Much like many hidden diagnoses, The Pitt is far from a skin-deep medical drama. The new HBO Max drama from ER executive producer R. Scott Gemmill has been one of the most talked-about shows of 2025 so far. With its complex characters and real-time story structure, through one season, it's already differentiated itself from many other medical contemporaries. But when star Tracy Ifeachor initially got the pitch for The Pitt, her prognosis was negative.As soon as I heard medical show, I thought procedural, and I went, "Nope, no, thank you." So I want to say that I got the script and everything. I didn't even read it. And I went, "No, I'm not doing medical." And then my team at the time said to me, "Just have a look at this one. We really like this."
? SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox ? As with many medical professionals, it's always good to get a second opinion. And Ifeachor is incredibly grateful she did. The Pitt showcased through even just one day as a frontline worker can have your personal and professional lives wildly converge. And Dr. Heather Collins might be one of the biggest examples of that. When the day begins, she is in the secretive throes of her pregnancy, eagerly anticipating it after a previous tryst with Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) had her getting an abortion. Throughout the day, Collins is hit with multiple cases around pregnancy, from delivering a baby to handling a teenager who wants to get an abortion, despite her mother's protestations.The latter leads to absolute tragedy for Collins, as she gets caught in a skirmish between family members and suffers a miscarriage. Heartbroken and distraught, she adds yet another secretive feather to her cap, getting on with her shift. But, after divulging her situation to Robby, he sends her home – and out of Season 1. Given the singular setting of The Pitt, Collins is out of sight and out of mind for the rest of the episodes, missing out on both the white-knuckle intensity of the PittFest mass casualty event, as well as the season finale.On her way to California to film Season 2, Tracy Ifeachor talks with Parade about Collins's backstory, how she handled that dramatic miscarriage moment and her reaction to all the critical acclaim The Pitt has received so far.
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How was The Pitt initially pitched to you? And what made you interested in the show in the first place?Well, first of all, I knew that it was a medical show. As soon as I heard medical show, I thought procedural, and I went, "Nope, no, thank you." So I want to say that I got the script and everything. I didn't even read it. And I went, "No, I'm not doing medical." And then my team at the time said to me, "Just have a look at this one. We really like this." So I said, "Okay." So I opened it and I read about Collins. As soon as I read the script, I was like, "Oh my gosh, I have to be involved in this. This is really special and so different, not what I was expecting at all." So I was so glad that I had a really good team who just did a little intervention. [Laughs.] Both sides of my arms, like, "You're doing this."How was Collins initially pitched to you once you started doing meeting with Scott and John?I mean, we didn't get to this in the season. But I was told that she's from finance, and that's her kind of background. And she actually came to medicine quite late, and she didn't follow the conventional route. She was inspired by her mentor, and she ended up meeting Dr. Robby. And then they had a little tryst years ago. And then she'd never expected to be back at Pittsburgh or match with him. When would probably never would have gone there if she knew she would be in the same paddling pool again with her boss. So she ends up back with him. And it creates these wonderful moments of tension, these wonderful moments of excitement, and mystery as well, because we want to know what happened all those years ago.Talk to me about that. Did you also get a specific sense as to what Robby and Collins's history is? Or is that something you and Noah talked about?I think it's really up in the air. It isn't something I think Noah and I haven't really [discussed]. I don't want to speak of him, but we have very different ways of approaching scenes and characters. None, right, none wrong; everybody has their different process. And so it wasn't something he ever spoke with me about or anything. And I think that's in some ways, that's kind of exciting, because then nothing is set and you can decide, and you have a kind of freedom to take your thoughts where you want them to go. But for myself, I just feel like as a woman, you cannot be with someone who hides themselves from you emotionally in any way. And sometimes people who go through trauma or who haven't dealt with something, they are always hiding a part of themselves. That's kind of PTSD, isn't it? That person has this dam up. And when you're trying to love someone, you're chipping away at this dam, not realizing that there's a whole thing behind it. You just think, "I want to know you. I want to share with you. I want to do life with you." And and you can only love someone as much as they have the capacity to love themselves. You can't love them any more or any less. You can't get from them what they don't have. And I think after a while in a relationship, that probably wears on a person, and that's kind of what broke it down in my mind.How far along in the process did you find out that Collins would have a miscarriage during her shift at the ER? So one of the scenes that I actually read when I met, met with John and Scott was the miscarriage scene. That was a scene that was added very, very early on. So I knew that that was coming, and I was up for the challenge of portraying that. And I think I watched something like 300 hours, hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of testimonials about women who had gone through this. Because I was really keen to portray it in a way that really honored these women who had gone through this, and many who are still going through it, and the treatment that they received from the from the professionals, and what that would be like as a professional to go through something like that, and to feel like, "What's wrong with my body? Why has it done this? Why has it kind of let me down? I'm a doctor. I should know how to deal with anything. And yet, here I am. Can't even do this myself." So it was interesting playing with these and interacting with these different ideas and thoughts and themes, and still wanting to really uphold these women who who had so graciously shared, either personally with me or through something like Instagram and YouTube, their stories and their lives and their journeys. I think they're really courageous women, and I hope that I did it justice.Well, you talk about Collins having to push her personal aside for her professional life when she matches at the Pitt with Robby. An we see that firsthand when, shortly after she suffers her own miscarriage, she has to deliver a baby. Talk to me about what Collins's headspace was during that time.I feel like I just always want to be present, and I always want to tell the truth of any situation so your body doesn't know that it's acting. Your body doesn't know it releases all of these chemicals. It releases all of these hormones when you put yourself into that position and situation. And so I really feel like, to some extent, that I actually lived it as the actor going through it, going through with this person. Because I have a history of it in my own family. When I was very a small child, a family member had a miscarriage at seven months. And I still remember looking forward to the birth of this child. And we're all really excited just the next day, it was not there. And other children come into the family, and sort of seeing how that person then interacts with this new child, it felt like reliving those moments again from my childhood. It was really intense.
Related: ‘The Pitt’ Star Taylor Dearden Reveals Her Biggest Hope for Season 2 (Exclusive)After Robby finds out about Collins's situation, he sends her home. And that's the last we see or hear from the character in Season 1, as she is absent for the PittFest shooting arc and the finale. What was your reaction when you found out that you would be making your exit so early in the season?I think that's one of the things about The Pitt, it breaks lots of rules and sort of subverts expectations and takes you in a different direction. And so that is just the way the writers broke the story. That's the way that the story ended up. I heard myself and I saw "vacay!" [Laughs.] Actually, I was sad. I genuinely was sad to sort of not be there at the end. And I, I, I love so many of those guys. We spoke even after we wrapped Season 1, "Oh, are you going to set to do ADR? We miss you!" And we'd be able to have dinner and stuff. So some of those guys, we continue to just be friends even afterwards. Because you really, you bond. You really bond when you go through something like this, because it's such an intense thing, and you are spending so much time with each other. You're always all there, either in the scene or in the background. It is what you sign up for a show that defies expectation and you keeps you guessing. So yeah, I mean, as an actor, as an artist, I'm always there to serve the story. That is my number one thing. I'm there to serve the story, what is best for the story. And if it's that she's not going to be available to sort of swoop in and save the day or save someone or help someone because of something that's happened in her personal life, then that's the way it kind of breaks. But I continue to support the rest of the episodes in that season and chat to them and be available if they needed anything.To your point, the filming process of The Pitt sounds incredibly unique. I had heard that you pretty much shot everything in order and, as you mentioned, there are moments when some people are spotlighted, while others they're basically background extras. What was it like to be in that environment?We once had a 10-minute discussion while the lighting was being changed to decide whether or not I would be allowed to roll my sleeves up, because we last saw me four minutes ago. So it was very much like that. And it was the smallest thing, and we would all catch each other. We would all be there for each other. So if I noticed something, I was like, "Hang on a second. When we shot this before, there was a 'WOW,' a workstation on wheels. Is it going to be there?" And then they'd be like, yes, it's supposed to be there. So we all pitched in. And I think that's really important, because you all need to feel like you have each other's backs. I know you've cut your teeth on a lot of theatre. Do you find similarities in the way the show was produced?No, because I feel like you have a break in theatre! [Laughs.] True! Frontline workers don't get those union-mandated lunch breaks.[Laughs.] You get it, Mike, you get it! Yes, I feel like it felt very different to anything I've ever done before. Most of the lighting was, if not almost all of it, already done. John Miles was really keen that that would happen so there's no downtime at all. Really. You might have two or three minutes where they might be moving something. But you're usually using that to rehearse with the other people, and then you're straight into it. And then when the scene finishes, you're like, "Okay, I'm going to take a minute," and then there's no minute. It's like, "Okay, we're rehearsing the next one." It's like a train from the morning you get the minute you get up in the morning to the minute you leave for the day. That lunchtime is pretty busy usually.Well, let's talk about your second trip on the train. At the time we're talking, you're about to fly out to Season 2. What do you know at this point about what's coming? Is there anything you can tease for us?I think, Mike, that there's going to be a lot of surprises. And I am not a ruiner, which is someone who tells the stories and the things that are about to happen or have happened beforehand. So I'll just say it is an it remains a tremendous cast. And I just love so many of the actors that are on that show that just give their heart and soul to it. I think John Wells knows how to make a show, and he is an absolute powerhouse. You're going to enjoy what Season 2 brings.Finally, to say there's been massive acclaim for The Pitt would be an understatement. What's been your reaction to the fan response to the show and Collins's character?I mean, when you start out making something, you're never sure what it's going to be. All you can do is just try to serve the peace, serve the story, and make sure you are available to the other people in this story and that you were honoring it. And I feel like, I want to say it's amazing, and it's so great. But I feel, like any industry, it's important that you don't fix your effort and your work on the acknowledgement, on the results. All you can do is, at the time you're making this thing, at the time you're producing it, you just have to ask yourself, "Am I doing the best that I can possibly do? Am I giving it my all, regardless of what may or may not be happening around me? Am I available to the other people? Am I showing up? Am I kind? Am I being myself? Do I have integrity in what I'm doing in how I'm walking and then you just leave the rest?" You have to just give it over. So it is wonderful that people are really enjoying it. But like Peter Hall says, "All you need is one person to walk past and that's it." So I think if you come at it like that, I think you're going to have a really healthy way of looking at it. But if you start to need the other thing, then it's problematic when that doesn't come. I've seen some phenomenal projects, phenomenal shows that have no audience. Does it lessen the impact of the work? No, not at all, not to me anyway. But if the artist thinks that it does, then it is going to. So it's always nice when things are acknowledged, and the hard work that you've put in is appreciated as it is now. So that's really wonderful.And that it's starting conversations. That, for me, is the most important thing, starting those important conversations about what really goes on in these places, what is needed. This show was written about the bordering crisis in America across the natio, and these amazing heroes who need our support and need our compassion and our grace and probably more resources. But these people that need those things and how they struggle with those things and still deliver and still show up. And so it's kind of like a nod to them, really, as well, and what the patients go through as well. So those are the things that I think are important, and everything else is wonderful and great. I'm so grateful for them. But it's, it can never be the end-all be-all, the gold chalice. It can just be.
Related: 'The Pitt' Star Taylor Dearden Reveals How Her ADHD Helped Create Her Fan-Favorite Character (Exclusive)
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