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Who Does Julia Chan Play in Brilliant Minds? All About Her Eerie Patient Role & More
Actress Julia Chan's character in Brilliant Minds puts her fictional hospital work history to good use.
Brilliant Minds's Head of Psychology at Bronx General Hospital, Dr. Carol Pierce (Tamberla Perry), is a top-notch doctor who regularly meets with clients to work through their personal challenges. But her latest client's challenges are personal for Dr. Pierce herself.
Because as she's tackling her day-to-day job at the hospital, Dr. Piece is also undergoing a tumultuous separation from her husband Morris after he cheated on her with an unknown party. Enter, Carol's newest client, Alison Zhang-Whitaker (Julia Chan), a PhD student at New York University who is trying to get over an emotional breakup. However, when it comes to this new hospital regular, it’s clear there's something suspicious brewing.
RELATED: Brilliant Minds' "Lovesick Widow" Shares This Real, Emotional Connection with Zachary Quinto
Who plays this mysterious client? Here’s everything you need to know about actress Julia Chan and what TV shows you might recognize her from.
What movies & TV shows has Julia Chan starred in?
Brilliant Minds isn’t the first time Chan has starred in a series set at a fictional hospital. However, instead of being a patient, she portrayed Dr. Maggie Lin in Saving Hope, her longest-running role to date.
A Harvard Medical School graduate, Dr. Lin served as an OB/GYN at Hope Zion. She had a relationship with Dr. Sydney Katz (Stacey Farber), a fellow Gynecologist, in Season 3. The couple briefly broke up, but they eventually got back together in Season 5 and when Dr. Katz scored a new job in London, Dr. Lin decided to leave Hope Zion behind as well and start her new life with her girlfriend.
Chan stars in nearly every episode of the show (79 episodes to be exact), first appearing in the pilot episode and departing a few episodes shy of its series finale, her final appearance being in Season 5, Episode 12.
Chan also notably starred in Republic of Doyle (available to stream on Peacock) as the (kinda-sorta) villainous Karen Becker. As the niece of crime boss and rum smuggler Maurice Becker (Gordon Pinsent), Karen first appeared in the appropriately titled "Hit and Rum" (Season 1, Episode 5). It's not always clear where she falls on the hero-or-villain spectrum, occasionally working with father-and-son duo Malachy and Jake Doyle (Sean McGinley and Allan Hawko, respectively). She even has an ongoing flirtation with Jake. Although, her villainous tendencies in Republic of Doyle certainly have helped up the creep factor in Brilliant Minds.
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Her additional acting credits include reoccurring roles in Katy Keene and Archive 81. She has also dabbed in voice acting work, having voiced multiple characters in BoJack Horseman.
Is Julia Chan's character a villain in Brilliant Minds?
In Season 1, Episode 8, “The Lovesick Widow,” Dr. Pierce has her first on-screen meeting with Alison after months of treating her. Their session is going well — up until Alison lets it slip that she knows Dr. Pierce didn’t change her last name after her marriage, which Dr. Pierce never told her.
Growing suspicious, the psychiatrist consults with Dr. Dana Dang (Aury Krebs) and we learn Alison has been lying the entire time. Not only is she actually a med student at Columbia University (not NYU), but she knows Dr. Pierce’s husband.
RELATED: Teddy Sears on Finally Breaking the Will-They-Won't-They Tension on Brilliant Minds
Putting the pieces together, Dr. Pierce soon realizes that Alison was the person who her husband slept with, ruining their marriage.
In the next episode, “The Colorblind Painter”, Dr. Pierce has a slip-up of her own and accidentally says in their session that Alison slept with a married man. Morris insists that their fling was only one night, but the details of one of his past work trips coincide with a romantic weekend getaway Alison remembers.
Alison has a meltdown at the hospital and since Dr. Pierce isn't readily available, Dr. Dang and Dr. Ericka Kinney (Ashleigh LaThrop) step in to calm her down, which ... doesn't necessarily help. In an uncharacteristic moment, Carol blows up at the interns, scorning them for meddling with her patients. Finally, Dr. Pierce has had enough and calls Alison to refer her to another psychiatrist. She also reveals that she knows she had a romantic relationship with her husband.
RELATED: The Near-Decade-Long Journey to Translate Dr. Oliver Sacks' Life Into NBC's Brilliant Minds
But on her way home from work, Dr. Pierce discovers that someone has busted her car windshield.
Was Alison the culprit?
Find out by catching the new episodes of Brilliant Minds when they premiere on Mondays on NBC at 10/9c. Episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.
