Twenty-five years after its original premiere, Scrubs is back with everyone’s favorite Sacred Heart doctors and a whole new class of interns who are following in their footsteps. Following episode 106 “My V.I.P.”, I sat down with Amanda Morrow, who plays surgical intern Dashana Trainor, and David Gridley, who plays medical intern Blake Lewis, for an exclusive conversation about integrating themselves into this beloved series, creating bonds between the interns, the future of their characters, and more.
Nerd Reactor: I’m so excited to be talking with you both. I hadn’t watched the original Scrubs, so I watched all of this new revival, and then I just started the original. And I immediately feel the warmth that Bill Lawrence creates with all of his shows. What were both of your histories, either with Scrubs or any show in the Bill Lawrence universe?
Amanda Morrow: I’m such a fan of Bill Lawrence. I used to watch Shrinking with my mom a lot. He is a television comedy darling. It’s just fantastic to get to be in the Bill Lawrence universe, the BLCU, if you will. I’m really happy that you were able to watch the new show without watching the old one. I was very young when it came out, but I was able to watch it as I got older. But being able to slip into this new universe so seamlessly and not needing to have watched the original to understand the new is really important. And I’m glad that that’s something that you were able to experience.
Nerd Reactor: And even just a few episodes into this season, I’m so ready to go back and watch years’ worth of all of these characters. So I feel like in the future, people are definitely going to have that same feeling about all of you. How did you create a bond between all of the new interns and then also between yourselves and the returning doctors when you started this season?
David Gridley: I think the whole setup was kind of like summer camp because we shot in Vancouver, and we’re all put in the same apartment building. And everybody’s so cool. We get along so well. And we never had a chemistry read with each other. So it’s a testament to Debby Romano and all the higher-ups casting people who, off the bat, naturally are such good friends. And that clicked easier than probably any set I’ve been on, which has been so fun. And then, as far as connecting with the legacy cast, Zach [Braff] did an awesome job of cultivating that. We’d do Saturday night dinners with the cast. And that’s where you get to develop a relationship outside of work. And that plays on TV, too. If you don’t love each other and you’re not enjoying the people you’re working with, that energy definitely radiates. And I think it’s a massive part of Bill Lawrence’s shows. They cast people who love what they’re doing, who love people, and respect people, and it plays out in the success of his shows.
Nerd Reactor: What were some of the first days on set like?
Amanda Morrow: The first few days were super nerve-racking because I wanted to just dive into the show. And one of my first scenes was with all of the originals. So getting to see all of them in person and also getting to see them interact with each other and reconnect and just kind of be a family, Zach was so open about letting us all in off the bat. And I think that him embracing community and putting such an emphasis on community was also really helpful for all of us getting close to each other. Like David was saying, we all lived in the same apartment building, so there were a lot of us. hanging out together, going to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and taking walks together. And so we became really fast family and friends that way. And then also getting to come to a set where community is so important, and that’s at the forefront of doing good work and being able to play as well. It was interwoven in the fabric of making the show.
Nerd Reactor: It’s really interesting to hear that you didn’t have chemistry reads with each other because I feel like the show really depends on every combination of people working together and different pairings every episode. So that’s amazing casting on their part to know that you were all going to click like that.
David Gridley: It’s crazy. It’s really crazy. The whole time, we were pinching ourselves. We were like, we’ve gotten so lucky. It’s such a beautiful thing.
Nerd Reactor: Looking back to the first episode, when David, your character, had the really emotional moment of losing a patient that you didn’t help when you could have, how has that message carried itself through the rest of the season, being woven in with the comedy?
David Gridley: It was a great thing to start off with because it really established who Blake is. What makes him tick? What does he fear? It hits to the core of, “Oh my gosh, the standard I hold myself to, I’ve failed.” And to have those walls fall down and then to be humbled by that and have that carried out throughout the season is very helpful for me as an actor to know how I approach each scene. The writers are so good and have done such a good job at revealing a little more about us each episode. And I think having that scene off the bat really helped establish him.
Nerd Reactor: And then in this week’s episode, we learn a little bit more about both of you and your personalities and backstories. We learn more about why Dashana is so confident. I love the joke where you say you feel like you could still be an Olympic figure skater because your dad told you that you could. And then learning more about Blake and how he was an insecure kid. Do you both ever invent further backstories in your head for these characters?
Amanda Morrow: Yeah, specifically for the figure skating moment, I grew up figure skating, and they wrote that in, which I was so excited about. And that’s one thing that I love about working with the writers: the trust they have in us and the trust that we have in them. It’s very symbiotic. And so getting to open the script and see the words Olympic-level figure skater was so exciting because that’s something that’s real from my past, and I get to share that through Dashana. So I’m just very interested to see how the writers continue to write.
Nerd Reactor: I feel like knowing the way Bill Lawrence’s writers work, the figure skating will come back in some way
Amanda Morrow: I love that. Put me on the ice.
David Gridley: For me, I didn’t really get bullied as a kid. I was at first thinking I’m not like Blake at all. And then you start boiling down insecurities, and there are a lot of parallels that start coming out. It’s interesting to peel back all the layers and see how I relate to his inadequacies, his competitive spirit, so there is a lot in me that I put into Blake to bring the character alive.
Nerd Reactor: We’re a little more than halfway through this season, and I really hope that the show comes back. What are your hopes for where these characters go in future seasons?
Amanda Morrow: I think I’m very excited to see the ways that Dashana and Turk’s mentorship deepens and how similar they can get and how different they are still. But I’m really excited to see that blossom. And the friendships between all the interns. We see the surgical and medical teams interact a little bit, but I’m very, very excited for us to have time to dive in with each other.
David Gridley: I agree. Blake is set up for such a great arc. I’d love to see him humbled and change in a way that he puts others before himself. Humility is a great arc to watch, and I’m sure that the writers are setting that up. The coolest part is having no idea which way it’s going to go or what’s going to happen. You’re opening a gift every time you get a script to see what’s going to happen. It’s been such a fun show to work on in that regard.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
