Brilliant Minds' Mishel Prada Teases EMT Katie's Return After That Cortisol-Spiking Debut
Adrenaline surges have to end sometime, so it's fortuitous that an ailing EMT's coping mechanisms grind to a halt just as the ambulance she works on rolls up to Bronx General in this week's Brilliant Minds.
Katie, the first responder in question, is played by Mishel Prada (Riverdale, Vida). After she collapses in the ambulance bay, Dr. Wolf and his team struggle to figure out why the otherwise healthy young med tech is suddenly so catastrophically ill. Eventually, after Katie confesses that she has been having chronic pain since getting shot on the job a while back; the docs then realize that the drugs she was taking to self-medicate lowered her immunity so much that a case of meningitis nearly killed her.
By the end of the hour, Katie had recovered enough to try a new type of pain-management therapy... and to flirt a little with Aury Krebs' Dr. Dana Dang.
Prada will be back for two more episodes before the end of the season, which resumes on Monday, Jan. 6 (NBC, 10/9c). The day before Thanksgiving, TVLine spoke with her about her Brilliant Minds' debut and what to expect upon Katie's return.
TVLINE | I don't think I've seen you play a medical professional before.
I have never done any type of medical drama, and I was really excited when Michael [Grassi, series creator, with whom Prada worked on Riverdale] came to me with the opportunity to do it. I was like, "All right, let's try it! I'm excited."
TVLINE | And not only a medical professional, but a hardcore, badass medical professional. How easy was it to become her? How easy was it to put on her uniform?
[Laughs] Well, you know, I wrapped a movie on what we call "Fraturday." [Editor's note: "Fraturday" refers to a filming day that starts on Friday but runs so long it ends on Saturday.] So, Saturday morning, and then had the wrap party on that Saturday, and then had to leave Monday morning, first thing.
TVLINE | Oh my goodness.
So, it was a quick turnaround. With any character, I think, we start with the emotionality of it. [Playing Katie] was something that I felt very connected to and really understood — you know, a lot of times, our tendency to take care of everybody else but ourselves.
I've seen myself do it. I've seen so many of the women in my life do it. So that was the start. And then, as far as all the technical stuff, the show had incredible consultants that were always on set, including an incredible EMT. So when it came to that stuff, I felt very, very taken care of. And then my character is the hospital bed a lot, really going through a lot of physicality. So, there was a lot in trying to understand where, you know, whether it's sepsis, or illness, or pain, kind of using that body work to really pinpoint how that expresses itself. So it was a quick turnaround, but it was fine because a lot of it really did come quickly. I didn't have a choice, but I was grateful that it did.
TVLINE | You mentioned Katie's pain, and she has this high-cortisol-level job. I've heard actors say before that their bodies don't know that they're not actually going through what the character is going through. Did you have any physical hangover from playing someone in that level of pain?
Oh my gosh. Yeah. I got so sick while I was shooting that, the weekend of. I was completely just out. A lot of times, when you are expelling so much — whether it's emotional or physical — I really have learned at this point to just give myself days in bed to recover, even just emotionally, from that stuff. And I try to do a little ritual after I'm done shooting, where like as I'm taking off the uniform, I'm kind of imagining folding the character and handing her back to the set. So, that kind of helps, too.
TVLINE | I love that. I'm going to start doing that just at the end of my day. Like, "OK, Wednesday, you're going away now."
[Laughs] Oh my god. Yeah! "This day is done. Let's put this in the washing machine. Let's wash it all away, and we're done."
TVLINE | Let's talk about Katie's future, now that she's on the mend. There's a bit of a flirtation with Aury Krebs' character, Dana.
Yes. You know, [Katie's] part of the family now. So, we do continue to see her. We'll see how it goes. I think that there's definitely a connection there. You know, Dana stepped up and allowed Katie to be really seen, and to be taken care of, and to feel not alone. [Laughs] Those are always really, really hot things to experience. You're like, "Oh, you saw this part of me, and you still are down? Cool." [Laughs] I think there's definitely some seeds there. Which, you know, I think will be fun to see how they manifest.
TVLINE | I was a huge Vida fan. Does the cast still chat? Is there any ongoing, family-style group text?
Oh, yeah. I just got some messages in the group chat right before we started talking. So, yes — like all the time, all the time, all the time. It's like I can't get rid of them, even if I tried. [Laughs]
TVLINE | That show ended on such a note of possibility. Do you have thoughts about where Emma is now, and what might be going on for that family and those characters?
I think, with Emma, they're all still together. You know how it is. Nobody's leaving anybody! They're a family. It's one of the things that I loved about that character, which I think also carried over into this character, too — which, it's always interesting when you have these different characters that you're like, "Oh, there's still that undercurrent."
Even with Katie, you're like, this person feels like vulnerability is a weakness and is learning how to accept love and how to be OK with it. It's interesting seeing, a lot of times, us, these strong women: You're like, "Oh, it's all the same underneath, a lot of times. Like, what if I didn't have to be so strong? Wouldn't that be amazing?"... That's the fun part of storytelling, [that] we get to really see how that unfolds and what's under the hood with these characters.
TVLINE | Mishel, thank you so much for your time.
Yeah, Kim. Thank you, so much, and really, enjoy Thanksgiving. Give yourself time to be soft and vulnerable and like enjoy yourself. [Laughs]
TVLINE | I'm translating that into sweatpants, and no jeans, until at least December.
Yeah. Take that off, and do the ritual. [Laughs]
What did you think about Katie's introduction on Brilliant Minds? Let us know in the comments!