The word lucky comes up a lot when you talk to The Pitt star Fiona Dourif. She calls herself lucky for getting cast, lucky for getting such great scripts, lucky for getting nominated for an Emmy Award for best supporting actress in a drama.
But it takes a certain amount of skill to translate those words on the page into such a memorable performance — no one will soon forget her sitting by dying cancer patient Roxie Hamler’s (Brittany Allen) bedside as the usual chaos swirled around them. So much so that both performers heard their name called on Emmy nomination morning.
“It actually gives me chills just saying it out loud,” Dourif tells Gold Derby, who says filming those scenes felt “sacred.”
Here, she reveals what the nominations mean to her, what’s ahead for McKay in Season 3 — and what’s really going on in the background while the cameras aren’t on her.
Gold Derby: Congratulations on the Emmy nomination. What does it mean to you to get that recognition?
Fiona Dourif: The whole thing is delightful. I’m not sure what it means. It means I’ve gotten extremely lucky — the right place, the right time — and I’m just delighted.
And what does it mean to you for the larger show, for the recognition of your fellow castmates and the crew—all the nominations the show received?
I think—and I don’t know how this sounds, but this is actually how I think about it — I feel like The Pitt is genuinely like 260 people. I thought of it as ants on an ant farm. That’s kind of what it feels like. Everyone is playing their role really well, and in the end it makes something that’s cool and that people like. So it just feels so intensely like an ensemble, and that part is more fun to celebrate, for me. I hope we get up there again. It was really fun. I’ll be better dressed this year. I looked at pictures of myself on stage at the Emmys last year and thought, “Oh my God, I was so naked.”
What do you think the voters were responding to about McKay, about your performance in Season 2?
I think in Season 2, it was probably the cancer storyline that people really related to. There was something about Brittany Allen’s performance, how grounded and real it was, and I got to be a part of that and tell that very real story of illness that takes somebody too young. It’s unfair. I was just listening to a podcast the other day, about how cancer is on the rise in younger people, in their 30s and 40s — how real that is — and listening to these stories of a young mother who has a toddler, whose life is upended by chemo. I have friends that’s happened to. To me, it just feels lucky that I got to be the empathetic ear and play those scenes out.
Did you talk to Brittany about her nomination?
Yeah, Brittany and I had a very excited phone call. I was really happy for her, and how cool it is that she submitted herself and really felt like, “This is my time to put myself out there.” And then she got the nomination. It actually gives me chills just saying it out loud. Those scenes were really special. They were really exhausting for both of us — specifically her. I remember it feeling churchy, like this was sacred and to be respected. We were careful around each other, and Shawn Hatosy directed a lot of those bigger scenes. He’s an actor and knew how to handle it, how to treat us both and not run it too many times if they were on screen.
It’s clear that what voters were really responding to was how quiet and internal it was. It wasn’t a big, showy, “look at me” scene.
I think part of why people are responding to the performances, or to The Pitt in general, is that it’s not showy or theatrical. It’s really important to the show that we play things for real — bare-bones realism. For example, yesterday there was a funny beat, and the director came up to me and said, “You need to just play it real.” I think people really respond to that. The writing is so good and real that all we really have to do is play what’s in front of us, simply, and then it’s enough.
Over the course of two seasons, what have you learned about playing McKay?
The last two seasons taught me that I’m at my best when I’m loose and playful, and that my instincts for McKay at this point are pretty right on. So if I can not mess with myself, not really think about myself too much or what I want it to be, then it can become playful — and it’s almost always better, even if the material is heavy. I watch Noah Wyle and think, “God, he’s a noodle.” He’s so loose and playful and surprising. So what I’m learning is: the more I trust myself, the better it is.
If you think of Dana as the mother hen, and Santos as the bratty younger sister—where does McKay fit in? What do you think her role is in the Pitt?
I think McKay is kind of a beacon of intuition. What makes her a little different from the other doctors is that it took her a long time to get on her feet. Her 20s and 30s were not fun college times — this is true of me, too. It took a long time to really feel grounded, like I was blossoming. Honestly, I hated my 20s, and a good portion of my 30s. So McKay carries with her that understanding that the people who are suffering — there’s a portion of her that’s been there too. There can be a lot of empathy in that, and some amount of street wisdom. So what is that? That’s like the rebellious teenager who went back to college. That’s McKay’s role.
How does it feel to be back on set?
Shooting The Pitt is the best. It’s just fun. As the years go on, I’m more and more confident. I have real friendships on set — people I hang out with and talk to all the time. Sometimes I feel like I’m 12 years old on set, in a way that feels really instinctual, because I’m just having a lot of fun. I steal the AD’s golf cart. I have a lot of inside jokes. I just really like being there. It’s odd that it’s becoming more fun even as I put less pressure on myself and have more confidence. The whole thing is just joyful, really joyful.
How do you maintain that fun when you’re dealing with such serious subject matter—or does that fun help you deal with the serious subject matter you’re dealing with?
You know what I did between Season 2 and Season 3, which was pretty useful—I shadowed an actual ER. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to do this legally, but a few hospitals have invited us in to help us portray modern medicine as accurately as we can, because it’s having these small, positive repercussions that I think they’re finding useful. And watching actual doctors in the ER—it’s ultimately a job, right? What I found surprising to see in real life is that there’s an expertise, a real competence, but there’s also just a routine to it. There’s a casualness. When I saw that in real life, I remembered John Wells saying that to me in Season 1. I was like, “What do you mean? There’s a brain tumor.” But it’s ultimately their job. So I’ve really taken that in. To portray this accurately, it doesn’t feel like a life-or-death moment to the doctors. It’s their routine—that’s really the story. And the accumulation of that has a build over time, which is the burnout. But that’s the answer to your question: ultimately, McKay is at work. She’s doing what’s in front of her to the best of her ability, but it is not life or death. It can feel like life or death later, when you go home. But you’re really there for the person in front of you. I think that’s the real story, too.
Only four months will have transpired between seasons. Is that enough time for the characters to have changed, or does that not even matter? How will that impact where we find them when we return?
What I’ve found from talking to real doctors in residency is that there are huge changes that happen each year. McKay’s in her third year, and you’re just at the point where you’re really running rooms. In a trauma, or in an appointment, you’re the person diagnosing and telling everybody what to do. So after four months of doing that, there’s a change — you’re even more competent. It’s been fun to grow in confidence as an actor portraying it, as I’m growing in confidence myself. McKay is even a little bit more on her feet. And a lot of the experiences of Season 2 are present — just facing mortality in the face of Roxy, which McKay did, and what that means for the choices she wants to make in her life. I think that’s really present. And more and more confidence — which is how I feel too, which is great.
So much of Season 2 was dealing with the PTSD from the mass casualty event in Season 1. Is she still coping with Roxie’s death as she heads into Season 3?
I think there’s a real resilience to McKay, because she’d been knocked down for so many years before she went to medical school. And there’s something about my generation, too — I’m the youngest Gen X — where I don’t think we were really taught to look at life that way. I actually think there’s a generational, cultural difference there. So there are things that stay with you, but how you frame it is really important. If you frame it as, “This is a trauma I have to abide,” I think it can hit you quite differently than incorporating it — facing what’s sad, but knowing that you have resilience.
So what are McKay’s challenges, or what is she facing, going into Season 3? What is she dealing with?
I can’t give you any spoilers about Season 3, but McKay has a particular issue that’s front and center in her storyline, and I believe it’s going to go throughout Season 3. It’s really centered on one thing, and it’s a thing that’s actually quite personal for me. So that’s been really interesting to navigate. I can’t really speak about what it is yet, but it’s been an interesting few months so far.
One of the things that’s also interesting about McKay is that she’s one of the women on staff who can stand up to Robby — and so much of Season 2 was about Robby talking down to women. Will we see more of her standing up to Robby in Season 3, being that voice who can challenge him?
I don’t know if McKay looks at it like she’s standing up to Robby. I think she views him as somebody who knows a lot more than she does. But there are lanes he sometimes can’t see, lanes that she actually knows more about — like emotional resilience or knowing yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever viewed those scenes as particularly combative.
I see it at she uses her voice in a way that that the younger women can’t.
Yeah, I think there’s something to being 44. In my head, Dr. Robby may want to hear what McKay has to say — he’s a little open to it — and I believe in his ability to hear it. There’s something about less f–ks given when you’re older, which is really nice.
And in that same way, can she help bridge the gap between Langdon and Robby?
I think McKay could help bridge the gap between Langdon and Robby, yes. McKay and Langdon have something pretty real in common, and I hope that’s explored a little more. McKay has a lot of respect for Robby. In the end, she knows he’s kind, and we’ll see how much she can — and wants to — exert herself.
Last time we spoke, you hinted at wanting to see more romance for her.
I always want to see romance for McKay. I think McKay deserves a fuller, more balanced life — a little less acute caretaking. That can happen to a lot of women. You can blink, and all of the things you wanted as a kid, the chances get fewer and fewer. It’s a pretty common story for women in their 40s who have been focused on career for a long time: “This is what I know how to do, so I’m going to do this.” And then the chances you have to take in order to have love and excitement feel harder and harder, further and further away. I know that’s true for me — except right now. Right now, I’m doing great.
Glad to hear it! Has anything about Season 3 been surprising for her?
As the seasons go on, they’re writing McKay more and more to my strengths, and I feel more and more free in her, like what I’m doing and what I am is enough. Noah Wyle said to me at the beginning of Season 1, “Just thinking it is enough. That’s all you have to do — just be thinking the thoughts.” I was like, “God, but I’m on this big John Wells show, and they’ve built a whole hospital.” But the more I’ve watched him, and the more I’ve watched the episodes, the more I realize he’s right, because it’s so subtle yet expressive. The more you just play the thing in front of you, the better it is. Just trust yourself. That’s what I’ve been doing, and it’s even morenfun than it was before. They keep writing to my strengths, and I feel an ownership of the character. Not a thing has felt off yet in Season 3. I really trust them — really trust the writing.
How does the shooting style help improve your performance? What have you learned about yourself as an actor because of the way they shoot?
First, we shoot really quickly, and there aren’t long gaps between scenes. There are no large lighting rigs, which is a testament to our DP, Johanna Coelho, because she pre-rigged these really elaborate light systems so she can play with them with just minimal tweaking. The DP on The Pitt is such an unsung hero. How quickly we move, and how we shoot in order, is such a luxury — I always know exactly what’s happened before, so I always know where I am. Usually the first, second, and third takes are the best, because they’re just playful. It’s about not overthinking it — not deciding what I want the scene to be, not having an idea of it and then trying to execute that. It’s what’s in front of you. Trust your scene partners. And let me tell you, The Pitt — we shoot in L.A., on Warner Bros. — has the best guest acting I have ever seen on a show. It’s relentlessly good. We’re extremely lucky.
I know you’re all often doing stuff in the background, coming up with things while all the cameras are going on around you. Is there a moment—something you did in the background that may or may not have made it on screen—that you’re particularly proud of?
We’re always messing around in the background. Yesterday I was walking by a window and thought, “I want to try something,” so I did this crazy rubberneck — I was really going for it — and the director pulled me aside and said, “Just walk. Just walk by.” I was like, “All right.” You might as well try. You try to make things interesting, but also not take away from what’s going on in front of you. It’s the best when it’s playful. We call them puppet shows. Katherine LaNasa coined the term “puppet show,” because you have this whole elaborate thing you’re doing in the hub, and the scene is happening all the way in the hallway, but they can see the top of your head. I’ve had really elaborate arguments. I don’t think any of my puppet shows got in, but I was very committed.
There should be an Emmy category for them.
Katherine LaNasa will win, like, 10 more Emmys. She’s got a lot of puppet shows going on.
Who’s your favorite co-star to share scenes with?
It’s probably going to be Shabana Azeez, because we got a rhythm going, and I like how different our energy is. She’s also just so emotionally fluid — that girl can cry on cue over and over and over. I like how generous she is; she’ll give her full performance even when she’s off camera, 100 percent each time. And I like how opposite we are — I think it makes a really interesting dynamic to watch on screen. It’s very weird to not have her taped to my shoulder this season.
And what are you most looking forward to about the Emmys, other than a different outfit?
I have a date for the first time. Because I’m nominated, I get to bring a date. So Dr. McKay got herself a date. And I think I maybe have the dress I’m wearing — it’s super odd, kind of an art piece. Hopefully I’ll be able to walk in it.
