'Chicago Med's' Oliver Platt and Rachel DiPillo: Public Was Ready for an ER Shrink (Episode 107)

On “Chicago Med,” not everyone who rolls into the emergency department at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center has just a physiological ailment. Enter Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt), accompanied by Dr. Sarah Reese (Rachel DiPillo), a team that often quietly sorts out what others on staff may not immediately grasp. Rachel, who’s 25, is known for playing Andie in “Jane the Virgin”, and we’ve seen her on “NCIS”, “Mad Men” and “Bones” and in a number of independent films. With multiple nominations for Emmy and SAG Awards, as well as a Golden Globe nomination, Oliver, a Canadian, brings an impressive breadth of experience to his role on “Chicago Med.” A drama major from Tufts University, during his very solid and consistent career, he’s appeared in a wide variety of films and television shows and also on Broadway—always selective about the roles he’s chosen. He really does seem tailor-made for Dr. Charles, and we see his character reveal more personal insights with each episode. In 2012, Oliver said in a Metro interview that Dr. Charles is “not a born administrator at all, but he has taken this job because he’s interested in providing mental health support to people who don’t have $400 an hour to spend on their brain and on their emotional life.” Having changed her focus from pathology to psychiatry, Dr. Jennings shadows Dr. Charles. In this video, both actors talk freely about their characters’ contributions to the E.R. And they talk about the increasingly prominent role psychiatry plays in E.R.s in the current, changing healthcare environment. In fact, a story from WBEZ radio in Chicago last year noted that from 2009 to 2013, 37 percent more patients were discharged from Chicago emergency rooms for psychiatric treatment. Really. Watch “Chicago Med‘s” fall finale on NBC Thursday, Nov. 10 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. (Football shifts to NBC on Thursday nights in mid-November.) “Chicago Med” returns January 5.