LONDON (AP) ā Timing is everything.
After nine years as Dr. Daniel Charles on NBC's āChicago Med,ā Oliver Platt decided to flex his acting muscles, asking his agent if there was someone else he could play for a bit.
The first offer that came in? Uncle Jimmy in āThe Bear.ā
This was before FXās hot kitchen comedy-drama had been on air and no one knew that Christopher Storerās show would go on to be an award-winning, star-making smash hit.
āI felt like a guest for about five minutes on āThe Bear,āā says Platt.
āMaybe that just makes me lucky or just makes me good at insinuating myself into a situation, I donāt know.ā
And if anyone knows how to be a scene-stealing guest star, itās Platt.
Three times heās been in the running for an Emmy Award after making a special appearance on a TV series, notably āThe West Wingā and āNip/Tuck.ā
Plattās most recent guest star nomination was for playing the mysterious Uncle on āThe Bearā ā and he returned for seasons two and three as a fan.
āI didnāt get to work in the kitchen the first season, I was so excited to meet them all,ā he says, noting that in 2022 his only scenes were with Jeremy White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Carmy and Cousin, respectively.)
āMy first day back on the set in season two, it was actually in the restaurant in the kitchen. And I literally was starstruck. And thatās a wonderful scenario.ā
Uncle Jimmy is back once again, on June 27, for the third season of āThe Bear.ā
On set Platt is called āUncā and in New York, where he lives, the actor gets the occasional āYes Chef,ā as he walks past.
He says spending more time with the money man, also known as Cicero, in new episodes might reveal a bit more about who he is.
āItās so fun about the character in the way itās written. Itās like you kind of never know what youāre going to get like, the kindly, but mildly twisted father figure or the frickinā neighborhood dude who wants his money back?
āWhat you see is not necessarily what you get,ā he says.
Both āThe Bearā and āChicago Medā are set and shot in Chicago so Platt was able to work on them in the same day ā by walking the 200 yards between his two trailers.
āItās really fun,ā he says of pulling double duty. āIt spices up the day,ā calling both shows āgiftsā in his life.
There was only one near-miss when Platt was rehearsing an argument as Dr. Charles, but accidentally channeled the confrontational Chicago accent of Uncle Jimmy.
āThe director was like, āOliver, whatās that? Whatās that accent?āā
āIt was very easy for me to drop into being Doctor Charles. Iāve been doing it for eight years, but Uncle Jimmy is relatively new and I think I was unconsciously preparing for the afternoon.ā
Another nominated guest star appearance for Platt was as White House Counsel Oliver Babish on āThe West Wing,ā where his character dishes out legal advice over seasons two, three and seven.
Speaking to writer/showrunner Aaron Sorkin before he got to set, he was told to make the role his own and interpreted it as permission to be a bit loose and spontaneous with the script ā only to quickly find out that was not the case.
āIām not always so good at word for word, even when thatās the rules. So ... there was a bit of hazing on āThe West Wing.ā I knew a lot of the cast members, and they would come by and tease me like, āDonāt worry, buddy, we all went through it.āā
In July, Platt is excited to start filming season 10 of āChicago Medā as psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Charles, a fan favorite, who he says he ālovesā to play.
His mother was a psychiatric nurse and he remembers being told to wake her up if certain patients called after hours.
āSo many mental health issues, theyāre treatable. The main thing is to get people to ask for help,ā says Platt.
āI just love the fact that we tell stories that destigmatize mental health issues that, on a good week, 10 million people will watch those stories and so thatās a cool thing.ā
Starring on a medical drama means working with a lot of visiting actors, although they are less likely to be recurring roles.
āThe dirty little secret of a procedural, right, is that itās the guest stars that come in and have, like, the big emotions,ā he says.
āWe know theyāre either going to leave feet first or theyāre going to walk out of there. Whatās it going to be?ā
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This story was first published on June 21, 2024, and was updated on June 25, 2024, to correct the first name of actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Hilary Fox, The Associated Press
