Adam Patla
It’s hard not to love Dr. Mel King. She’s a character written with a lot of care and intention that represents an often overlooked group of people. But that intention doesn’t land if not for Taylor Dearden and her expertly and lovingly crafted performance, now nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
“I don’t really know what to do with myself,” Dearden says about the nomination. “It’s something I definitely didn’t expect. It’s awesome to be a part of something so big…. I’m thinking about how much fun this is gonna be for all of us that we get to all have this and it’s just something that is, you know, never the reason we do it, but the most amazing cherry on top of the sundae.”
The second season of HBO Max’s hit series The Pitt sees Mel grapple with an impending deposition that directly impacts her day in the hospital. As opposed to the sunnier, more optimistic version of Mel we meet at the beginning of Season 1, Mel begins the season in a heightened state of anxiety. It’s a very different side to Mel that escalates throughout the day, presenting Dearden with a challenge.
“I think it was hard in a lot of ways because I would start to fall into some Mel stuff,” she explains. “And the direction back form everyone was, ‘Yeah, but you’re…anxious and upset still.’ And so every time I wanted to find a Mel moment, it was kind of like, no…to play anxious and upset for eight months is really tough.”
In addition to the deposition looming over the day, Mel’s sister, Becca (Tal Anderson) arrives at the hospital as a patient. Becca’s arrival provides deeper insight into the sisters’ relationship outside the walls of the Pitt, requiring a more thorough collaboration between Dearden and Anderson.
“You know, there are different things that are so necessary to be able to ask her and talk to her about,” Dearden says about working with Anderson. “Just trying to be like, for Becca what do you think someone [like] Mel, [who] knows her so well, where does she sit to comfort Becca? Just all of the questions I would have to assume that I don’t have to assume because I can just ask. I’m a big proponent of just talking to a co-star and finding out what they’re thinking. And so it was just amazing to be able to ask her like, ‘What am I asking of Becca that’s especially hard? What am I doing that’s especially what you shouldn’t do that maybe Mel should know not to do but is slipping because of what she’s hearing and stuff…. Having Tal there is amazing to talk through everything.”
Not only do we get to see a deeper depiction of Becca and Mel’s relationship, but Becca’s presence brings Mel to the realization that, in trying to look out for Becca, she’s neglected her own life.
“I think it’s even more dramatic than putting a life on hold,” says Dearden. “I don’t think she ever started hers. I mean they lost their parents when they were young. So I think Mel, instead of floundering, just put on caregiver hat and just ran with it as opposed to thinking of, is this what I want and also is this what Becca wants?”
It’s revealed that Becca has a boyfriend and is having sex. Mel does not handle the news well, coming into conflict with Becca’s own burgeoning autonomy.
When it came other Mel’s reaction, Dearden says, “I loved also being able to portray the fallibility of someone who means best, but is not quite thinking through what is best. I think something that The Pitt does well that I don’t see often is showing people as people, [that have] major flaws. But I think you constantly see a good guy has to be good the whole time with no flaws, or a bad guy has to be totally bad with no good moments. And I think showing a character that means best but is still messing up, completely messing up…The Pitt is trying to get you out of what you think story should look like.”
The other key component of Mel’s arc this season is her relationship with Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball). On Season 1, the two connected as mentor and mentee, becoming a fan-favorite relationship on the series. Unfortunately, that was put on hold with Langdon’s addiction struggles and stint in rehab. Here, the two navigate the pathway forward and carve out a relationship that subverts a lot of expectations for TV shows.
“Patrick and I have always talked about how we don’t see opposite sex true friendships where it’s like, it’s possible for them to be attracted to each other, but to not have that element,” she explains. “Which I know I’m spoiling for a lot of fans, I know that. But I think we both have talked about like, he has straight female friends, I have straight male friends, and I just don’t see it on TV. I don’t ever see that. And Patrick said the same. And we’ve been trying to, you know, kind of move the shape of our relationship as characters. It was mentor/mentee and I think, Season 2, we both had the goal…of wanting to kind of equal everything out.”
Underneath all the external circumstances, Dearden taps into Mel’s inner journey masterfully as well. There is a frictional relationship between Mel’s growing comfort in the Pitt and the deposition calling her abilities into question. Yet, in spite of that struggle, Mel is able to see where she really belongs.
“I mean, it was really tough to try and play more confidence, but also no confidence whatsoever with the deposition and everything else happening. But those moments, I thought, were the best way to show that like, I think Mel’s finding her place here. It’s starting to make sense to Mel.”
You can watch Taylor Dearden‘s Emmy-nominated work on The Pitt. Season 2 is now fully available to stream on HBO Max. Please check out Awards Radar’s full conversation with Taylor below!
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