An Interview with Spence Moore II & Alex MacNicoll from ‘Brilliant Minds’

BRILLIANT MINDS -- "The Blackout Bride" Episode 104 -- Pictured: (l-r) Ashleigh LaThrop as Ericka Kinney, Alex MacNicoll as Dr. Van Markus, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang, Spence Moore II as Jacob Nash -- (Photo by: Rafy/NBC)

Spence Moore II and Alex MacNicoll are two talented actors that are consistently popping up on the silver and small screen. Currently, they star as Dr. Jacob Nash and Dr. Van Markus on the hit NBC series, Brilliant Minds, and we had the honor of sitting down with both of them to discuss their work on this phenomenal new series.
 
John Betancourt: I Would like to start by getting to know what attracted you to this project as actors 
 
Spence Moore II: Work! (Laughter) An opportunity to work. Feed my family. 
 
Alex MacNicoll: Yeah, that. And then for me, it was like, I've auditioned for a lot of Michael Grassi’s projects in the past, and just for whatever reason, never, never booked it. So that was something like, “Cool, he's the showrunner. I really admire him.” And then, like, that was very, you know, enticing to be like, “Oh, cool. Like, here's an opportunity to work with Michael.” And fortunately, it worked out. So, very exciting.
 
Spence Moore: Yeah, yeah, for me like, I was definitely attracted to the show and to this role based on the vast lineage of doctors who’ve graced our screens. I mean, you have the Clooneys, you have Denzel Washingtons, and being so inspired by just some of those people, and knowing the… not weight that's on your shoulders, but just knowing who you're coming behind, it's like, it's inspiring, and it makes you want to do like, like, really, really, really good work. But, I mean, it was a no brainer to do this role. I mean, Greg Berlanti, Michael Grassi, Alex MacNicoll, Lee Tolan Krieger, Alex MacNicoll. (Laughter from all) No, but no, seriously, it was, uh, it was an honor to get that call that, uh, that I would be portraying Jacob Nash, and I didn't have to think twice about it.
 
John Betancourt: I’m a big fan of how the characters that you helped to create are so realistic and so enriching. And I'm curious, because I always like to ask actors about the process, how you manage to create such depth and such reality to your characters.
 
Alex MacNicoll: They really, you know, they really created a really great world for us, I think, in a lot of ways. And then, and then, I think we've talked about this before, but I think we all also have a lot of similarities as our characters in real life. So yeah, so that was something that was really, really cool and fun to bring to the table. But obviously the medical background for me, and then for Spence, I mean, we're far from doctors, so a lot of research involved and just imagination.
 
Spence Moore II: We're like, we're like, rented doctors, but we're, we're professionals, because we have all the right guidance around this, but the similarities. I mean, gosh, like, I played football. And, of course, to Alex's point, our writers are incredible. I mean, we have a full team of writers that are awesome. And also, yeah, like, for me, Jacob, I played football. That wasn't like hard to understand, I guess, some of the complexities, or some of the traits or disciplines that comes with football, and how you kind of take everything that you learn for football and incorporate it into everything that you do, like in life. So yeah, for me, I think finding that passion for Jacob and just knowing that that he's coming in as someone who's not a expert in this field, but as someone who is going to have to be humbled and be okay with being humble and learning everything that comes with this, with this new venture. 
 
John Betancourt: I also love how there’s so much depth, and beauty here, and so much to take away from the show. So, I'm very curious what each of you hope audiences take away from an underlying message from season one of the show.
 
Spence Moore II: I would say, like the biggest takeaway that I would love for people to hold on to is just the fact that with the right support system around you, anything is possible, even if things seem helpless, With the right support system around you, anything is possible, and you can persevere, and you can surprise yourself. You surprise yourself at times by just staying resilient and yeah, just, I'm just going to keep on saying that that support system is key, making sure you have the right doctor, making sure you have the right person in your corner to speak on your behalf. And yeah, I think that's essential.
 
Alex MacNicoll: And for me, being more aware of that, not everything that we see or my limited perspective is what it is, or is how it is. Like, you know, life's very complex, and there's a lot of people that suffer in a lot of ways, but you would never know. And so just trying to, I think the great thing to take away from the show that they really do a great job with is really exploring that. And, you know, being like, you know, don't judge a book by its cover. You know, somebody might look like they're okay, but they might not be okay. And just having that level of compassion and support, like Spence is saying, because it's true, like, when we support each other and love each other, you know, it's there's nothing we all can't do as a species.
 
John Betancourt: That’s so true, and that's so special, because it's just not enough of that kind of positive message on TV right now. And that leads me to my next question as well, what it means to you as both actors and people be part of such a positive and refreshing project?
 
Alex MacNicoll: Yeah, it’s great. It didn't feel like work. The vocabulary and the medical stuff felt like work and a challenge, but like, as far as the environment that was on set, we had everybody from the crew to the cast… it was such a loving environment and supportive environment, and just the place that everybody wanted to be, you know, I look forward to coming to work and, you know, was not bummed to leave. But also, like, you know, was excited for the next day, you know, so really, really beautiful, positive environment. 
 
Spence Moore II: Yeah, coming to work was so easy. It's so easy when you're surrounded by creatives who just are here for each other and just want to see everybody win, and just want to make a great product like I think everybody kind of understood that, you know, even just going into this one, it was going to be impactful in a very healing type of way, and invigorating, inspiring kind of way. And I think everyone just wanted to put their best foot forward, but also just the camaraderie that we built and the relationships that we built outside of our characters alone. I mean, it's a very familial, like family type of feel when you go to the Brilliant Minds set, it's incredible. And, yeah, it doesn't surprise me that it comes across because it's so authentic and it's so real, and we've been locked in since day one. So yeah, going to work and listening to Dr Wolf… it's, it's so easy and so rewarding.
 
Alex MacNicoll: We want to create that hopeful, feel good show but at the same time, with the reality of illnesses and things that are going on in the world and, yeah, but that. But overall, I think there is this, like, inspiring aspect of the show, which is great.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously it has just taken off, and audiences have responded to it. Everybody's raving about it, talking about it. What has it meant to you as well? Um, just the reception and what people are saying about the show right now.
 
Alex MacNicoll: Feels good. Yeah. 
 
Spence Moore II: It feels great!
 
Alex MacNicoll: When you have, you know, it's like, obviously my mom would love everything that I do, no matter what, even if it was garbage. (Laughter from all) And the fact that, like, I love getting texts from friends or messages from people that watch the show, and them just being like, “Man, like I, you know, I thought it'd be good. But like, this is really good,” you know? And like they really enjoy it, and they look forward to it and, and that's, it feels really great. It feels great to create something that people are responding to.
 
Spence Moore II: It feels so, so dope to create something that people resonate with, like, seriously, and my village that I speak to every single week. It also contains my mom and, you know, like my Mimi and my dad. So, it's people who, you know, who support me through, through anything but the fact that it is an exceptional project, and that is really sparking change and new thought, and really just showing people that you can overcome and that you can persevere on a weekly basis, is awesome. Like it feels like, for me, like we're doing the good work. Like this is the work that, that, that people were talking about, you know, healing people one episode at a time, you know. So, it's, it's awesome, and the reception has been good all around like, every single week, genuinely. So that's also really cool to say.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today. Obviously, we've got kind of the back half of season one coming up here. What are you most excited, without spoilers, for everybody to experience in this back half? 
 
Alex MacNicoll: A couple big plot, plot things for sure that that, obviously you know not to spoil, but yeah, there's some really, really cool things that happen. I know it's so vague, speaking like this, but there's some really, really, really exciting things. I'm also, now that you mentioned, you know, we're in the back half, so we have these reveals that have already happened about our characters and about certain characters involved, and the dynamics within that. So, like, you know, the relationship dynamics between each of the people that work together… and so, yeah, so there's, it's like, a bit of a roller coaster coming up. And, yeah, so things happen. And, you know, again, being so vague, things happen.
 
Spence Moore II: A lot of, a lot of things happen. A lot of things happen. It's like, it's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get with each episode. But it's, yeah, we have a lot more… even more hearts,even more passion, even more chaos and high octane, fast paced, cold blues and cold reds.
 
Alex MacNicoll: And real cases. A lot of these cases are inspired by real cases. So, they're these crazy, crazy phenomenon that have happened that are actually, genuinely rooted in reality and history. So that's pretty cool, too. 
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

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