We are learning more and more about the interns in Brilliant Minds. The most recent episode gave us more details about Dana’s backstory, and we’re only just scratching the surface with Ericka.
I chatted to Aury Krebs and Ashleigh LaThrop about their characters and their storylines. There was a lot of focus on Dana considering the recent backstory that has come out, but I also wanted to know what it has been like working together on this series and what they’re taking from the show.
Dana’s past informing her choices in Brilliant Minds
Dana is an intriguing character. She keeps herself to herself in a lot of cases. She doesn’t like to share much about her past. She did in the most recent episode, though, because of the panic attack that she faced. This is a sign that things are starting to change. She’s letting people into her life as they let her into theirs.
I started the interview talking with Dana about how her past involving the death of her sister has informed her choices now.
"I think the essence of Dana, of how she moves through life, is that she’s bery protected and she’s very guarded…She comes off as an open book; she comes off as though she doesn’t really care what other people think, and I don’t think she does, but that control of herself that she presents to people and that part where she doesn’t really care what people think about her, it’s all built up to protect her from that tragic loss that she has experienced."
Dana certainly uses humor as a way to deflect. She holds the darkest parts of her in, and her sarcasm comes as a way to hold people back and get through her world safely. The guards are coming down a little. She has always been open about how she handles her mental health, but episode 6 was the first time she was able to open up and be honest about what she is handling and why.
It’s not just the other interns, though. At the end of episode 3 with the bride, Dana was able to be vulnerable and honest with Wolf, asking him to handle the loss of the husband. That wasn’t the easiest scene for Krebs to play.
"That scene gave me, the actor, so much anxiety because I’m very new to TV and film and I hadn’t really had that. There was a very specific request from the people creating the show as to how that moment is supposed to go in terms of the emotional level, and I remember talking to Ashleigh about it and just really stressing out."
While Krebs worried about not delivering, she certainly did. That was the moment for me when I needed to learn more about Dana’s backstory. There was clearly a world of hurt in there, but she didn’t feel safe enough yet to let it out. Oh how things have changed.
LaThrop certainly helped out in that moment. Something that is clear chatting to the two is that the interns have become a support and a family off-screen as well as on-screen. They have each other’s backs.
"Ashleigh shared this anecdote with me throughout, where she said it’s really not about you and your acting. It’s about creating something that people can feel seen in. And so that gave me a little bit more agency in terms of this actually [having] a purpose…It’s not about me and my ego and my vanity. It’s about how do we reach towards people and, hopefully, create a space where somebody can see themselves in this character."
This was also one of those cases where Krebs didn’t have to use her own personal experiences to bring the character to life. The writing was there to help this story come out and guide her in the way that she was playing it on screen.
"It became ‘what is Dana going through?’ I didn’t have to call upon my own experiences in order to bring that. I think that’s what made it so much stronger and honest is that I got to shape this character and her life, and I care about her so much. I got to rely on her story, thanks to the writers."
Ericka is the quarterback of the team in Brilliant Minds
There is a point where it’s clear that Ericka is the quarterback of the interns. She’s smart, she’s calm, and she’s there for each and every one of them. In the most recent episode, we learned that Ericka’s calming nature is something Van could hold onto when it came to the labor pains. He figured out how to use his mirror-touch synesthesia to his advantage.
What’s it like bringing this calm character to life? Is it difficult on the screen when there’s so much else goingon?
"I’m a person who feeds off of energy, so I think as a human being, I tend to run pretty calm. This group does not run calm at all. This group is full of life and energy, so I think it was actually a really fun challenge because they are so…Aury is like gregarious and bubbly, Spence is like everybody’s best friend and just a ball of warmth, and Alex knows everybody’s name."
LaThrop needed to find a way to bring herself back down from the highs of the greenroom to create Ericka when on screen. You can’t tell that there was that need when you watch her on the screen.
The growth of a friendship off-screen as well as on-screen
In a lot of TV shows, actors come in as characters who already know each other. There’s usually just one new character to help with the exposition for the TV viewers. Brilliant Minds did it differently in that almost everyone is just getting to know each other.
We touched on that and how building bonds outside of the series helped with playing the characters and seeing those bonds form.
LaThrop started by talking about how it wasn’t just about the other actors. The writers and the rest of the crew also helped to build this sense of family.
"Everyone who came to our set was like, this is an amazing set to be a part of, and I wholeheartedly agree. I think there was such warmth and there was such a desire to create this beautiful thing together. So it was really fun. At first, I didn’t know what this was going to be, and then it ended up being this experience of lovely people that I would do this again and again with."
For Krebs, it was her first big series regular role, her first big job. It meant walking onto a set and not really knowing what to expect. Her friends made it clear that it all came down to who the No. 1 on the billing list was.
"A lot of my friends who have been working on TV shows have said ‘you’d better hope that your No. 1 is great as a human being.’ It’s very rare to get somebody who cares, and I have to speak to Zach [Quinto] as a leader. Everything he asks for is because he wants the show, he is so committed to maintaining the integrity and the greatest potential of how good our show can be. That means he is always there for you."
It's not the first time someone on Brilliant Minds has had something great to say about Quinto. Krebs did go into more detail about how Quinto is there even when the camera isn’t on him. He’s there helping the rest of the cast to bring their A-Game and to feed them the energy they need.
"That’s very rare on set."
What to take from Brilliant Minds
This is a series that is sure to make people think. What you think people have or what you think they’re going through isn’t always the case. There is something for everyone to take from the episodes, and I wanted to finish the interview with finding out what Krebs and LaThrop will take from the show.
For LaThrop it’s about representation.
"It feels like we are giving voice to people who might not necessarily frequently see themselves on TV or see themselves represented or see issues that they’re dealing with represented. I would say, I guess the joy of knowing that we’ve done something important with this show."
Krebs agreed, noting that there is a distinct purpose to the series, and that was brought to light to her during a screening of the pilot.
"Someone came up to me and shared that they had grown up in an elderly people’s home because their parent was a live-in nurse for dementia patients. It was the first person who I got to speak to who had seen the show, and got to watch it and say ‘oh my God, that’s exactly what I went through.’"
This story included a bit about the piano, which connects right back to those opening moments that led to Dr. Wolf being fired from his original job before Pierce pulled him over to Bronx General.
Check out the full interview with Aury Krebs and Ashleigh LaThrop from Brilliant Minds below:
Brilliant Minds airs on Mondays at 8/7c on NBC. Catch up the following day on Peacock.
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