“It was a flashback, for sure,” says Sharif Atkins of stepping back on the set of a medical drama set (airing on NBC, too!) for his guest spot on Chicago Med. He played Dr. Michael Gallant on ER across five seasons of its 15-year run (1994-2009) on the same network. Now, he appears in the October 1 episode of Med, as Joe Thomas, alongside Crystal Lee Brown as his wife Gina. Their son, Max (Kevin Chacon), is a patient at Gaffney.
“It’s being on the other side of the clipboard, right? I’m now the person being taken care of or looked after or what have you,” Atkins tells TV Insider. “It just reminds me of [being on ER]. I remember the first scene that I did, Laura Innes was directing the episode, and I was taking some vitals for an elderly patient. And so it’s really cool to have been back in Chicago and to be working on my home turf and in this environment.”
He steps into the emergency room as a concerned parent for what he thinks will be “a minor medical issue,” with Max “battling some ailments. Instead, they learn that his cancer has resurfaced. The parents “bump heads with Dr. Frost [Darren Barnet], who really is campaigning for the rights of our son,” previews Atkins. “But we think that, ‘Hey, listen, as his parents, we have his best interest at heart.’”
The promo (which you can watch above) shows how heated things get: It looks like Joe punches Frost. “Hey, you said it, I didn’t. I’m not giving that away,” Atkins says with a laugh. “No, it was extremely heightened. When you’re dealing with the health and well-being of a family member, especially your child… I have three children myself, so I didn’t have to go too far into my imagination to really sort of grab a hold of what it felt like and what it really meant. [Joe and Gina] thought the doc overstepped his bounds a bit, and sometimes in that sort of heightened situation, that kind of stuff comes out.”
But can Joe understand Frost’s position at all? Not really. “He probably won’t be visiting that hospital again,” Atkins laughs.
In addition to Barnet, Atkins also shares a scene with John Earl Jelks, who plays oncologist Dr. Dennis Washington. “It was such a pleasure to see and work with [him]. A couple years ago, I did Gem of the Ocean and I played the character of Citizen Barlow. John Earl Jelks is a big stage guy, big August Wilson guy, and he originated the role of Citizen Barlow in the August Wilson play, Gem of the Ocean,” he shares. “And so just to be able to share a scene with him, and of course with Darren, it was really enjoyable.”
Chicago Med, Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC
