‘Brilliant Minds’ Adds ‘Yellowjackets’ & ‘Riverdale’ Stars as Patients & a Paramedic — Get Scoop

Brilliant Minds is shaping up to be the cure for the common medical drama.

In NBC’s new fall series from former Katy Keene and Riverdale exec producer Michael Grassi, Zachary Quinto stars as Dr. Oliver Wolf, an unconventional neurologist based on the real-life British groundbreaker, Dr. Oliver Sacks. “Oliver Sacks dedicated his life to de-stigmatizing mental illness,” notes Grassi. “And what I love about our show is we’re taking things that have often been in the dark and we’re weaving them into the daily fabric of our characters’ lives. I think as a society we’ve come a long way with mental health and we’re talking about it in a way that we haven’t before, but we still have a long way to go.”

A motorcycle-riding, enigmatic genius working with a team of interns and colleague Dr. Carol Pierce (All American: Homecoming‘s Tamberla Perry) at Bronx General Hospital, Quinto’s Wolf is both a rules bender and the first openly gay lead character of a network medical drama played by an openly gay actor. And he’s about to keep some seriously cool company.

It was announced last week at NBC’s presentation to the Television Critics Association in Pasadena that Mandy Patinkin and Steve Howey would be guesting on the freshman series as a family doctor who joins the staff of Bronx General Hospital and an injured mechanic facing a tragic choice, respectively. Broadway icon André DeShields, who appeared on Grassi’s Keene, will be seen as an Alzheimer’s patient Wolf helps reconnect with his family in his final days.

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This isn’t the only reunion Grassi has in the pipeline. The showrunner confirmed to TV Insider exclusively that Julia Chan, who stole our hearts as Katy Keene‘s Pepper Smith, is set for an arc as “a patient seeking psychiatric treatment with Dr. Carol Pierce” over the course of multiple episodes. “She’s so good. She’s amazing.” Additionally, The Continental‘s Mishel Prada, who recurred as Hermosa Lodge on Riverdale, will “slam into” the world of the show as “a paramedic in the Bronx…with a really big storyline [that] explores really interesting themes that are so much in Minds‘ wheelhouse.” Prado’s three-part stint kicks off in the season’s 10th episode, which was directed by buzzy go-to helmer Maggie Kiley (Dr. Death and FX’s American Sports Story).

And finally, Yellowjackets‘ Teen Misty, Samantha Hanratty, will be creating a major buzz for Wolf & Co. with a guest spot as a patient inspired by “a real Oliver Sacks case,” confirms Grassi. “I don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s just say she walks into the hospital wearing a wedding dress covered in blood.”

Brilliant Minds, Series Premiere, Monday, September 23, 10/9c, NBC