'I Had One Shot': Brilliant Minds Star Reflects On Her Chemistry Read With Zachary Quinto And Joining NBC's New Medical Drama
A lot went into finding the perfect pair.
Spoilers ahead for the series premiere of Brilliant Minds on NBC.
Brilliant Minds has officially debuted in the 2024 TV schedule as primetime's newest medical drama, starring Zachary Quinto in his first main network TV role since The Slap in 2015 and They Cloned Tyrone alum Tamberla Perry. The new series focuses on mental health rather than more general medicine that you'll find on dramas like Chicago Med and Grey's Anatomy, and according to one of the stars, a fair amount of work went into guaranteeing a good match between the top-billed actors.
As neurologist Dr. Oliver Wolf and psychiatrist Dr. Carol Pierce respectively, Zachary Quinto and Tamberla Perry are playing old friends and new colleagues with a lot of history. Early on, Wolf claimed that she's the only person that he likes, and Pierce consistently showed faith in him despite some seriously unconventional approaches. His face blindess doesn't seem to ever apply when it comes to her.
So when I spoke with Perry over Zoom about what sets Brilliant Minds apart, I asked if if she auditioned with Quinto before being officially cast. She shared:
Brilliant Minds established early on in a fun exchange between the two characters that Wolf is gay, so the chemistry read wasn't for the purpose of setting up a slow burn between Wolf and Pierce. Tamberla Perry just had to strike the right kind of chemistry with Quinto without actually meeting him previously or reading together in person. She elaborated:
Only one episode has aired so far, but I think it's safe to say that the show wouldn't have worked right off the bat if there wasn't a sense of ease and comfort between Wolf and Pierce. If she was going to be the person he confides in, their friendship had to be believable, so it seems that those four auditions did the trick!
Having shared what her audition process was like up to and including the chemistry read with Zachary Quinto, Tamberla Perry also explained what attracted her to Brilliant Minds. She said:
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The first episode also confirmed that there's plenty of story to be told outside of the walls of Bronx General, with what seems to be a very messy backstory for Oliver Wolf that surely won't be helped by the fact that he'll be working under his mom. Not a whole lot has been revealed about Carol Pierce's personal life just yet, but Tamberla Perry went on to share what specifically about her character made her want to land the job on Brilliant Minds:
Hopefully Brilliant Minds will continue to show more of Carol Pierce as a doctor and as a person as the medical drama continues this fall. At the very least, it seems like a safe bet that the friendship between Tamberla Perry as Pierce and Zachary Quinto as Wolf will be a highlight. Keep tuning in to NBC on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of Brilliant Minds, following new episodes of The Voice. You can also stream the series next day with a Peacock subscription.
Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).