Actors Matt Czuchry and Emily VanCamp talk about the research they have done for The Resident
A fresh take on medical drama, The Resident is a surprisingly cynical look at human nature and corporatised healthcare. That’s a dark underside to what is otherwise a pretty run-of-the-mill story — handsome young professionals, dramatic medical emergencies, and feverish hookups in empty exam rooms. Emily VanCamp who will be seen as Nicolette in The Resident has proved her acting prowess in films like Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, The Girl in the Book and The Ring Two. She has also been appreciated for her roles on small screen and has been part of projects including Revenge, Brothers & Sisters and Everwood. Her co-star Matt Czuchry, known as Dr Conrad Hawkin in the show has several TV series to his credit such as The Good Wife, Gilmore Girls, Young Americans and also a movie Slap Her She’s French.
I see both research and hospital life in the process of putting a show together. Has that had an effect on your political perspectivesIJ
Emily: I had no idea about the lack of accountability and what goes on in terms of the business side of the health care system. It’s very different from universal health care. So there is a lot of money to be made in very different ways and when you start to really get into the nitty-gritty, it is quite shocking actually.
Matt: Yeah, I think that’s the global aspect and then you look at an individual aspect — what doctors and nurses go through on an emotional level with the mistakes that they make.
Emily: We don’t want to seem like we’re just blaming doctors and that all doctors are doing these horrible things. It’s not the case. It’s hard to prevent things from happening sometimes.
Matt: Yes, it’s not a perfect science. People are fallible, even as a doctor, when you’re diagnosing, sometimes there’s intuition and guessing. So I think the research helped us layer our characters better.
Our first impression of your character Conrad is like a young version of Dr Romano, balancing the arrogance and still making the character likeable. This must be a really tricky prospect. Do you agreeIJ
Matt: Conrad is confident as opposed to arrogant. He’s had real world experience. He’s a third-year resident at this hospital and given his experience with the military has a seat-of-the-pants kind of experience. It’s through his experiences, in terms of that way and then also, I think his love for the patients comes through in a very interesting way. He’s willing to break the rules and do whatever is necessary but he loves his patients.
The character of Nick aka Nicolette seems to have the responsibility of holding the loose cannon back a little bit and providing a bit of a moral backbone. Is it trueIJ
Emily: She has a very similar outlook to Conrad in terms of doing absolutely anything for her patients but she’s not willing to play God and that’s where they completely are at odds. You see that throughout the series and that is what keeps them apart. To be honest, she just can’t wrap her head around this idea. From Nick’s perspective, I think she does perceive it as arrogance and from Conrad’s perspective, it is confidence. Yet, there is that common thing between them where she will stop him from doing the things he’s going to do but she still protects him in her own way. In her core I think she believes in his cause.
Matt: In terms of the audience, you’re bringing those different perspectives and the audience members can connect to one or the other. They have their own decisions. It’s a little bit more layered than you might see in other procedurals perhaps.
Emily: They have this working relationship and they always are very connected and mature. But then they have this sort of underlying love connection that they’re just constantly missing each other. So it’s fun to watch that relationship grow and tumble.
Matt: Even if they’re having difficulties in their personal lives, professionally, they’re always at a great point.
Thematically there’s a fairly healthy dose of cynicism around how the medical industry works. It’s a bit different to see that cynicism come through from the main characters.
Emily: It may be different but refreshing.
Matt: Yeah, honest and real.
Emily: We’re not glorifying anything on the show. We’re just really trying to stay true to what really happens. We’re in a political climate where we need to be telling these stories.
Matt: There’s a book that I read called House of God that’s based on what really happens in hospitals and there’s a sense of this kind of gallows humor that the doctors and nurses have, to keep themselves going and that was unexpected when I read that. It is a bit shocking but in trying to capture the reality of the human element, I think that’s something that hopefully again is different for the audience. Hope they connect to that and say, “Oh well I wouldn't see it that way.”
The Resident airs from Monday to Friday at 9 PM on Star World