NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� There's a great moment in the first episode of the new NBC medical drama 鈥淏rilliant Minds鈥� when it becomes very clear that we're not dealing with a typical TV doctor.
is behind the wheel of a car barreling down a New York City parkway, packed with hospital interns, abruptly weaving in and out of lanes, when one of them asks, 鈥淒oes anyone want to share a Klonopin?鈥� 鈥� a drug sometimes used to treat panic disorders.
鈥淥h, glory to God, yes, please,鈥� says Quinto, reaching an arm into the back seat. The internthen breaks the pill in half and gives a sliver to the driver, who swallows it, as the other interns share stunned looks.
Quinto, playing the character Dr. Oliver Wolf, is clearly not portraying any dour, by-the-rules doctor here 鈥� he鈥檚 playing a character inspired by the path-breaking researcher and author who rose to fame in the 1970s and was once called the 鈥減oet laureate of medicine.鈥�
鈥淗e was someone who was tirelessly committed to the dignity of the human experience. And so I feel really grateful to be able to tell his story and to continue his legacy in a way that I hope our show is able to do,鈥� says Quinto.
He's a fern-loving doctor
鈥淏rilliant Minds鈥� takes Sack鈥檚 personality 鈥� a motorcycle-riding, fern-loving advocate for mental health who died in 2015 at 82 鈥� and puts him in the present day, where the creators theorize he would have no idea who Taylor Swift is or own a cell phone. The series debuts Monday on NBC, right after 鈥淭he Voice.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost as if we鈥檙e imagining what it would have been like if Oliver Sacks had been born at a different time,鈥� says Quinto. 鈥淲e use the real life person as our North Star through everything we鈥檙e doing and all the stories that we were telling, but we were able to find our own flavor and our own perspective in the telling of those stories as well.鈥�
In upcoming episodes, Wolf and his team deal with a biker friend whose brain tumor is affecting his memories, a mother who after surgery feels disconnected from her children, and a 12-year-old girl who gets seizures whenever she laughs.
Aside from the weekly emergencies, there is also a longer, series-long narrative exploring Wolf's personal life and his fraught relationship with his doctor parents, especially his late father, who had mental illness.
鈥淚 think over the course of the season, we see Dr. Wolf start to let his guard down a little bit by helping his patients and by mentoring the interns. And he鈥檚 learning from them as much as they鈥檙e learning from him,鈥� says creator and showrunner Michael Grassi.
The series hopes to satisfy viewers who come for the complex medical mysteries 鈥� with delicious jargon like 鈥渆levated intracranial pressure鈥� and 鈥渁bnormal neurocardiogenic reflex鈥� 鈥� but also the very human connections between patient and doctor.
鈥淚 always say if people watch our show and they see themselves and the stories that we鈥檙e telling, then we鈥檙e doing our job,鈥� says Quinto.
鈥楢 place of optimism鈥�
This isn't the first time Sacks has been portrayed. His 1973 book, 鈥淎wakenings,鈥� about hospital patients who鈥檇 spent decades in a kind of frozen state until he tried a new treatment, led to a 1990 movie in which Sacks was played by
The real Sacks lived in self-imposed celibacy for more than three decades, only coming out late in life. But Quinto and Grassi were not interested in having their hero closeted.
鈥淚f we were going to be having a gay male lead of our show in 2024, I really wanted them to be out and proud and that not to be something that he was hiding,鈥� said Grassi.
Grassi said when he was creating the show he always had Quinto in mind, being a fan of the actor's depth but also his humor. Grassi knew it was the perfect fit while filming the driving scene for the pilot when the intern offers her pill.
鈥淶ach on that day ad-libbed like a million different responses,鈥� says Grassi. "And they were all funnier than the last. Editing was so hard to choose which one. But that鈥檚 when I knew. I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾his is going to be great.鈥欌��
For Quinto, 鈥淏rilliant Minds鈥� offers a chance to play a charismatic, empathic hero. While Quinto broke out as Mr. Spock in 鈥淪tar Trek,鈥� his resume also includes some less savory characters 鈥� a serial killer who tore out the brains of superheroes in 鈥淗eroes,鈥� the deranged Dr. Oliver Thredson on "American Horror Story: Asylum" and a demonic drifter in AMC鈥檚 鈥淣OS4A2.鈥�
鈥淎fter all the dark and villainous characters that I鈥檝e played, it鈥檚 really nice to anchor a story playing a character who is really operating from a place of optimism, hope, compassion and love and joy.鈥�
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
