Tamberla Perry Talks ‘Brilliant Minds’ and Tackling Her Character’s Latest Emotional Storyline [Interview]

When Tamberla Perry first got the script for NBC’s Brilliant Minds, she knew it was a show she had to be a part of.

On Brilliant Minds, Perry plays Dr. Carol Pierce, a long-time friend and confidant of Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto). I recently had the chance to chat with Perry about playing a character loosely inspired by a real person — Dr. Carol E. Burnett — and her character’s latest emotional storyline.

“I try not to covet roles because, as an actor, you just can’t. You get your feelings hurt,” Perry told me. For the role of Carol on Brilliant Minds, however, she allowed herself to get her hopes up and to get attached.

“This was a role that really spoke to me. The story really spoke to me,” she said. “I was very familiar with the movie Awakenings. I didn’t know the name Oliver Sacks, but I knew that this movie was based off the life and works of the books of someone. So when I made that connection, it was just fascinating.”

“The other major thing is that the show is about mental health,” Perry continued. “People are being more transparent than ever about seeking therapy, the conversations with their therapists. And that’s what the show was doing, and I hadn’t seen that. So, the stories that they were telling in that pilot episode, I said, ‘Oh, this is different. And this is gonna go. This show is gonna go.'”

Perry said that while there isn’t a lot of information out there about the doctor her character is based on, she did try to do some research on her.

“My character is based off of longtime best friend of the real Oliver Sacks. Her name is Carol Burnett, not to be confused with the comedian Carol Burnett. My Carol is a Black woman, and her name is Carol E. Burnett. And unfortunately, there’s not a lot out there about her.”

“There were a couple of journals — like papers done about her,” she said. “The little bit that I’ve read about her is through Oliver Sacks’ books and his publications, and then just a little bit that’s online.”

“That’s the beauty of this role,” Perry continued. “This character is, it’s inspired by her. I’m not tethered to actual life and works of her. But what I am bringing to it is the kinship they had, the relationship they had.”

Carol’s professional life takes a dramatic turn when she discovers her patient, Allison, is also her husband’s mistress. That got complicated quickly, and Carol’s decisions along the way were difficult — including whether or not to continue treating Allison. 

“The first thing I want to say is that this whole storyline has been very difficult for me. Because Carol is a physician, because she is this woman’s therapist, because she took this oath to help patients. But also as a Black woman whose husband is having an affair with an other. It was very difficult to not say, ‘No, forget my job. If it’s between my job and my kids’ safety,’ which is what we saw in this past episode. Me, Tamberla, is saying ‘Bump all that.’ But Carol — it’s so interesting because you really do have to separate yourself from these characters and the actions that each individual would do.

“But I think the main reason that she continued to see her was, yes, she did want to help her. She’s a doctor. She cares for her patient. But she wanted more information.”

“Which is wrong. It’s a complete and total conflict, and she knew that. And once she came to her senses and was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ that’s when she made the decision to try to cut ties. But it was a bit too late.”

Everything came to a head between Carol and her husband when she asked him directly if he had been in love with Allison. When he couldn’t answer that question, Carol broke down in a deeply emotional scene.

“Thank God, I don’t have experience with that,” Perry said of filming the scene. “I’ve been married for 13 years, but that was one of the scenes that… as an actor, I’m not a ‘think about somebody dying in order to emote’ type of person. You really have to put yourself in that situation. And as a person who’s married with kids, who loves her husband dearly, thinking about that is a horror to me.”

“So it was hard, it was fun to do, but I also knew that when I came out of it, that’s just it, I’m out of it. I don’t have to live that.” 

 

Brilliant Minds airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.

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