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Spoilers follow for the first season ofThe Pittthroughseason finale 9:00 P.M.
Of all the interns onThe Pitt,Dr.
Trinity Santos gives the audience the wildest ride.
Do we believe her assessment?
Moreover, do we trust in her motivations?
It also sets up a funny dynamic for them in the future.
Who knows what high jinks theyll get up to?
We go on a real journey with Dr. Santos.
How did the team talk to you about what they wanted to do with the character?
Throughout that, we also had one-on-one meetings with Scott Gemmill and John Wells to go over the character.
Shes this ex-athlete, very competitive, very headstrong, ready to elbow people out of the way.
And obviously, anytime you meet anyone like that, you know theres something deeper going on.
But the specifics of her storyline only came out as we got our scripts.
They listen to us and watch our chemistry with everyone.
Do you have an example of a pairing that was figured out deeper into the process?
Were not let into a whole lot of that.
We can only infer.
Like with Dr. Langdon and Dr. King, they clearly have an interesting working relationship because theyre so different.
With Santos and Langdon, I think we really found just how similar they are.
How do you psychologically interpret Santos?
Clearly, anyone who is that combative is trying to protect their heart.
Of course, people can be like, Oh, my gosh!
Shes such a bitch, she has no empathy.
But Ive met people like Santos before.
She clearly just needs therapy and a hug.
Im getting the sense that theres quite a big difference between Dr. Santos and yourself.
You know, thats what I love about doing this job.
I wouldnt necessarily go about things the same way that Santos does.
I know I certainly have moments of lashing out.
At the end of the day, were all just little kids inside who are scared.
How do you read what shes looking for?
Their dynamic is so interesting!
Garcia is not everyones friend.
I think they recognize that in each other when they first meet.
Heres someone whos going to let me put in a chest tube.
Heres someone whos going to let me do a thoracotomy.
Shes always thinking of how to get ahead.
And I think Dr. Garcia provides that opportunity.
Were you nervous that the show was building Santos up to be a little divisive?
Honestly, not at all.
Your job is to show what you do, and maybe make people understand.
Which is so true.
Santos is definitely not super likable, but maybe you’ve got the option to see why.
Maybe you’re free to empathize a little bit.
I do think its just fun to make people hate you in a way.
Its fun to elicit a reaction!
Its cool to see people have such visceral reactions to her.
Some people are like, Oh, my God!
But then there are the people who are like, Oh, Iloatheher.
That is my job: to make you feel something.
If Ive done it, then Im proud of that.
Are you like one of those wrestling heels who feeds off boos?
Is that something you might get fuel from?
You postedearlier about that discourse.
What did you notice about the evolution of the way people talked about Santos?
Its been really cool to see audiences watch Santos be right and say, Whoa!
What does that say about me that I really didnt want to believe her?
Of course, youdontwant to believe her, because she can be very mean.
Kudos to the writers, because its a kind of mirror thats held up very subtly.
Even in the moment, I didnt fully know if it was going to all come together.
Were you surprised that the audience went along?
The show is really structured as a guide for you to feel something.
But Santos does have a clear arc of sorts.
How did you feel about the way the season leaves her?I thought it was really well done.
I love how some audiences said, All this could never happen in one day.
Yeah, sure, but its also TV.
Thats just not what happens.
Also, what would we have to do for season two if everyone was just better, you know?
It also helps that it was day one for Santos, Whittaker, and Javadi.
First days are always an impactful thing in our lives.
Were always going to leave the first day of something feeling different and being changed in some way.
The season does pepper throughout a sense that Santos has a real heart under all that barbed wire.
We see that facade crack a little in the last episode.
She clearly grew up with brothers.
I always thought shes the oldest sister of younger brothers.
She clearly has feelings.
It also sets up a funny dynamic for them in the future.
Thats gonna be great.
Its more like landlord-renter, but I take your point.
Who knows what high jinks theyll get up to?
But its a nice full-circle moment.
They have a nice brother-sister relationship going on.
But theres also something so interesting about Dr. Santos being a largely white-coding person of color.
How did that inform your development of the character?
Being mixed is complicated, right?
All sorts of racial dysphoria comes with that.
Ive grappled with that a lot throughout my life.
When youre mixed, people love to tell you what you are.
Youre told, Youre not Filipino.
Theres so much nuance in there.
And the writers were so collaborative about it.
With that scene, they asked me, Hey, do you speak Tagalog?
I dont speak fluently at all, but I can understand some things.
I grew up hearing it around the house.
Theres something funny happening there, because Santos is so worthy ofchismis.
Theres even a line in there where they describe her asmestiza, which wasnt originally in the script.
That episode also had an Asian director, Quyen Tran, and shes so wonderful.
It was just so cool to build that scene together with all these Asian women in one room.
She kept asking, Is there anything else you want to say?
Its yet another thing for her to prove.
I deserve to be there.
I want to be there.
Theres always that kind of feeling, and I think that adds to Santos.
Despite the real-time conceit, this is a fairly straightforward medical procedural.
Did you have much of a relationship with the genre growing up?
I was like, Why is it funny?
And they were like, Because thats what they do.
But Im not usually a medical-drama person.
My friends think Im crazy that Ive never watchedGreys Anatomy.
I have a healthy fear of hospitals.
Its the same way I feel about true crime.
Some people love that.
The Pitthas helped me develop an appreciation, though.
Or withthe birth sequence.
Thats how it goes.
The show is asking you not to turn away, saying that this is a human experience.
Or how it displays what healthcare workers go through.
Its all so real, and we need to see it.
Do you have a favorite of Santoss nicknames?
We came up with a few more when we werent filming, but I cant recall them right now.
Shes just so mean.
That is so cold.
The world has dubbed Langdon ER Ken, and thats my favorite nickname.
I dont even give that one.
Both your parents are in the arts.
Has working on this show made you consider what life wouldve been like if you went into medicine instead?
Im a doctor who sings.
Im the Filipino dream.
I dont know if I actually have it in me.
