‘The Pitt’: Taylor Dearden on King & Langdon’s Dynamic and Seeing Her Character as Asexual

The Pitt is not the most romantic show on television, though there have been more mentions in Season 2 than its freshman run that tell us these relationships do exist — off-camera. We’re never going to see these doctors and nurses sneaking off to on-call rooms or supply closets. But that, of course, doesn’t stop fans from shipping characters.

Among the pairings that some fans have hoped to see together is that of Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) and Dr. King (Taylor Dearden). But Dearden doesn’t see it. And she doesn’t think it — or a relationship with anyone else is on her character’s radar at all.

“I think it’s really interesting when you’re given certain information that is … It’s dogma. These are the facts about your life. And then, well, there’s still a bunch of gray and we, as actors, fill it. And there’s this weird thing of I’ve always seen Mel and played Mel a certain way, and so I can’t say with certainty what she is. I’ve always seen her as asexual, as someone who wants companionship and friendship, but the romantic stuff is just not important to her in my mind. It’s just not what it’s about,” Dearden tells TV Insider. (It’s not the first time she’s said she sees her character as asexual.)

That being said, she knows that the writers could always introduce a boyfriend for her character, so “I have to keep it loose enough just in case,” Dearden explains. In that case, then she’d adjust how she’s been playing King.

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But she is very much interested in exploring her character as asexual. “That’s a very much non-spoken of and absolutely not — The amount of people that don’t know it exists or what it is or anything like that would be another cool opportunity because just Mel’s a people person and it’s just people,” she says.

And that’s not something that you see explored on TV; there aren’t many characters who are asexual or aromantic in shows.

“I have friends who are asexual or aromantic, and I can guarantee they’ve never seen themselves, so much so that they start doubting a lot of things about them because they’re like, ‘Well, it doesn’t seem like it’s a thing.’ It’s like, ‘No, no, no, it is.’ And I think there’s also something so beautiful in it, and I think those who are not asexual think of it as something to feel sad about, but the truth is it’s all about companionship and friendship, and it’s such a lovely thing, and it’s just something that isn’t talked about. And I just see that for Mel,” says Dearden.

As for the King and Langdon relationship, she says she’s “always seen [it] as a beautiful, platonic relationship because I also think that relationships between colleagues, one who’s married with children and one who’s as sweet and totally wouldn’t do that as Mel, I want to see more opposite sex, platonic relationships on TV.”

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