THE PITT, a huge hit for streaming network MAX, is an emergency room drama that takes place over one fifteen-hour shift. Each episode is its own hour.

Praised for its lifelike qualities, THE PITT is created by R. Scott Gemmill, who was an executive producer and writer on NBC’s long-running ER. The earlier series’ creator, John Wells, is also an exec producer on THE PITT, which stars ER’s Noah Wyle as emergency room chief Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavich.

When Warner Bros. Television arranges a set visit for the press on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, the emergency department takes up a whole soundstage, with extra pieces on a second stage. There are no flyaway walls or removable ceilings for crane shots. Everything is designed to be practical, with views through windows into hallways.

In fact, Gemmill explains, set designer Nina Ruscio was hired to create and build the environment before the writing staff began their work, so that they would be able to see where the action would take place. Because the sight lines are so wide, each member of the crew was issued five sets of their own scrubs, which they wear on set every day. If camera equipment shows up during a take, obviously, they have to start over, but should a crew member appear in the background of a shot, they look like just one more doctor or nurse.

In THE PITT’s opening episode, Robby meets the quartet of new interns he’s going to be supervising. One of these is Dr. Cassie McKay, played by Fiona Dourif.

Dourif has been acting since her early twenties, starting out in a recurring role as a sex worker on the period Western DEADWOOD. Since then, her credits have included TRUE BLOOD, WHEN WE RISE, DIRK GENTLY’S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY, THE BLACKLIST, and the CHUCKY franchise. In several films, Dourif portrayed Nica Pierce, who is sometimes possessed by Charles Lee Ray, a role originated by Dourif’s real-life father Brad Dourif (who also voices the Chucky doll). When Dourif was brought onto the CHUCKY TV series to reprise her role as Nica, she was also cast as the twenty-something version of Charles Lee Ray.

During the set visit, Dourif laughs when asked if it’s a relief to play somebody who is neither possessed nor an edition of her father.

“Yeah, this is definitely a turn for me, this part. I haven’t ever played somebody so close to my actual personality before. I’ve mostly been in genre and played killers, which I quite enjoy, I feel very lucky to have had that, but this has been both scarier and incredibly fulfilling.”

Dr. McKay tries to keep her personal life private, but will we learn more about her as the hours of THE PITT unfold?

“Yes,” Dourif reveals. As McKay, “I have an ankle monitor on. My home life indeed becomes a part of the show, and I think my character’s back story and what drives her is explored in that way. There’s a mystery involved.”

The regular cast of THE PITT went through training referred to as “medical boot camp.” What was that like?

“It was two weeks in which we had almost one-on-one contact with a real emergency room doctor,” Dourif relates. “They taught us how to intubate, they taught us CPR, they had real people come in, and dummies. I feel like I know how to intubate, which I should never do [for real], but it was wildly interesting.”

Did all of Dourif’s experience with horror genre slashing and stabbing come in handy when Dr. McKay has surgical scenes?

“I’m not scared of gore,” Dourif laughs. “Yes, in that way, I think it helps. I think I’m comfortable around blood in a way that I appreciate. I also love genre acting. I love that type of art. So, yeah, I think I’m more comfortable with a knife, for sure.”

Was Dourif familiar with the ER series before she became involved with THE PITT?

“I’m forty-two, and my mother watched ER religiously, and she passed I know that she would have watched this show and loved it, so in that way, it was kind of beautiful for me. And yeah, I watched ER as a kid with my mom. This whole thing has been an dream, an utter dream.”

And what would Dourif most like people to know about THE PITT?

“We strive for realism, and to tell real human stories, and for me, I just feel like I won a lottery.

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Article: Exclusive Interview: Actress Fiona Dourif on the new MAX medical drama

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