I’m all about it.
Out of this whole ‘One Chicago’ universe, is there any actor you haven’t worked with just yet that you’d like to?
Carl Weathers [of ‘Chicago Justice’], and I’m sure every person you’ve asked that question to says the same thing. We all grew up watching his movies, but be able to act across him would be one of those things that we’re all hoping to do.
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We want to give a special thanks to Brian for his time. To preview Thursday’s midseason finale of “Chicago Med” further, head over to this link. (Photo: NBC.)