‘Chicago Med’: Jessy Schram Talks Hannah & Archer Coparenting Conflict, Finally Working With Torrey DeVitto & More

“It’s going to be difficult no matter what,” Jessy Schram points out of what her Chicago Med character, Dr. Hannah Asher, is dealing with in the beginning of Season 11. The spring’s finale left us with the question of whether her ex-boyfriend, Dr. Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell), or her friend, Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber), is the father of her baby. The premiere answered that: Archer.

But while she and Archer don’t have the same history she and Ripley do, that doesn’t mean it’s much easier. There’s still a lot to unpack there, and they’ll really be getting into that as they continue to navigate how they’re going to co-parent. Below, Jessy Schram talks Asher’s complicated relationships and pregnancy, having Nick Gehlfuss and Torrey DeVitto on set, what’s next with Archer, and much more.

This is quite the season for Asher. When did you know that Archer was the father of Asher’s baby, and what was your reaction?

Jessy Schram: I was told originally when we were going to make her pregnant, it was for sure not going to be Ripley or Archer. So, when we started going along, there was a little line at the end of “The Book of Archer” last year, and it had a thing of, will they or won’t they? Or what does that mean? Something about the line made me call [showrunner] Allen MacDonald and say, “So, will they? Won’t they?” And that’s when we started having the conversation that he’s going to be the father of the baby. So, I knew pretty early on that that was going to be the case.

And it’s easier for Asher for Archer to be the father than Ripley, right? Because of all that history she has with Ripley.

In some ways. I think that she has history with both of them. It’s just a different kind of history. I think when it comes to Archer, it’s more safe in a lot of ways because it’s coming from a friendship and it’s coming from this deep love that they both have for each other. But I think that what we’ve already explored on the show so far is that there is an age difference between us, that they aren’t romantically involved. So, they are two friends having a baby.

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And what we are definitely going to explore and get into this week is they’re starting their co-parenting journey and they don’t necessarily agree. They don’t necessarily agree on the first decisions that they have to make with each other besides having the baby. They were very unanimous in that. But when we come to this episode, we’re going to be exploring whether or not they want to learn the sex of the baby, and they don’t agree on that. So, I think while it could be easier in some ways for Archer to be the father, you’re still co-parenting and you’re not in a romantic relationship with someone. So, it’s going to be difficult no matter what.

We’ve seen these two characters in conflict before in the past. How is it different now when they do have to consider the fact that they are permanently in each other’s lives going forward as coparents?

I think that they’re definitely operating in similar ways that they have in the past, but they’re trying to be more sensitive. So, I think there is a bit more tiptoeing until the tiptoeing just can’t be had anymore. So, they tiptoe a little bit more around each other because they’re really trying to figure out how to do this.

But speaking of them saying they’re going to be two friends coparenting, how does Asher really feel about that? Does she want more? Could she want more?

I think that Hannah’s feelings, romantic feelings right now are in a box. I think that she has so much on her plate in terms of, she’s a working soon-to-be mother. She’s trying to keep her reputation at the hospital and her status in a respected space. She’s an OB, so, she knows everything that can go wrong and everything that can go. She’s also an addict, therefore she needs to keep in check all the different stable parts within herself. So, right now, I think she’s really focused on her body, her baby, and her mental health and just staying afloat in the healthiest way. So, if there were to be something romantic that were to happen, I don’t think that that’s in Hannah’s mind right now. I don’t think she’s worried at all about — I think she’s worried about the partnership, but not the romantic partnership.

How’s Asher and Ripley’s relationship going to be as they’re moving past this history? They seem to be in the avoiding each other phase?

[Laughs] I think it’s safe to say they’re going to keep gently avoiding each other, but I do think that there is a respect between the two of them. And I at least know from Asher’s part, when they had broken up, it’s not because she doesn’t love him, it’s because she couldn’t be with him and he had a journey that he needed to go through before he was ready to be in a relationship. So, there’s still a lot of respect. It’s just I think that it’s a sensitive subject and Hannah knows that and she wants everything to be OK, and I think that the avoidance is still very much there

George Burns Jr/NBC

Because they had that moment after he was stuck in the well last season.

Yeah, genuinely, I think that she would’ve loved for things to work out, but it was actually a fan that brought it to my attention of just that full circle of when Hannah and Will [Nick Gehlfuss] broke up, Will couldn’t be with Hannah anymore because she really needed to figure herself out first. And so she’s done so much work and so much time has passed, and I think it was almost the same with Ripley as this is kind of bittersweet of, “I love you, but this isn’t good for me and it’s not good for you, and I respect you enough to let us both do our lives the way we need to.”

Speaking of complicated relationships, it’s kind of heartbreaking what’s going on with Hannah and her sister right now. Is there anything coming up there?

We will be seeing Lizzie [Erin Anderson] again. I don’t know to what capacity in all honesty, but we will be seeing Lizzie again, and that is still something that’s weighing heavy on Hannah.

Nick Gehlfuss and Torrey DeVitto just returned for a couple of episodes and before what happened to Owen, we did get that fun moment of Hannah and Will catching up. I liked that while things could have been complicated and awkward between those two, they weren’t really. It was a nice moment for the two to share.

I know! I remember reading that and then on the day, I love that we both had that approach of just, again, when they split up, it wasn’t because they hated each other or someone cheated or something of that sort. I think that enough time this passed and they respect each other and they did love each other so much. I wonder if for Asher, there’s some points of like, “Well, maybe what if he was the dad…” But I think what I loved about that moment not being awkward was it was just a true respect for each other. And then you go into that episode and Hannah has a deep responsibility to save Will’s baby. Obviously it’s Will and Natalie’s baby, but she has that friendship and that history with him that she had a deep responsibility to make sure that things were OK for him.

And then the stuff that we got with Hannah and Natalie, I absolutely loved that. It was awkward but in the best way.

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Oh my God, I loved that script so much. It made me blush in different ways. But I loved that script so much and I thought Torrey did such an amazing, amazing job navigating all she had to navigate with her son and her relationship. But when it came to Hannah, I feel like it can be a relatable line of the ex-girlfriend being in the picture. When Torrey and I were on the show together, our paths never actually crossed. So, it really was the ex-girlfriend or the new girlfriend being around with the ex-boyfriend, and we were always ships passing in the night. So, it was fun to get to finally be in scenes with her. And I mean, she’s so fantastic. And the two of them together, it was so fun to watch them act because they really slid right back into where we all remember them to be, and I just felt it was on a deeper level because they’ve both lived so much life and they’re doing these storylines that they get to utilize their own personal experiences in. But I thought she did an amazing job. I was watching this morning and the way she was looking between Will and Hannah in the hospital room. I was like, “Oh my God, Torrey, that was so good.”

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I will say though, I think one of my favorite moments of the season so far has to be Hannah looking in the lounge and seeing Will, Archer, and Ripley there, and then Natalie walking in, and Hannah just leaving.

“You know what? I think we’re going to stay away from that situation.” I like that she tells Doris [Lorena Diaz] like, “Man, you need to get a hobby. It’s fine, don’t worry.” Then the second Natalie walks in, she’s like, “Yeah, that’s too much history to have to face right now.”

And it was also a lighthearted moment that was really needed in the episode.

Yeah, it was interesting because due to time, I remember on the day we were filming that due to time, they were possibly going to cut that moment. And I know Allen MacDonald really fought for that, just because it ties the story together, it ties the roots and it deepens it all.

What else is coming up for Hannah, especially when it comes to patients?

Episode 4, which is actually our Halloween episode, is a pretty big case for Hannah. We have a young woman that comes in with a pretty massive secret, and discovering what that secret is is kind of heartbreaking, and it can also be very deadly. She’s very much an advocate for her patients, whether they’re in the right or the wrong, because I think she has a deeper understanding that things aren’t black and white. I was just rereading that script and going, “Wow, this, it’s a really heartbreaking story.”

With whom does Hannah have significant conversations coming up besides Archer or Ripley?

You know what, I have some really fun stuff with Naomi Howard, who’s played by Ashlei Chestnut. So, Naomi is going to be coming up in our season a bunch as a doctor, but also with John Frost [Darren Barnet], and we get to have some girlfriend time, which is really fun

And it feels like they could use that break.

Right. Oh, and also in this next episode that I’m talking about with this woman with this deadly secret, we will also see Kim Burgess [Marina Squerciati] from P.D. and also Lenox [Sarah Ramos] is on the case as well. So I think episode number four has a bit girl detective work.

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Oh, fun. I like the mini crossovers. They’re so seamless between the shows.

Yes! And to get to have people bring their expertise from their other show into your world, I just love — we have our regular paramedics and our detectives and they do such an amazing job, and it’s so fun to just bring someone from the other shows because I feel like it really does combine us as all being in Chicago in the same world, as opposed to we’re all just in Chicago, and it could be any place in time.

I absolutely loved seeing you part of Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Kidd’s (Miranda Rae Mayo) storyline last season with the attempted adoption.

Yeah. That was really special to get to be a part of.

Should we be worrying about Hannah’s pregnancy? Because that’s always a concern.

I mean, we are a medical drama. She is an OB, we are pregnant, and we see all the things that can go wrong with pregnancy with the cases that Hannah handles. I think it’s always valid to be concerned in any pregnancy, to be completely honest. She is moving along. We will get to continue watching her play out her pregnancy. But I think it’s always valid to be concerned.

Chicago Med, Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC

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