Jessy Schram has been on an incredible journey with Chicago Med, going from guest star to the heart of the NBC medical drama. Her character Dr. Hannah Asher is in the middle of her biggest season yet, expecting a child with Dr. Dean Archer and most recently risking her life to save an infected patient during the One Chicago crossover.

Yet at the same time, Jessy has gone in a completely different direction with her starring role in The Huntsman. The thriller features her portraying Det. Darby Albright, a dogged Oklahoma investigator on the trail of a serial killer. She spoke about stepping into a new character, continuing to evolve Hannah, and what she learned from the movie that she brought back to the TV show.

Brittany Frederick: You’ve gone through such an evolution with your role on Chicago Med, as Hannah left and returned while going from a guest character to a series regular. What is that like for you as an actor, to play different iterations of her?

Jessy Schram: It really is unlike most journeys, especially on a show like this. The start-stop is very true to what this journey has been. But I was talking with [Chicago Med showrunner] Allen [MacDonald] the other day about the relationship between Archer and Asher—what are we doing with it, where is it going, all of that kind of stuff. And I was telling him how I feel like Archer and Asher are so interesting on their own, and there’s so much to grow there. But they’re even more interesting in their dynamic with each other.

I’m very lucky within the world of Chicago Med [with] how they’ve been able to keep grounding the character, while also keeping her alive and really relevant.

The growth of that relationship is impressive. Archer was initially skeptical of Hannah returning to the hospital, and now he’s in love with her. Were you surprised by how Hannah and Dean’s relationship developed?

Very much so. I feel like it’s been fun because their relationship has naturally developed, which has then led [the writers] to write different things along the way, in different ways than maybe originally intended. But I never saw being where we are now. And I think that’s the part that can be really fun, when you choose to trust and you don’t get in the way. You can see what can happen.

That being said though, while I trust, I’ve also been very vocal. [Laughs.] We’ve had many conversations along the way. The main thing is making sure that we’re staying true to our characters and the relationship from the past, wherever we go in the future. I like to touch base and understand the different directions, just making sure that we’re staying true to who we are, as opposed to just dropping one narrative to service another.

Read the rest of this interview at Fangirlish.

Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. The Huntsman is now available on all digital platforms. Photo Credit: Featured image courtesy of Epic Pictures, body image courtesy of NBC.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.