00:00We're back with a talented actor who's had some really memorable roles on the big and
00:06small screens.
00:08Sean Haddison started in the crime thriller Alpha Dog opposite Justin Timberlake, then
00:12kept the drama coming in the series Animal Kingdom.
00:16Well now, Sean is on in scrubs for his latest role.
00:18He played Dr. Jack Abbott in the breakout hit medical drama, The Pit.
00:23The series follows one shift in a hospital emergency room and the challenges facing healthcare
00:28workers.
00:29I think I finally understand why I keep coming back now.
00:37It's in our DNA.
00:40It's what we do.
00:41We can't help it.
00:42We're the bees that protect the hive.
00:46Sean is with us this morning.
00:48Good morning.
00:49Good morning.
00:49I mean, this show is just having such a run.
00:53It's such outstanding success.
00:55The Television Critics Association Awards last week, it swept those, received 13 Emmy nominations.
01:00You earned your own nomination, the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series category.
01:05Is this all settling in?
01:07It has been a whirlwind.
01:08I'll say that, you know, but it's nice that it's landing in such a big way.
01:14It means so much to healthcare workers, giving them a voice.
01:17Their job is so hard.
01:19So it's been a really rewarding experience.
01:22Yeah.
01:23We were talking before I told you, I binged the whole thing this week in anticipation
01:26of talking to you.
01:27So I just saw that final episode last night.
01:29You were telling me how even you watching it, the anxiety that it kind of gives you,
01:33like trying to sleep after it.
01:35What is it like on set?
01:36Because it's just heart-pounding.
01:39It's such an immersive experience working on the show.
01:42There are times I get so, I get lost in the moment because, you know, you're experiencing
01:47it in real time and, you know, but the language sometimes can throw you.
01:53So, you know, I get really prepared.
01:55And then, you know, we go through the medical procedures quite a bit before we start shooting.
01:59But like you said, the adrenaline kicks in and you're just in it.
02:03And as an actor, instinct, when you're just moving around on instinct, there's no better
02:08feeling.
02:09The performance becomes, you know, invisible.
02:12How did you learn the lingo?
02:14I cry first when I read it.
02:16I look at it and I cry.
02:17People like Noah, I don't know how he does it.
02:19It's like in him, he can just do it.
02:20He can just look at it and understand it.
02:22But you have to say these words with confidence.
02:24You have to say it with confidence and pretend like, you know what they mean.
02:27And, you know, so I'll just have our tech advisor read everything into my iPhone.
02:33And then I prepare so much because if you screw up on this show, you know, everything's done
02:39a lot of times in one take.
02:40So you throw it off like everybody's looking at you like, oh, gosh, here's this hack.
02:45Sometimes it also looks like it's done with one camera, too.
02:47Yeah.
02:48You know, it's interesting.
02:49I want to go back to something that you just said, because, yes, I mean, it's like for
02:52adrenaline junkies, it's a fantastic show.
02:54You guys nail the lingo, the procedures themselves.
02:57But it is, I feel like at its core, sort of this love letter to health care workers,
03:02to doctors, to nurses, to all the folks on the front lines.
03:05Have you heard from them?
03:06Do you get feedback from any of those folks who watch the show?
03:09All the time.
03:10What do they say?
03:11It's the best feeling.
03:12Just stuff like I'll be walking down the street.
03:14Nurse will come up to me and say, you know, I, I, after COVID, things were very hard.
03:19I had a lot of PTSD from it.
03:21Watching your show at first, I couldn't take it.
03:24I didn't think I was going to make it.
03:25I felt like I was going to work, you know, but I powered through it.
03:28By the end of it, it was such a cathartic feeling.
03:31So that, that, that says something about the show.
03:34We really do work.
03:35We, the medicine comes first.
03:37We work outwardly from there.
03:39We try to get it as right as we possibly can.
03:41We don't always get it right.
03:42But we, that is what we're going for.
03:44The authenticity.
03:46We, we earlier in the show showed a trailer for season two.
03:50Everybody's excited for it.
03:51The adrenaline's up for that.
03:53You're actually directing an episode this season, right?
03:56Yes.
03:56What's that like?
03:58Again, like, you know, the preparation is everything on this show.
04:01So, um, you know, I, I've, I've been an actor for, for 30 years in the business.
04:06So I, I've been directing lately to be able to, to do this show and the best set in the
04:12world, the best actors, the best writing it's, it's every director in Hollywood wants
04:17to work on this show.
04:18So having seen it through advertise, I am, uh, I'm going to have a very fresh perspective,
04:23you know, having done all the stuff that we have to do, which can be challenging.
04:26I have a lot to offer.
04:27How exciting to get to try that out.
04:29Um, okay.
04:30Apart from the pit, you've had all these other memorable roles, but you have shared with us
04:35that there's one you wish you auditioned for.
04:38What is that?
04:40It's funny.
04:41Uh, I, like 2008 or so, I, I was very focused on film and, um,
04:47and at the time I was writing something and my manager sent me a script and really wanted
04:52me to go in and I just kept blowing it off and it was for television at the time.
04:56Television hadn't really changed yet in the way that it has.
05:00And, um, and I just didn't do it.
05:03And, uh, that was breaking bad.
05:05Oh, yeah.
05:07What's character?
05:08Uh, Aaron Paul's.
05:10Oh, AMC.
05:12They weren't even like making television.
05:14That's true.
05:15That's fair.
05:15It just didn't seem like a risk I should take now.
05:18It was just an audition.
05:19I didn't get offered it or anything like that, but I should have, I should have.
05:23It's such a dark show though.
05:24I feel like, you know, it's a lot to shake off after you.
05:27It is.
05:27No, I did Animal Kingdom, which was also quite dark.
05:30I don't know if you watched that.
05:31Yeah, that's true.
05:32It's pretty dark.
05:33But you know what?
05:34It's turned out pretty long for you.
05:36It turned out okay.
05:37Things happen the way they happen.
05:38But that one, I would, I definitely would love a do-over.
05:41A do-over.
05:42Well, we love you in the pit.
05:43Thank you so much for being here and joining us this morning.
05:45Season one of the pit is streaming now on HBO Max.
05:48Season two comes out in January.
05:50All right.
05:50Which episode are you directing?
05:51Do you know yet?
05:51Episode nine.
05:52Episode nine.
05:53All right.
05:54Hey, thanks for watching.
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