The Direct’s Russ Milheim spoke with The Pitt’s Taylor Dearden, who plays Dr. King on the show, where she talked about her character’s unseen backstory and her special way of connecting with patients.
The Pitt is a new medical series on Max from the minds that brought audiences the classic show ER. It follows a group of doctors navigating the chaos of the Emergency Room. The narrative hook is that every episode plays out (roughly) in real-time, with each installment being one hour of their shift.
The HBO series' production has taken strides to attempt to portray the medical setting with real-life accuracy - while still taking some dramatic liberties - going so far as to conduct a two-week-long medical boot camp for its actors.
Dr. King is one of the newbies in the ER, starting her first day. She is a gentle soul, but her neurodivergence and unique perspective on everything around her make her one of the most intruding characters in the show.
The Pitt Star Taylor Dearden Explains Why Dr. King Is Great with People
"I Think Dr. King Leads With Her Heart."
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for The Pitt Season 1, Episode 9.
- The Direct: "Dr. King is notably great at connecting with patients throughout the series. What do you think is that secret element, and how does she approach things in a different way than the rest of the doctors simply don't? [What] makes Dr King connect quicker and easier to some of these patients, which some of the others kind of find problematic in a way.
Taylor Dearden: I think Dr. King leads with her heart. Everyone else leads with their head. And I think she leads with their heart, but her head is a close second. But I think seeing the pain is what's hardest for Mel, and so that's definitely really tough in the emergency room. And it's not as much physical pain as much as it is emotional pain.
And I think that's when Mel can click in with different patients or families of patients and just kind of live in that. And I think also Mel's problem probably would be too much empathy, of like trying to find a balance between being really caring and not slowing down as a doctor.
- The Direct: "Dr. King is such a gentle, lovable soul. Personally, for you, what was the biggest challenge of playing Dr. King, who is also seemingly neurodivergent, and bringing her to life in an organic, respectful, and believable way."
Dearden: I think the biggest challenge was competence versus anxiety. Of like, how to show anxiety, but also, I'm like, Mel's still a good doctor, which is tough because you automatically want to shake and do all sorts of, like, visual things. You're like, well, that I would suck as a doctor. [I had to] find a balance in between [them].
Taylor Dearden Paints a Clearer Picture of Dr. King's Personal Life
"Mel's Actually Been the Sole Caregiver of Her Sister for a Lot Longer Than Is Hinted in the Show."
- The Direct: "Dr. King has, like everyone, obviously, a personal life, but with the show, we don't get to see too much of it. But it is hinted at throughout these episodes. Can you help paint a clearer picture of what her personal life looks like outside of the walls of that hospital?
Taylor Dearden: Yeah, I still think that it's shared that Mel's mom has died, but actually, her dad's dead too. And so Mel's actually been the sole caregiver of her sister for a lot longer than is hinted in the show.
And so it's been years and years through medical school, all throughout having both lives of [being a] doctor and sister. And I think because of that, Mel never got to be with people her own age and never got to, you know, hang out.
And I think it's also seeing Mel, especially in the first nine-ish episodes, trying desperately to make friends quickly. Like, my sister's in a good facility, I don't have to do as much of this anymore. I want to have some kind of balance.
- The Direct: "I actually spoke to Gerran Howell last week about his character, and he mentioned that he feels that Dr. Whitaker gets along best with Dr. King. And you were talking about King trying to make friends as quickly as she can. Would you agree with that statement? That out of all the newbies, those are the two that definitely get along the best?"
Taylor Dearden: I think so. I think we bonded [through] anxiety. It's one of those, especially within the third episode, when Mr. Milton dies, and I have an anxiety attack because I know—and it wasn't an anxiety attack based on a death, because, as a doctor, I've seen a lot—but it was an anxiety attack based on knowing it was his first death, and just to, like, have that written in, to freak out about knowing what you're going through is, I don't know, it's the empathy attachment, I think went really fast after that.
Dr. King's Emotional Scene With the Victim's Little Sister
"The Thing That Mel Was Most Focused On Is, I Can't Break Down."
- The Direct: "Dr. King has some of some of the best scenes of the season, and there's some really emotional ones. And one of those is following the tragic death of the young girl in the pool incident. Dr. King is there to talk with the girl's younger sister. What was it like filming that moment, and how is Dr. King feeling in that very moment as she's trying to process how to communicate with this little girl without letting her own feelings and thoughts and the realities of the world seep into that conversation?"
Taylor Dearden: I think the thing that Mel was most focused on is, I can't break down. I can't, because even though I'm highly empathetic, like she's the one going through it, and I have to just be as strong as possible.
But also, having two parents that are gone, I'm sure I very much know what regret of not being able to say things feels like, and so for Mel to have thought of how to get that, not closure, obviously, but a little bit of some kind of like, I got to tell her, what I needed to tell her was so clearly the first thing on Mel's mind to get that...
And she's a damn good actor. That scene is like, yeah, sorry, sorry. Then it was like, Okay, I'll step up. Sorry.
- The Direct: "Would you say that the whole incident is, and it's all relative, but would you say it's a heavier burden on Dr. King thanks to her own connection with her sister?"
Taylor Dearden: I definitely think so. And what's interesting for a personal [connection] is that, obviously, it turned out very differently, thankfully, but this happened to my mom and her sister. My mom sank in a pool, and my aunt jumped in after her and grabbed her out. And they were, like, five years old and 10, maybe 10. And so, having heard that story over and over again, and then being with the what it could have been was—It's a lot. It's a lot to deal with.
The Pitt is now streaming on Max.
The Direct also spoke with The Pitt's Isa Briones, who plays Dr. Santos, who broke down her emotional monologue in Episode 7.
