Natasha Calis – Nurses

By starrymag | January 12, 2021

By: Paige Zinaman

 

 

Q) What are some of the recent projects you have coming up?

 

A) My new show “Nurses” just premiered on NBC on December 7th! We just finished filming Season 2 so that will be coming soon after which I’m really excited about.

 

Q) Nurses is a new show to NBC. What was it that drew you to this series?

 

A) What drew me to the series was the fact that there was finally going to be a medical show solely based on nurses. There are other medical dramas out there that seem to only follow the doctors around and, in a lot of cases, doing a nurse’s job. Now more than ever it’s so important to share these stories, shine a spotlight on everything that goes into the job and just how important of a role nurses play in hospitals.

 

Q) How was your character Ashley originally described to you?

 

A) Ashley was described to me as an “adrenaline junkie” with a bit of an “edge” to her. It was so exciting to bring her to life because she exudes such complexity in the sense that there is so much more to her than first meets the eye. Ashley is so much more vulnerable than you might think and, as the season goes on, you realize what a good person she is and the lengths she’ll go to protect the people she cares about. Once she lets you in, you’ve got a friend in her for life.

 

Q) Going into this series, what did you do to prepare for who you’d play her?

 

A) We actually had a week of medical training before we started filming. We learned a lot of basics and how to look like we know what we’re doing. [laughs] It was super helpful in getting comfortable with the equipment and learning how to use it properly. Fun fact, all the machines and everything on our set are real hospital equipment.

 

Q) What do you think will make Nurses so different from other medical dramas already on TV now?

 

A) “Nurses” is different than other medical shows because it’s all about nurses. Other shows follow doctors around and don’t really give much credit to nurses. We’re changing that.

 

Q) What are specific episodes that you’re looking forward to viewers watching this season?

 

A) I’m looking forward to everyone seeing Episode 7!!! It’s the best episode, in my opinion, and it was so much fun to film! You get to see the five of us all hang out outside of the hospital and when chaos erupts see how we all work in unison. It’s a pivotal episode of friendship.

 

Q) With such intense storylines, how did you shake off a long day of filming? 

 

A) I mean, quite honestly, I would be so exhausted from a long day of filming that I would just go home and immediately fall asleep. But Season 1 was filmed pre-COVID, so going out with my castmates and exploring Toronto was really fun. I’m such a foodie, as is Tiera [Skovbye], so we loved going to all the amazing restaurants Toronto has to offer and discovering cool spots.

 

Q) What is a take-way that you’d like the audience to take away from the series as the stories unfold?

 

A) I hope the audience takes away a new-found respect and appreciation, like I did, for nurses. There is so much more to the job than just medicine and it can be so emotionally tolling. The job is all about caring for others and supporting their patients and so much compassion and empathy is involved above anything. Nurses are the hearts of the hospital and I hope that translates to the audience.

 

Q) You’re a part of social media, so feedback is so instant from viewers. Do you look forward to seeing all that feedback that you get?

 

A) I do look forward to it! I’ve been live-tweeting the episodes when they air which has been really fun to engage with the viewers and see their reactions.

 

Q) Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans and supporters?

 

A) Thank you for all the continued support and I can’t wait for you all to watch and, hopefully, fall in love with “Nurses” as much as I have!!