S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon Goodwin on Chicago Med)

Summary

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One Chicago Podcast: S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon Goodwin on Chicago Med)

Date: September 25, 2025
Host: Brian Luce (Wolf Entertainment)
Guest: S. Epatha Merkerson (“Sharon Goodwin” on Chicago Med)

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Episode Overview

This episode of the One Chicago Podcast features the legendary S. Epatha Merkerson, who has embodied Sharon Goodwin, the formidable executive director on Chicago Med, for a decade. Host Brian Luce (former Chicago cop, now producer) takes listeners on a deep dive into Merkerson’s remarkable TV career, what makes her character tick, how real-life research shapes her performance, and the family atmosphere of the One Chicago universe. The episode also includes a behind-the-scenes look with special effects artist Crystal Portillo, exploring how the show’s medical realism is achieved.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

S. Epatha Merkerson’s Journey in the Wolf Universe

• Longstanding Collaboration

  • Merkerson has spent over 32 years working with Dick Wolf on projects like Law & Order, Man and Machine, South Beach, Chicago Med, and multiple crossovers.
  • “I did 395 episodes of Law and Order. We're doing our 200th episode of Med... so I've done over 615 shows.” (Merkerson, 05:20–06:02)

• Getting the Call for Chicago Med

  • She proactively asked her manager to tell the producers she wanted in:
    • “Tell that mother I want a job.” (Merkerson, 07:01)
    • She landed the role within half an hour, cementing her status in the Wolf “family.”

Building the Character of Sharon Goodwin

• From Nurse to Boss – Character Backstory

  • Goodwin’s arc draws inspiration from a real Black female nurse–turned–administrator in Chicago.
  • “She started as a nurse... charge nurse... and then I believe that she felt that she had the means to run the hospital, and so she went about doing that.” (Merkerson, 10:29–11:04)

• Bringing Personal Values to the Role

  • Merkerson’s commitment to integrity and directness mirrors Goodwin’s leadership style.
  • She insisted on addressing characters by their proper titles as a gesture of respect, inspired by her high school teacher:
    • “If they're a doctor, it's Dr. Halstead, it's Dr. Frost... It’s just a small thing, but it’s very particular for this character.” (Merkerson, 09:58–10:19)

• Character Similarities

  • “I believe in right and wrong... I believe in speaking your mind. I think that’s why they've hired me, because a lot of me are in these characters.” (Merkerson, 08:53–09:13)

Research and Real-World Immersion

• Time Spent in Real ERs

  • First season included shadowing trauma surgeons and observing emergency procedures at Stroger Hospital:
    • “I spent a Friday evening in the ED... I ended up in a surgery, watching a guy who had been shot... The spleen, intestines were on top of his stomach. It was extraordinary.” (Merkerson, 12:37–13:43)

• Impact on Performance

  • These experiences informed a realistic portrayal and emotional authenticity, especially in intense scenes.
  • “That kind of research can only help you. It was extraordinary having that kind of access.” (Merkerson, 13:43–13:52)

Evolution and Challenges on Chicago Med

• Growth of the Series

  • The show's writing and the ensemble’s chemistry have evolved with cast changes, keeping the tone fresh.
    • “With each cast change, it’s brought a different energy... Oliver and I are like the OGs now. We’re the last two from the original.” (Merkerson, 18:53–19:40)

• Portraying Vulnerability and Difficult Themes

  • Recent storylines gave Goodwin a deeper, more vulnerable arc, especially the stalking and stabbing plot.
    • “The cool thing was, I got to do some stunts... but that was probably the most difficult because it was a storyline that progressed through the season.” (Merkerson, 17:47–18:47)
  • Merkerson praised showrunner Alan McDonald for writing specifically with her in mind for the first time.
    • “Last year was the first time I felt a writer actually paid attention to me... he wrote for me. That has not happened. Not like it did last year.” (Merkerson, 22:54–23:29)

Personal Life, Acting, and Memorable Moments

• Discovering Acting

  • Motivated by school bullying and moving frequently, theater became an escape and empowerment.
    • “Doing theater... allowed me to be somebody else.” (Merkerson, 27:45)

• Most Affecting Storylines

  • Her favorite Law & Order episode is “Mushrooms,” which explored tragic consequences of illiteracy and violence.
    • “To this day, it’s one of the few that I will watch.” (Merkerson, 28:42–28:49)
  • Recalled her first role on Law & Order as a cleaning lady; joked about moving up through "night school." (28:55–29:09)

• Dementia Storyline

  • A moving discussion of her personal experience with a close friend’s struggle with dementia brought depth and realism to Goodwin’s on-screen story.
    • “A very, very dear friend of mine passed away from dementia... and I remember when she was diagnosed... she was so nervous, she couldn't speak.” (Merkerson, 30:43–32:06)
    • The emotional truth of these experiences often overtakes her in performance:
      “One of the things that has happened as I get older, I just cry sometimes.” (Merkerson, 33:33)

The Medical Realism: Special Effects and Makeup (Crystal Portillo, SFX Artist)

• Crafting Hyper-Realistic Injuries

  • Crystal Portillo and her team use a mix of high-tech (computer-generated) and hands-on (prosthetic) effects to create surgeries and wounds.
    • “So 99% of our stuff is made for surgery... we make these replicas so we can really just jam them full of needles and whatever else we need to and no one gets harmed in the process.” (Portillo, 43:25)
  • Research includes studying real medical photos and dissecting animal organs to replicate texture and color.
    • “We ended up getting a set of sheep lungs to... get the size right, get the texture right.” (Portillo, 45:14–45:15)
  • Emotional impact on both cast and families:
    • “We did a replica of a young girl, and the mom got really spooked by our dummy version of her daughter...” (Portillo, 44:52–45:14)

• Challenges of On-Location Effects

  • Real-world settings, like the explosive event with crushed limbs, require careful planning.
    • “Blood will do whatever it wants... You think it's like, ah, is it going to squirt this way? Let's keep our fingers crossed.” (Portillo, 46:44–47:04)
  • “It was great being able to saw a guy's legs off, it was also, you know, a little anxiety inducing.” (Portillo, 44:41–44:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "This man [Dick Wolf] changed my life. He really did. And what I love about Dick Wolf is that he's loyal. But don't mess with him... You got to come in righteous. You got to work or you're gone."
  — S. Epatha Merkerson (06:07–06:37)

• “Tell that mother I want a job.”
  — S. Epatha Merkerson, describing her approach to getting cast on Med (07:01)

• "[Goodwin] started as a nurse, did all the education... became charge nurse... then I believe she felt that she had the means to run the hospital."
  — S. Epatha Merkerson (10:29–11:04)

• “I believe in right and wrong... I think that's why they've hired me, because a lot of me are in these characters.”
  — S. Epatha Merkerson (08:53–09:13)

• "The joy of doing this with the people that I work with is because they're so extraordinary."
  — S. Epatha Merkerson (35:21–35:45)

• “She came as a worker. Not just as an administrator, she came as a worker.”
  — S. Epatha Merkerson (26:51)

• “The human body is just such an incredible machine... we’re always striving to make things look better or function better, you know, so it's a challenge and one that I appreciate.”
  — Crystal Portillo (47:58)

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Timestamps – Key Segments

• S. Epatha’s Wolf Universe Stats — 05:20–06:07
• Getting cast on Med — 07:01–07:53
• Portraying Sharon Goodwin — 08:14–10:25
• Goodwin’s Backstory — 10:25–11:04
• Real-life Trauma Research — 12:37–13:52
• Growth and Legacy of Med — 18:47–19:40
• Honest Vulnerability in Goodwin — 22:54–24:48
• Discovering Acting Amid Bullying — 27:00–28:08
• Law & Order “Mushrooms” episode — 28:17–28:49
• Portrayal of Dementia (Personal Story) — 30:43–34:14
• Medical Effects & Prosthetics (Portillo) — 43:25–47:58

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The STAT Lightning Round (38:12)

• Wolf Character to Bring to Med: Dennis Farina as Fontana
• Who Goodwin Would Want at Her Bedside: Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt)
• Preferred Surgeon: Dr. Lennox (Sarah Ramos)
• Co-star Vacation Pick: Steven Weber

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Tone & Atmosphere

The conversation is warm, candid, humorous, and poignant. S. Epatha Merkerson’s affection and respect for her colleagues shines through, as does her generosity in sharing personal experiences—both joyful and painful—that deepen her performances. The tone is at once familial and fiercely professional, mirroring the ethos of the One Chicago shows.

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For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode delivers a rich tapestry of behind-the-scenes insights, emotional truths, career reflection, and technical wizardry. Merkerson’s devotion to her craft, her respect for the stories told, and the collaborative spirit of the crew and cast make for a compelling listen—whether you’re a diehard fan or a newcomer to the world of Chicago Med.

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Transcript

[A]

This episode is brought to you by.

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[A]

Shop [e-mail] hey, I'm Brian Lucci, and this is the official One Chicago podcast Action. There are so many people who I adore that work on the One Chicago shows, but today I'm talking with someone truly near and dear to my heart. I'll give all you guys a little hint. Her very first TV gig was as Reba, the mail lady on Pee Wee's Playhouse.

[B]

Have you written to anyone lately?

[A]

No.

[B]

You have to write letters to get letters.

[C]

Why?

[A]

Everyone knows that this amazing woman has been part of the wolf path for more than three decades. First on Law and Order and then for the last 10 years, she's been running Chicago Met, where the doctors and the nurses seem to have it pretty, pretty comfy.

[B]

You know, I realize they've been walking around in pajamas and sneakers. I'm in high heels and Spanx, you know what I'm saying?

[A]

It's the one and only the legend herself, S. Epatha Merkerson, otherwise known as the big boss lady, Sharon Goodwin.

[B]

We need to rethink how this ED operates. So changes are on the horizon.

[A]

And later, have you ever wondered how they create all the blood, guts, and bullet wounds that get stitched up on Chicago Med? We'll visit the workshop of a very talented makeup and effects artist to see how she makes those gruesome injuries look so damn real. And just in time for Halloween.

[C]

It was great being able to saw a guy's legs off. It was also, like, you know, a little anxiety inducing.

[A]

All of that coming right up after the break, so stay with us.

[B]

Cut.

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[A]

Hello, I'm Brian Lucci and this is the One Chicago Podcast. Today, I have the absolute honor to be with this woman that I absolutely love from Chicago Med, one of my dear friends who plays Sharon Goodwin, who's the executive director. Director on Chicago Met. S E Paitha.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So here we go. We're going to kick it off. And I'm sure you know from the first time that I seen you how much I, like, just love you to death.

[B]

You know, that's mutual.

[A]

I seen you for the first time and you were probably one of the only stars that I've ever been, like, extremely starstruck. I was sitting and I was watching you, and I didn't want to be the creepy guy, but I think you noticed that I was being the creepy guy. I had my mouth down because I seen you on television and I think you're so beautiful. And it was like. And I remember you were so kind.

[B]

But I knew you were a cop.

[A]

You know, as a cop. Yeah.

[B]

And I, you know, I have an affinity for cops. You know what I mean? Yeah.

[A]

So you said hello to me, and I was like, wow, this is amazing. So I sat there and watch you do a scene. Was like, incredible. And I'm thinking, in the wolf world. Wow, this is gonna be great for. For Chicago. We're going to have a med show. I knew right there. We're going to have a med show. And I watched and I watch it and I remember when they said cut. And it was in that moment when there was some colorful language coming out.

[B]

Hello.

[A]

And kidding. Right. That I said, okay, we're keeping her. I'm going to love her. I'm loving on her. Already?

[B]

Already.

[A]

Please don't let her go. And here we are a decade later.

[B]

A decade.

[A]

You know what I mean? And I think before we kick this off, something that you brought up was really, really cool. That I don't know if the viewers even know, but some of them will. How the hell long have you been with Wolf?

[B]

32 years. We counted. The other day, I did 395 episodes of Law and Order. We're doing our 200th episode of Med. I did nine episodes of a show called man and Machine. Nice of you to join us, Detective.

[A]

One of those days, Cap.

[B]

Murder.

[A]

Just getting out of the house.

[B]

Two, to be precise. Both with the same M.O. a new one, even for me, and one episode of a show called South Beach. And then I've done crossovers of PD and Fire, crossovers of SVU. So I've done over 615 shows.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Which is so amazing.

[A]

And that's just like Wolf. That's not the Russia crew. That's the Wolf Pac.

[B]

No, that's just the Wolf Pack. I mean, he is literally. This man changed my life. He really did. And what I love about Dick Wolf is that he's loyal. Yeah, but don't mess with them.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

You come. You come on time. You do your work. You're dealt with the same way as everybody. Yeah, he treats everyone the same. But you got to come in righteous.

[A]

Yeah, you got to.

[B]

You got to work or you're gone.

[A]

I started out, I thought I was pretty cocky. Coming In, I had 240 episodes. I thought that was a big deal. You tripled me. I hate you right now. This is the crazy questions. Are we ready?

[B]

Oh, good.

[A]

They're not. Trust me. I would never ask. I told him I wouldn't ask you nothing. Do you remember when you first got the call to join Chicago Med?

[B]

Yeah, it was actually. My manager called and called about something else, and he said, oh, yeah, I just got off the phone with Peter Jankowski. And I said, tell that mother I want a job. I have to say that. That's what I said.

[A]

They could beep it out.

[B]

And I said, and when you talk to him, tell him just the way I said it.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

And call me when you hear from him. So I don't know, maybe 20 minutes, a half an hour passed. He calls me and he goes. He's laughing. My manager, he goes, I talked to Jankowski. I said, did you tell him what I said? And he said, yeah. And I said, did you tell him how? I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, I said, what did he do? Started laughing and he said, he immediate started laughing and said, ask her if she wants to go to Chicago.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

That's how I got the job.

[A]

How long were you in between the last Wolf project to that Wolf project?

[B]

It was five years, because law and order ended in 2010, and we started.

[A]

In 2015 after being Lt. Anita Van Buren on Law and Order for so long, how did you figure out how to play Sharon Goodwin on Chicago Men?

[B]

I think they're kind of similar women. They shoot straight, they're focused, they don't take any guff from anybody. I think that's a similar kind of person, and I think that's why they cast me as well. They're at 100 as far as their jobs are concerned. The only difference, I think, between A Van Buren and Goodwin is Goodwin is smaller. I quit smoking when I was on Law and Order, and I watched my behind grow every season.

[A]

How much of a Paitha is in Goodwin and how much of Goodwin is in a Painta? I feel it.

[B]

I think we're similar, you know, because I believe in right and wrong.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I believe in good and evil. I believe in speaking your mind. I think that's why they've hired me, because a lot of me are in these characters and what I love about the people that we work with and the writers especially, you know, because we're living these people. You know, if we see something or they have us saying something that doesn't feel right, we can talk to them and they'll make the changes. One small thing that I do on this show is I don't call people by their first names. I had a teacher in high school who, when all the kids would walk in, she would say, Ms. Merkerson, Mr. Smith, how are you today? Ms. Williams, please have a seat. You know, everyone, she gave respect, and it reminded me of her, and I was like, that's who I want to be. So if they're a doctor, it's Dr. Halstead, it's Dr. Frost.

[A]

Give them that title.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's their title. And the only person that she calls by their first name is Oliver's character, Dr. Charles. She calls him Daniel. And she doesn't cut off names. You know, it's not.

[A]

Yeah, that's neat.

[B]

Yeah. It's just a small thing, but it's very particular for this character.

[A]

How did Ms. Goodwin rise all the way to the top? What's her backstory?

[B]

She was good. She started as a nurse. You know, she did all the education she had to do to be a nurse, and she was excellent at it. And then she became charge nurse, which means she covers the entire emergency department. And I met a woman, a black woman over at Stroder.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Who is that Is good one. And then I believe that she felt that she had the means to run the hospital, and so she went about doing that.

[A]

You go into school, get more of an education.

[B]

I love that. Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

See, isn't it awesome that a decade of being in television and then all these layers and staying relevant with that character and letting it grow. Like, I talk to Jason every day. You know, Jason Begay, he's so brilliant and wicked smart, but all the other characters, too. And to see that they're. Everyone's invested in that.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

You just brought up earlier, I thought it was a beautiful story about the la. Going LA in the writers room.

[B]

Oh, yeah. The. You know, and this was years ago. It may have even been the first year Jason and I were at one of the big parties we used to have.

[A]

Jason Begay.

[B]

Jason Begay. And we were talking and he said, do you ever go out to see the writers? And I was like, no. And he said, do that. Yeah. And he said, it's really important. You learn a lot. You invest in the character more. And I have done that every year. And the thing is, is then it allows me to say, hey, in this storyline, can we add something that interests me, something that is pertinent for the black community, for women, for us in general? So it allows me to put in, you know, things that I'm passionate about.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You mentioned Stroger Hospital. Stroger Hospital. Did you do research there? Did you go, or did you just run in there because your kidney fell out?

[B]

Let me tell you something. The first year that we were here, we were in and out of that hospital with Andrew Dennis, who was our medical consultant back then.

[A]

Oh, so you played with him. You were doing research.

[B]

Oh, yeah. And I remember going one night to spend a Friday evening in the ed, and he's a trauma surgeon. Wow. So I remember at one point he said, well, we're going to go eat now. And I said, well, I'm not really hungry. He said, in the ed, you eat when you can't. So that was the first thing. It was like. I thought that I would go and stay a few minutes, you know, maybe an hour or two. I ended up staying practically all night. And I ended up in a surgery, watching a surgery of a guy who had been shot and, you know, mask, gloves, the whole nine he showed me the spleen. He showed me intestines were on top of his stomach. It was extraordinary.

[A]

Right?

[B]

And that kind of research can only help you. It was extraordinary having that kind of access.

[A]

Yeah, that's. Voight did that. And guys that I'm. I mean, we're. I could get in trouble for. What the hell? They're not going to fire me now. I'd send them out with real teams.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, you know, okay, it's cool going through the door. What's not cool is I remember we arrested this young kid who was from the neighborhood. He was selling drugs. He's got a refrigerator in his room. Little tiny refrigerator. Got to break it open thinking there's drugs in there and there's lunch meat. His mom was a drug addict.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So he was selling drugs for his brother to eat. His little brother.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

This young man didn't have the Jordans on. He didn't have the fancy pants. He didn't have the fancy jacket. He didn't have any other means of making any jobs. He couldn't do it. They wouldn't let him work at the corner store. So that's how he did it. So here you are. Fortunate enough, one of these actors said, what do you do with this? I said, he walks. These are the stories that nobody knows.

[B]

You know what I mean? Exactly. Exactly.

[A]

So there's the human in it. You know what I mean? And you're like, oh, God.

[B]

And when you spend an evening, you know, watching, observing in an emergency room, especially on a Friday night, right. Everything is going on. You see the cops coming in, you know, with a guy who's on drugs and he's trying to bite people. I mean, it's real life, Right? And when you see that, then you can take what you've seen and put that inside your character so that those things don't harm you. When you're working.

[A]

Has there anything that has been so shocking where you're like, holy cow. Whether it was a surgery or whatever it is that really set you back?

[B]

Yeah. I really wish that I had had the question before, because I don't want to talk about something that's coming up, but there is something that's coming up that I don't think anyone, like, really would imagine that this is possible, that the body could withstand. And I think that's the thing that's so fascinating, like, when we sit down to read the script and I find out what surgeries are happening. There are things that go on in this world that end up in emergency rooms. That are unimaginable.

[A]

Unimaginable.

[B]

And so I have to give our writers and our medical consultant, you know, such props, because they come up with these stories. I mean, when you watch the show, you think you're seeing the real thing. But these young women, Crystal and Justine, I mean, they're genius at what they do because it all looks real. I remember one day I was passing Crystal, and she had what looked like a heart in her hand, and.

[A]

And it's beaten.

[B]

Yeah. And it was in her hand. It was, like, the weirdest thing. I actually have it on my phone because it was, like, the coolest thing I'd ever seen. And then even with my character last season, my character was stalked and ended up getting stabbed. And all the things they did, a, to protect me, and then secondly, to show the wound.

[A]

Get a good look at her heart. Already on it. Gorgeous. I'm gonna need to intubate.

[B]

Heart rate 140. BP 80 over 55. Sharon, we got you. We're gonna get you through this, Sharon. I mean, what they do is extraordinary. Let's say 50% is love stories, and 50% is in the ED is in the operating room. So it has to be true to life.

[A]

What has been the most difficult scenes for you to film?

[B]

Oh, I really think it was last year. I was really challenged with this character. The stalking of this character. Mm. My attacker. Her name is Cassidy. I'm seeing visions of her whenever I'm in my office. Does she say anything to you? No, she hasn't. She just watches me. That is deeply unsettling. I'm so sorry. The cool thing was, is I got to do some stunts, which I really. You know, the old broad gets to do some stunts, and I did them. You know what I'm saying? I was proud of myself, but that was probably the most difficult because it was a storyline that progressed through the season.

[A]

From your point of view, how has Chicago Med changed the most over the last 10 seasons?

[B]

Well, certainly with the writing, and I.

[A]

Just think got better.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Yeah. Great.

[B]

And I also think that with each cast change, it's brought a different energy. It changes it ever so slightly. And the original group, you can't take away from.

[A]

No, no, no. Like.

[B]

Nick.

[A]

I miss him.

[B]

Tori, Colin, you know, you can't take away from that. But as we've moved forward, when folks come in, I think it changes the feel of the show ever so much.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

I mean, we make the adjustment. You know, Oliver and I are like the OGs now. You know, we're the last two from the original. It's an adjustment.

[A]

We always talk about the one Chicago shows as a family. If you were to describe each show as having its own personality, what would meds be?

[B]

You know, Fire was the first group and their camaraderie is so beautiful.

[A]

Bowdoin. Chief Bowdoin. Amen. Who started that?

[B]

Totally.

[A]

I think set that tone, man.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

He was not having it.

[B]

And I think that PD is a very serious group of people. And I think med you'll come on our set and people are reading books.

[A]

Sophisticated, you know?

[B]

So, yeah, even since I've been living here, I had to have someone come in and build bookshelves because I have all these books.

[A]

Wow. We gotta take a quick break, but we'll be right back with more S? Epatha Merkerson.

[C]

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Time, but when they arrive, you notice.

[B]

An individual confident in their contradictions. They know the rules, but behave as if they do not exist. New teen, the new fragrance by Miu Miu, defined by you.

[A]

We're back talking with the legendary lady herself, Est? Ipatha Merkerson. Okay, here we go. Here's a cool question.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

What are you looking forward to or hoping for Goodwin and the rest of the med characters next season? Or would be this season?

[B]

That would be this season. I have put all of my trust into Alan McDonald and his writers because let me just say this, and all of those 600 so episodes that I've done over the years. Last year was the first time I felt that a writer actually paid attention to me.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So he listened to you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

As a patha.

[B]

As he paid the. But also he wrote for me. That has not happened. Oh, I love that that has not happened. Not like it did last year. You know, I'm a presence. You can't negate that. But to have this through line last season, it's only happened to me one other time, and that was the last season of Law and Order. And I think if we had known it was the last season of Law and Order, it would have been focused on Sam Waterston and not on me. But I totally loved last season. Like, I felt so much apart and appreciated. And appreciated.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're showing up to do your work.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cause I'm gonna be there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, it's my gig, and I love what I'm doing. But Alan. Alan was able to pick the story that.

[A]

Know your voice.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Sorry I interrupted you.

[B]

No, but that was perfect.

[A]

That's what it is. I know sometimes I've heard people say, if you did your homework and you watch this show and you're writing for the show, then you would know my voice.

[B]

Yeah. Know my voice, but also know my capabilities. That, you know, just because the. She's the boss doesn't mean she's not human.

[A]

Right, right, right.

[B]

She has moments of fear. She has moments where she's not sure vulnerability is vulnerability. Yeah, yeah. You know, it was the same with Van Buren. This is a woman of strength, but you have to see when they're vulnerable, you've got to see 100% of the person. And last season, I think for me, it was so much fun.

[A]

The stalking. Yeah. You got dents in your armor. We've seen you naked.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Meaning. I don't mean naked naked, but we see the truth, the real of you. And that's wonderful that they let you do that and be afraid of fear. Yeah.

[B]

Do you know what I mean?

[A]

When I train some of the cops, we go through the door, he's like.

[B]

What do you do?

[A]

I go, first of all, you're scared to death.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're scared.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's okay to be scared. It's okay to be upset. You know, that's what the truth is. And all right, here we go. If you could take over the writers room and plot out a future for Goodwin on Chicago Med, what would happen? What would that storyline be?

[B]

You know what? I love that they've been Doing. And that's a part of this storyline, is showing her as a nurse, showing why she was a charge nurse, why she was able to move to the position she's in now. Because she knows the business and she knows it from living it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. With Dr. Blake's team down, you're one nurse short.

[B]

No, we aren't. You didn't count me. I spent more than a working as an OR nurse. I will circulate for you, Dr. Marcel. Yeah, absolutely. And those moments that they allow me to put on the scrubs, I love that. Not to mention that, you know, I realized they've been walking around in pajamas and sneakers. And I'm in high heels. I'm in high heels and Spanx. You know what I'm saying?

[A]

They told me in the costume shop that you said. You said, wait a minute. I'm sitting here in dresses and all this comfortable stuff, and you people got this. What do they call? Doctor?

[B]

They're scrubs.

[A]

Scrubs.

[B]

They're walking around in pajamas and sneakers. I was like, ain't this some shit?

[A]

Real life. Come on, y'.

[B]

All. So, yeah. Not just because of that, but it really. It really shows the fullness of this character that she didn't come to this job as an administrator.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

She came as a. As a worker.

[A]

As a worker, yeah. Here's a fan question. How did you discover your passion for acting?

[B]

I was bullied all through school.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. I was always the new kid. I was raised in a single parent home, and, you know, as things got better for my mother, we would move into better neighborhoods, which meant I was in new schools. So I was always the new kid. And my mother was a seamstress and a tailor. So I could look in a magazine, because we're Talking about the 60s, you know, I could look in a magazine and say, oh, my, I like that. And she would make it and I would wear it the next day. I mean, you know, wow. So I would come with these great clothes, and I'm the new kid. I found that doing theater when I was in school allowed me to be somebody else.

[A]

Oh, an escape from the person who's being bullied.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

I. I'm so sorry.

[B]

Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah, it was crazy.

[A]

And you knew doing the theater that you're like, okay, I want to do this. I want to.

[B]

Yeah. Because I could be anything I wanted to be.

[A]

Oh, wow, that's fabulous.

[B]

You know, within the. The characters, and it was an escape.

[A]

Yeah, I love that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What was one storyline that just shocked you over the years, it could be from Law and Order or Chicago Med, or both.

[B]

My all time favorite episode on Law and Order was when I was a guest. It was an episode called Mushrooms. This woman who had lost her son because the young man who killed one of her children could not read. So he went to the wrong house.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

And there were just so many things in that episode. To this day, it's one of the few that I will watch.

[A]

Like, profoundly affected you. And you go back and watch it.

[B]

It did.

[A]

You were. What do you mean? You were a guest. How were you a guest?

[B]

The very first season of Law and Order, I played a cleaning lady, Denise Winters. I would tease people because they'd say, well, how did you end up being Van Buren? I said, well, night school. She went to night school.

[A]

Started out as the clean lady, got.

[B]

Married and changed her name. You. Wednesday and Thursday nights. Saturday mornings, Gregory plays basketball. Monday and Tuesday nights, he got choir practice. Gregory ain't perfect, but he ain't into no dope, I can guarantee you that. Look, Mrs. Winters, no offense, but sometimes.

[A]

You can't tell these kind of things.

[B]

Maybe you can't, but I sure as hell can, because I had not seen the show at the time. The show first started, I was doing the original production of August Wilson. I was doing Piano Lesson, and so I had never seen the show. And our company manager back then, I was smoking, and she would come in and we'd have a cigarette, and I'd say, oh, I got this audition for this thing called Law and Order. And she went, you haven't seen it? And I said, I'm here.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm doing it.

[B]

And she goes, I'll bring you a VHS. Cause that's how long ago it was like 1990, you know what I mean? And the first thing I recall about that was, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom, bom. I was like, holy cow. And the episode I saw, the lead played by Michael Moriarty, lost a case. And I was like, the hero lost a case. This is something new. And I got that gig.

[A]

Holy.

[B]

That's how it started.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My goodness. Regarding the storyline with Burt Gregory Allen Williams, do you have any personal experience knowing people with dementia? It's a fan question.

[B]

A very, very dear friend of mine passed away from dementia. She was only 66, I think. B. Smith. Barbara Smith. She was a restaurateur. She was like. People used to call her the black Martha Stewart because she had a whole line of household things she Had a show, a cooking show that she and her husband produced. She had three restaurants. She had one in New York. She had one in Sag harbor and one in D.C. she was an extraordinary woman. And I remember when she was diagnosed and we were doing the luncheon for Alzheimer's, and I sat next to her and I said, you know what you're gonna say? And she showed me this paper, and it was, like, a mess. It was a mess. And I said, okay, do this. And so I took a highlighter and I covered it and put a big number one. And when she got up, she was so nervous, she couldn't speak.

[A]

Oh, man.

[B]

And that's when it really hit home that she was having issues. And then her husband called one day, she was lost. They used to put her on a bus to go to Sag Harbor. The daughter would put her on the bus, and he would pick her up, and she never made it. And so we're all, like, trying to figure out where she is. There were about six of us. Turns out she was recognized in a coffee shop near the apartment, their first apartment in New York.

[A]

Oh, that's kind of beautiful. So, yeah, took her back to where she was.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, wow. Is that a beautiful story.

[B]

Yeah. I think that how it affected me on the show with Bert, because Greg Allen Williams, first of all, is an extraordinary actor. But, you know, the thing about acting is just being and feeling. And when you have those experiences, I don't know that I can say, oh, at this line, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. And I think, you know, one of the things that has happened as I get older, I just cry sometimes.

[A]

Me, too. I leak. I'm with you. It just happens.

[B]

Yeah, I hear you, but I hear.

[A]

You because I'm so present. Yeah, like you just said, you're just there. Go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt.

[B]

No, no, you didn't. And, Greg, I can remember sitting next to Barbara and her confusion and her fear when she got up on stage. Those are just human.

[A]

They don't go away. You remember those?

[B]

You remember those make me cry. And he's such a beautiful actor that it was so easy. There are things that you're making me cry.

[A]

Well, that's because the empathy. Yeah.

[B]

But there are things that other actors can elicit from you because they're so in the moment of it. And I can remember very clearly Anna Dacoza, who was our executive producer last year, she directed that episode. And she came over to me at one Point. And she said, need to hear the words. Because I was getting so involved in it. And I said, you have to let me do this. And then I could pull back, let me get rid of it, and then I can. I'll be able to do.

[C]

Was just my imagination.

[B]

Running away with me. Yeah.

[A]

This isn't my house.

[C]

No.

[B]

We'Re not married.

[A]

No.

[B]

But it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. But, you know, the joy of doing this with the people that I work with is because they're so extraordinary.

[A]

All right, what's a moment last season where the people in production, whether it was designer, special effects, stunts, or anybody, pulled off something that was so impressive?

[B]

I can say every time there is a surgery, everything is precise. The rehearsals they have for those surgeries are to make them look real.

[A]

Real. Yeah.

[B]

I think it's an absolute feat. Every episode, there is something in the emergency room, in an operating room that is extraordinary to watch.

[A]

And they like the goriest thing you've ever seen. Is there anything that really hit you? And you were like, oh, my God.

[B]

Yeah, it's like all the blood, you know, that's every episode. That's every episode, you know, where they open somebody up. All of it is extraordinary. And the work and the time that's spent on being exact. I mean, it shows every episode.

[A]

Marty, the heart stopped. Lost the A line waveform. He's in PEA get me epi. Maggie, do internal cpr.

[B]

What? Put your hands around his heart.

[A]

All the way around his heart and pump.

[B]

Is there no other option?

[A]

No, there's not. You can do this. Now keep squeezing epi.

[B]

As I said earlier, I was talking about Crystal, the head of the special effects department.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

And she's a young woman. But Ms. Thing is amazing. Last year, they had to make a upper torso of me.

[A]

Really?

[B]

And I went in and, you know, you keep your clothes on, and it's not like the old days where they put all this rubber on your face, stuff on your face. It's all done by computer. They get all the measurements, and then they get your coloration. I have a great photograph of me and my dummy.

[A]

Oh, really? Really. I mean, and it looked good, like.

[B]

Totally even down to, you know, my locks. She's extraordinary. And the young women that work with her, all of them are just a. Excellent.

[A]

Okay, Bates, it's time for the round of rapid fire questions. But since this is Chicago Med, we're gonna call it Answer stat. Stat. I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and you need to answer them quickly the best that you can.

[B]

I hate doing this.

[A]

I think this will be easy. And if you don't want to do it, we won't.

[B]

Let's go for it.

[A]

I will give it a shot. A paper? Yeah. If you could bring any character from any Wolf Entertainment show. I'm talking Law and Order, svu, FBI, any of the Chicago shows on the Chicago Med. Who would you choose and why?

[B]

It would be Dennis Farina. He played Fontana on Law and Order. He was the one of the two cops that came under my command.

[A]

I didn't know that. I gotta go back and watch that.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, and he was so smooth.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

There was nobody as smooth, really as Dennis Farino.

[A]

You got a big problem, Harry. Where's my money?

[C]

Where's my money.

[A]

Harry? I'm gonna ask you one more time, Then I gotta shoot you. You don't tell me what I want to know. Guys told me. He says, oh, you're getting in this movie business and stuff. Do you want to act? I'm like, dude, I can't even spell that. I like being behind. I like with the story. There's not one I don't want to direct.

[B]

I don't announce.

[A]

I love this. I could write this down. And they got to do it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And I love that. And I like being there to support them. They said, man, because you could be like Farina, and somebody, the guy standing next to him says, ain't nobody like Farina. They said, you'll never be like Farina. And I love to hear that.

[B]

This man, I absolutely adored him. He was a decent man. He had a great sense of humor. He was the kind of person that you would want on set. He was generous. He was focused. He spoke to everyone. It didn't matter who you were.

[A]

Oh, that's beautiful.

[B]

And he had that sort of Midwestern thing that I know because I'm originally from Detroit. Yeah, Just the greatest guy.

[A]

If, God forbid, you were rushed to Chicago, met unconscious, which character's face would you want to see when you woke up?

[B]

And why Daniel Charles Oliver Platt. Because we have the longest history. Our character. Supposedly. I know him through all four marriages. All of the children. Yeah. It would be Oliver Platt. Daniel Charles. Hey, Daniel.

[A]

Morning.

[B]

Good morning. When was the last time you saw Burt? Not for all. Wow.

[A]

All right, here's the next one. Who would you want to perform surgery on you and why?

[B]

It would probably be Dr. Lennox because she's a little quirky, but she's brilliant.

[A]

I love that character.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, I've been watching her, what she does.

[B]

Yeah, I love it.

[A]

Yeah, I love it. Yeah.

[B]

It would be Dr. Lennox, and she's played by Sarah Ramos.

[A]

Yeah, she's good.

[B]

Yeah. Who goes to a Halloween show if they don't want a few jump scares?

[C]

I take it as a compliment.

[B]

Really? Yeah.

[C]

It means you gave an authentic performance.

[A]

Apitha, which Chicago Met character would you most want to go on vacation with and why?

[B]

The person I would want to go on vacation with would be Steven Weber. Steven Weber is one of the funniest people, and, you know, he tries to be a hard ass, but he's not.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

But it would be fun because I think Steven is like a free spirit as well.

[A]

Oh, my.

[B]

What's.

[A]

What's going on?

[B]

That is an LSD sticker on your arm. You're on acidine.

[A]

No. That's unfortunate.

[B]

Ah, that word came out like a ribbon.

[A]

This is a closing. Little bit of a closing.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I'm serious when I tell you, you know how much I love you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I've loved you since I first seen you. And I'm not even kidding.

[B]

You know that.

[A]

You've been nothing but kind to me. And when I say the matriarch, you know, you're the mom of all the three shows and how kind you are to everybody. Like, I can't take.

[B]

You know, don't call me the mother. Call me the oldest. I'll go with oldest, but not the.

[A]

Oldest, but not the mother. So I will say this. I called you, and without a. Without a breath, you said, yes, you would do this for me, and. And it means the world to me. You know what I mean?

[B]

Like, you know I love you.

[A]

Yeah, that's what you said. You said, you know I love you. We're gonna have fun. But we also said we hope we could swear a little bit. We're a lot more fun in the raw.

[B]

We are indeed.

[A]

So thank you from the bottom of my heart and from one one Chicago, who. Who for all our listeners and everybody else is coming. I. I really mean it, man. I love you to death. And thank you for joining us. And we really are family.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

Earlier, a painter was telling us how the makeup and effects people are such a big part of what makes Chicago Med so believable. And she gave a special shout out to Crystal Portillo. So we dropped by Crystal's third floor workshop. It's an old warehouse in Chicago's southwest side. I say workshop, but if you didn't know any better, you might call it the little shop of horrors. There are bloody torsos, shelves full of body parts, and pizza boxes containing fake stab wounds that you could just stick right onto a person.

[C]

Every time I come to set with these, everybody's like, pizza. And I was like, I wish. It's not that tasty. So 99% of our stuff is made for surgery. Meaning, like, it can be difficult for the actor to lay on the table for a few hours and hard for them to have, like, all this, like, heavy medical equipment on them. So we make these replicas so we can really just jam them full of needles and whatever else we need to and no one gets harmed in the process. So, like, there's just a bunch of, like, bags here that we have, like, random torsos where I was like, okay, this is kind of what the person needs to look like. Let's stick a head on it, you know, of the actor. And then we'll have this form under the surgical sheets. Nobody will know. Stick a couple foam legs in there. Bada boom. Ready to go. So in the episode last season when Sharon Goodwin gets stabbed, she ends up needing emergency surgery. And since it was a patha, it was like, let's not put her through agony. Let's make this as, you know, easy as we can. And so that's why we made the body for her, so we could get down and dirty with the surgery.

[A]

No pericardial effusion. Okay, I'm in. Dammit. Free fluid in the belly, bleeding into her abdomen. All right, let's find the source. Let's get her to the hybrid.

[C]

I'm sure it's got to be kind of eerie to see, like, a replica of yourself. We had one mom. Last year, we did a replica of a young girl, and the mom got really spooked by our dummy version of her daughter. And she was like, I just don't want to look at that thing because it looks like my daughter's, you know, like, dad, and. And it's like, ah.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

No.

[C]

Her eyes are closed. She's just sleeping. I started doing makeup in high school for the theater, and when I went to college, I just got more into it. And then from there, it was like, taking classes, learning from other people, mentoring, trial and error. Lots of trial and error. A lot of sleepless nights, you know, trying to find, figure stuff out. You know, we've got the medical advisors and the doctors and stuff that, like, will give us pictures and, you know, doing some research also of, like, how things are, how big things are. Like, in the very beginning, like, I know we had this really complicated, like, lung surgery, and we ended up getting a set of sheep lungs to kind of dissect and look through to, you know, get the size right, get the texture right. These are just, like, on the bottom here. I've got bins full of just, like, random arms and legs. And these are like, various tubes that we use for, like, blood rigs. You know, when something needs to be squirting blood, we've got all kinds of sizes. You know, if it needs to be, like, gushing or if it's just like, a little trickle. Definitely arterial blood, maybe femoral.

[A]

Can you get a tourniquet above it?

[C]

It's too high.

[B]

It's too high to clamp, too. If I could just pinch my fingers around it.

[C]

When we do amputations, like, on location, those can always be challenging because it's not a controlled setting.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Like last year when we did our crossover, like, a piece of cement or something had, like, fallen off the building from this big explosion and, like, crushed this guy's legs. And so we had to figure out, like, how to hide the real guy's legs. And then I put my fake legs, like, kind of in front of him. And, like, anytime there's, like, blood, it's like, blood will do whatever it wants. You think it's like, ah, is it going to squirt this way? And it's like, I hope so. Like, the tube is aimed in that direction. Let's keep our fingers crossed. But although fun, like, it was great being able to saw a guy's legs off, it was also, like, you know, a little anxiety inducing because I'm like, dear God, is something pinching the line? Like, I hope not. Oh, my God. Like, do we see any of his rear leg, like, cover it in soot or dust or. I don't know. You know, every single time, like, we have to do something new, I'm just astonished. I'm like, oh, my goodness. Like, the human body is just such an incredible machine that, like, very hard to replicate. And we're always, like, striving to make things look better or function better, you know, so it's. It's a challenge and one that I. I appreciate.

[A]

You already heard me talk about Merlin, our production designer on Chicago pd. Well, that was one of Chicago Med's magicians, the makeup and effects artist Crystal Portill. Once Chicago airs on Wednesday night at 8, 7 Central on NBC, and you could stream it on Peacock. The One Chicago Podcast is a production of Wolf Entertainment and USG Audio. The series is hosted by me, Brian Lucci. It's executive produced by Dick Wolf, Elliot Wolf and Steven Michael at Wolf Entertainment, Josh Block at USG Audio and John Danielle Kastner at Spokmedia. Our showrunner is Derek John. Our producer is Maggie Dubrizi and our audio producer is Jason Mark. Video production by Bo Delmore. Coordinating production by Tess Ryan. Our production assistant is Montserrat Rodriguez with engineering and mix by Evan Arnett and original music by John o'. Hara. This series is produced by Spokemage Media and distributed by Realm. Production support for USG Audio by Josh La Olagi if you'd like to watch this interview and others, what should they do?

[B]

I beta like and subscribe to the One Chicago Official YouTube page.

[A]

I'm Brian Luch. Thanks for listening and we'll see you all soon. Cut Limu IMU and Doug. Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings vary underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company Affiliates excludes Massachusetts. When the Moore family ditched cable Internet and switched to Zigli Fiber, they got so much more. Mr. Moore got more upload speed for next level gaming and livestreaming to the masses with reliable service. Mrs. Moore is no longer her family's IT guru, leaving her more time to.

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Let's go.

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