The Pitt Star Amielynn Abellera’s Mom Was Just As Obsessed With ER As Yours

When I heard Noah Wyle was returning to the medical drama world with a new series called The Pitt, I felt a wave of nostalgia: My mom was a devoted ER fan. I knew I’d be checking it out, but what I didn’t know was how quickly the series would turn me into my mom circa the late ‘90s. Every Thursday, I am ~transfixed~ when the show comes on. And while Wyle plays a large part in that (he’s phenomenal as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch), the supporting players bring just as much magic to the Max series. One of them? Amielynn Abellera, who plays Filipino Muslim nurse Perla.

When Abellera joined me for a Zoom convo recently, she caught me on an off day. An aurora borealis backdrop flashed onscreen behind my head, unwilling to change back to the more basic blur. In the middle of our chat, my teenager had an (audible) meltdown over a missing pair of shoes. Yet, Abellera remained unfazed. Maybe being in the faux environment of a high-pressure hospital has given her an extra dose of unflappability. Or, as I suspect, it’s just who she is — someone whose default response is empathy.

And, well, we’re both mothers... so she gets it, too. In fact, while my Zoom placed me somewhere in the wilds of Alaska, hers revealed a sweet space full of toys: her daughter’s real-life room. So, yes, Abellera just so happens to be starring in what is arguably one of the best shows on TV right now. But as we spoke about The Pitt, parenting, and what books she’s currently reading, it kind of felt like I was just catching up with a close mom friend over coffee.

Scary Mommy: What about this script really stood out to you?

Amielynn Abellera: Everything about it. Number one being I love medical shows. I grew up on Grey's Anatomy. I watched ER — well, my mom mostly watched ER, but I remember it being there on Thursday nights in the background. And I almost became a doctor.

I am drawn to medical things. The frantic, capable nature of these healthcare practitioners really stood out to me, and how it was so focused on the medicine. I kept waiting to see, Ooh, is there going to be some strange melodrama in the break room or anything like that? But no, it just focused on the patients, the doctors, the nurses, and the other social care workers, which I've never really seen in a medical drama.

SM: The whole 15-hour shift stretched into an entire season is fascinating. Were there some continuity things you had to think about since this was shot over seven months?

AA: Yeah, nothing can change, which isn't real life, right? We, as humans, fluctuate. Our hair grows. Can't gain a pound, can't lose a pound. I couldn't burn myself with a curling iron, which I accidentally did one weekend. I remember the makeup people were like, ‘Amielynn, please.’ One time, I went to the beach for a day, and I got a little bit more visibly tan, and that also was noticed and almost scolded. (laughs) And we wear the same wardrobe the entire time ... we all have 10 pairs of those same scrubs, five pairs of those exact shoes distressed in the same fashion, and they rotate them every week. It's really, really cool — and a unique challenge — to keep tabs on all the time.

SM: You mentioned your mom was an ER fan — mine too. Did she freak out when she found out (a) you landed this big medical drama and (b) you’d be starring alongside Noah Wyle?

AA: Yes. Freaked out. I mean, probably as much as I freaked out, because I grew up watching Noah on ER and lots of other things: Swing Kids, Donnie Darko. We’re of that time in the late ‘80s, ‘90s, of Noah Wyle. I was very stunned.

My mom was like, Dr. Carter?! You're going to be with Dr. Carter? Is George Clooney going to be there? Is Julianna Margulies going to be there? I was like, I don't know, Mom, I don't know. But she is already just a diehard Pitt fan. She is on the dot watching it at 6:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time every Thursday. And I'm like, Mom, it's streaming. You can watch it anytime after that, too, but it's go-time, blinders on when it's 6:00 P.M.

SM: You said you almost went into this field, but your family is full of physicians, too, right?

AA: Yeah, I was on the road to becoming a physician. That's what I studied in school at Santa Clara University, pre-med all the way. It was a psychology major and a biology minor. It was really just the familial pattern that I was following: My dad is a physician, retired now, and my mom is a nurse practitioner. My aunts and uncles are dentists and pharmacists, and my cousins went on to become doctors. It was just our thing.

But I had this deep passion for the arts as well. It wasn't until I got as far as I could before entering medical school that I finally realized I got to stop, I got to stop. I can't do it anymore. I need to switch gears and see where this other path leads me, no matter how scary or how unknown and how unstable and unpredictable it may be. There was just a lot of hemming and hawing there for me. My parents actually were very, very supportive of the change. In my mind they weren't, but reflecting back on that now, they were totally stoked that I got into graduate school at USC for acting and have come to every show I've ever been in.

SM: And now it’s come full circle. You went to nursing boot camp ahead of filming; was there anything you picked up on surprisingly fast?

AA: Nursing boot camp was led by three real nurses who have a couple of lines in the series — any moment we need a question answered, they’re always there. They were all really surprised that I could tie a tourniquet really well. When you do an IV, you have to hold the blood up here and wrap a tourniquet with this rubber thing, and it's challenging. It's this weird not-knot that has to stay, and then you have to be able to pull it out. I took to these little tiny skills like that right away. I'm not sure if it's because I grew up around that my whole childhood or if I'm just good with picking up things, but I was really stoked to feel like I was capable of those things.

SM: What I’m hearing is you’re going to be great in the apocalypse.

AA: I hope so!

SM: Your character, Perla, is a Filipino Muslim nurse. We know that representation obviously is so important — dare I say, more than ever in the current timeline — and you're representing two groups that don't see the portrayal they deserve on screen. How do you carry that honor and that responsibility as a throughline in your performance?

AA: That's a great question; thank you for asking. I remember when I got the role being equal parts incredibly excited and also incredibly nervous and full of anxiety about this huge responsibility of portraying this minority within a minority subgroup. It was something that I didn't know much about — I was not educated or did not have previous knowledge of Filipino Muslims or Filipino American Muslims. I had to really do my own deep dive into this world of what is Islam and how does that affect that person's daily life? How does it affect that person's work as a nurse, as a healthcare professional, does that make any difference? 'Cause I really want to get it right. And even just what it means to wear a hijab for a person, and why that person chooses to cover. It’s something I am so conscientious about.

I'm so happy that Perla can be seen and really be portrayed. I was reading a survey, and something like 1% of speaking characters in television and mainstream media are Muslim characters, and of that 1%, it's usually portrayed in a negative context and a hardened context. And it's also pinpointed to one race. To see a Filipino Muslim nurse is beyond me. I don't take the responsibility lightly, and I'm really very, very proud to be able to be the face of that for this show.

SM: What does it mean to you as a mother to take on roles like this, knowing that it increases visibility for your daughter and other Filipino girls and young women?

AA: Oh man, yeah. My daughter’s turning 5 in May; I can’t even believe it! I'm making Tagalog and Filipino and our ancestry just as much a part of our life as I can because it wasn't in mine in terms of my parents didn't teach me the language. Her name is Sampaguita, too, which is the national flower of the Philippines. She and I are learning Tagalog together.

When I was growing up, I didn't have these models on television; I didn't see a lot of Filipino American children or characters, and I didn't see a lot of Muslim characters on screen, on stage, or in my daily life ... It just is so important for artists and for women and for all of us to have an authentic picture of what the diversity of a city is, of what Pittsburgh is. From such a young age, it can really shift how they feel empowered about themselves. I'm so stoked that this show has such a wide representation of different ethnicities and different spiritualities.

SM: You once described yourself as a naturally “fearful person.” And, to be honest, I think things just feel very scary right now. How are you parenting in a way that is veering away from fear?

AA: It's challenging; I'm not going to lie. I feel that it's important for it to start with me — put my oxygen mask on first before doing hers, which is so counterintuitive to me, but it makes a lot of sense. And I have to really shield myself from the news and things so I can be present with her. Luckily, she's at an age where she doesn't understand ... my girlfriend and I just have to really have a little cocoon of positivity, tell her she's safe, and make sure we still see the joy in the world and see our friends and have humor.

But I feel that I also have to release myself from knowing that I can control everything for her. There's only so much we can do, but we still, I know, will continue to make healthy choices and the safest choices that we can and stay positive for her.

SM: Definitely. OK, here’s a lighter question! I know you’re a book lover — what’s your favorite book lately, or what’s on your TBR pile?

AA: My favorite book of all time is Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. And it was written in, God, I don't know, 1950 or something like that, and he's writing stories about the future — which is our present. It's a little bit like, Oh my gosh, he had it all right: disaster, apocalypse, things like AI getting out of control. It's a really cool sci-fi book that I love. I also really love the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I always go back to that book for some reason because I'm so drawn to this boy in this boat with these animals, and then I was totally floored by the ending. I couldn't get it out of my head for months and months and months.

One book that I'm really obsessed with right now — it’s the third time I'm reading it — is called The Farm by Joanne Ramos. It's fictional, but this Filipino American writer has written about a place that is using or hiring women to be surrogates for the ultra-wealthy. It’s this weird conflict of class and race. The characters are Filipino, but there are also many ethnicities of these surrogates, and it's the working class working for the elitists. But it's just wonderful, and about motherhood as well and what that means and how. I highly recommend it.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.