Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramírez on the “Dark and Harrowing” Storyline in Dr. Death Season 2
The This is Us star shares why her part in Dr. Death is “wholly different” from her past roles.
Mandy Moore (This is Us, A Walk to Remember) and Edgar Ramírez (Florida Man, American Crime Story) may be playing roles caught in a twisted romance, but in real life they’ve found a trusted acting partner in each other while filming Peacock’s Dr. Death.
The 8-episode season focuses on Dr. Paolo Macchiarini (Ramírez), a disgraced thoracic surgeon, and investigative journalist Benita Alexander (Moore) who gets caught in his web of deceit. Moore and Ramírez spoke to NBC Insider ahead of the premiere about working together and what viewers can expect from their characters.
Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramírez on How Season 2 of Dr. Death is Different
“We’re telling a pretty dark and harrowing tale, so I feel like we felt the weight of the responsibility of obviously this being a show that’s based on a real life events that unfolded and are still unfolding to certain degrees,” Moore said.
From her time as Rebecca on NBC’s This is Us to her becoming a Disney princess as Tangled’s Rapunzel, Moore is known for her beloved roles. Playing Alexander on Dr. Death was a “thrilling” opportunity to change things up, Moore said.
RELATED: Dr. Death Season 2: Dr. Paolo Macchiarini's Transplant Patients
“To take on something so wholly different than I had ever done…and the tone…and sort of the scale, I think of Season 2,” Moore said of the anthology series. “It’s a totally different story and doctor.”
The show follows the tracks of Macchiarini’s professional and personal life, according to Moore. One aspect of the show she loved was this season is a case that takes viewers all over the world.
“It’s in Russia and Sweden,” Moore teased. “London, Spain, and Italy.”
Another stop on the international story? New York. Moore’s character Alexander initially meets Macchiarini while working as a journalist for NBC News and covering his surgeries for a story.
Ramírez found working with Moore on the show to be “such a pleasure," he told NBC Insider.
RELATED: A Timeline of Paolo Macchiarini's Relationship with Benita Alexander
“That made the navigation of this choppy and dark waters all the more, you know, pleasurable because it was key to have a partner that you could trust because there’s so many subtleties in this story,” Ramírez said. “I’ve said this before, I discover this character in her eyes, you know, like…in the interaction of the performances, both performances, I could discover more and more this character as we were doing it.”
An aspect Moore and Ramírez highlight as distinct from season one’s suspenseful take on Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Joshua Jackson), is Season 2 has a dark romance between their characters.
“The love story like makes it different,” Moore said. “I think it’s just fascinating to see, you know, my character’s an investigative journalist who hears about the world renowned surgeon that Paolo is and he’s pioneering regenerative medicine and that’s just so endlessly fascinating and she sort of crosses the ethical boundary…having feelings for him and embarking on this relationship.”
To learn more about how the story and relationship unravels, you can stream all eight episodes of Dr. Death Season 2 now on Peacock.
