Filipino nurses rarely get the spotlight in American medical dramas, despite over 150,000 of them immigrating to the United States since 1960. Grey’s Anatomy is shockingly bereft of any Filipino representation, and SNL cast member Michael Che once made a joke at the 2018 Emmys about how ER went fifteen seasons without one Filipino nurse getting any screen time.
So when Max’s medical drama The Pitt first dropped on the streaming platform this January, fans of the show — especially Filipino fans — were delighted to find not one, but two standout characters: Filipina nurses Perlah and Princess. Played by Filipina actors Amielynn Abellera and Kristin Villanueva, the two nurses serve as a backbone for the stressed out healthcare workers of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. When they’re not busy taking patients’ blood pressure, putting in IV drips, or assisting in high-stakes surgeries, Perlah and Princess can be found gossiping in Tagalog about their colleagues in the medical bay. At long last, an accurate medical drama has arrived.
What’s more, The Pitt has already been confirmed to return, with the show’s lead star and executive producer, Noah Wyle, announcing that the writer’s room is hard at work before filming commences in June.
While we impatiently wait for The Pitt’s second season to drop, we spoke with Abellera about her role as Nurse Perlah and her thoughts on the first season. In this interview with Rolling Stone Philippines, the Filipino-American actress reflects on the power of Pinay nurses, her own childhood growing up in a medical household, and how her life (and perhaps Perlah’s) would have just been so different had she opened a brewery.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Are you as chismosa in real life as you are in The Pitt as Perlah?
Oh, man! I think I’m not, but I probably am. But not in a sort of malicious way. Not that Perlah and Princess are malicious about it, but I think we just love knowing everything that’s going on around the Pitt.
What I’ve observed with my mother and her nurse friends is that chismis — which I used to think was very negative or gossipy — is really a way for them to bond. For Princess and Perlah, their chismis is a way for them to find respite in a stressful situation.
But Princess and Perlah aren’t the only Filipinos in the Pitt, right?
[Laughs] Yeah! At first we were thinking of outing Isa Briones’ character [Dr. Trinity Santos] as Pinay earlier in the season, but we wanted to build up to the twist. I think it was so funny because that happens all the time: There are all different types of Filipinos, and The Pitt does a great job of showing us three distinct types of Filipinas.
Did you do a lot of research into Filipino-Muslim culture for your role?
I had to. I, Amielynn, grew up very Catholic here in California. You don’t see people like Perlah a lot on television. So when I got the role, I reached out to the Filipino-Muslim community in Los Angeles. I wanted to know more about how their faith fits into their daily life, and how it affects their work as healthcare workers, especially if they choose (or don’t choose) to wear a hijab.
Did you feel prepared for the role considering that your dad’s a doctor and your mom’s a nurse practitioner?
My mom worked in a hospital for a long time, so I was really familiar with what acronyms like “ICU” [intensive care unit] or “CCU” [critical care unit] mean. My dad has his own clinic for family practice, so I would follow him around and see how he interacts with his Filipino nurses.
We did have medical consultants helping us on the show. But I still don’t know what is actually a good blood pressure. At one point, I think I was putting a 14-gauge needle into a patient [on the show], and I didn’t know how big of a needle that would be.
Were you ready for all the gore on The Pitt?
They really just punch you in the face with that stuff! But I will say that we’re not trying to gross you out, [unlike] other shows about medicine. We’re just giving you the real picture.
Did you grow up watching other medical dramas?
ER was always playing in the background on Wednesday nights because my mom’s a superfan. But I was pretty diehard for Grey’s Anatomy for at least the first 15 seasons. What got me was that there was always some sort of melodrama weaved into it, you know? So different from The Pitt.
Not that those shows are better or worse than The Pitt: They’re just different. With The Pitt, we wanted to remove any sort of distraction from the medicine and the storytelling.
How did your parents react when you told them you got the part?
They’ve been doing this acting thing with me for a long time, so I don’t think they really understood the massiveness of the show when I told them. Until I said it’s with Noah Wyle from ER, and then my mom really went out of her mind.
In another life, would you have gone into medicine?
Well, in the other life I really almost went into medicine. I almost went to medical school, and I even took up psychology because I loved the human care aspect of medicine.
Honestly, if I wasn’t an actress, I would have my own craft beer brewery. I’m such a beer girl. Big, big hazy IPA girl right now.
What would your brewery have been called?
I thought about this once! My daughter’s name is Sampaguita, so it would have to be something that combines our names, maybe. Or it would be something with some sort of tie to being Filipino. But yeah for now, let’s just call it Sampaguita.
What’s the appeal of owning a brewery?
I really like bringing people together, and with breweries, everyone’s always celebrating. You’re celebrating this drink, yourselves: It’s a place where everything smells great and people are playing games. You can rest in a brewery.
Like how some of the Pitt team destress with a few beers in the final episode?
Exactly like that. They all needed to do that, especially after 15 hours of the worst day ever. I don’t know how healthcare workers deal with it in real life.
Wow, 15 hours: It’s non-stop, right?
Yeah, there’s no space to feel anything. We watch as the people of The Pitt try to reflect after losing a patient, but then that’s always interrupted by another case. The hospital’s just a non-stop machine, and everyone inside of it can’t even stop to grieve.
I find that that’s the real message of the show: that our healthcare workers are just pummeled every day, and the system is falling apart. But even though it’s still so strained, they just keep showing up.
I think if anyone takes anything away from the show, it’s just that they should reach out to their healthcare heroes, give them a hug — a virtual hug, a real hug, any type of love — and let them know that we’re there for them.
Is there anything you can tell us about the second season of The Pitt?
To be quite honest with you, I’m still waiting to hear the story, too.
Is there anything you hope for Perlah in the second season?
Hopefully only good things! But I do want to know more about what happens in her family life. I think there’s a quick scene [in Season 1] where she mentions she has kids, so I’m curious as to what her life is like outside of nursing.
Oh, wait! I think I’d name my brewery Perlah’s Brewery. She’d be in the logo and… yes, this is happening. Honestly, that better be her side job. “Perlah’s Hazy IPA.” I can see it now.
