Ryan Eggold sat down with The Knockturnal to discuss the third season of New Amsterdam, premiering Tuesday, March 2.
Ryan stars as rebellious medical director Dr. Max Goodwin on the NBC hit drama that sees the third season start with a depiction of the Covid-19 crisis in New York City.
“We begin with this sort of tribute to what the healthcare and frontline workers have been faced with for so many months and the incredible challenges that they were fighting and continue to fight and the sacrifices that were made,” he said. “When a situation is as heavy as that I think it’s important to find light in that and to balance it out as a reminder of what we’re fighting for.”
Filming for last season ended abruptly when the pandemic began, but Ryan said that plenty of safety precautions were put into place to get the production back up and running.
“I gotta say, it’s one of the safest places to be. We kept waiting and pushing back production to make sure it’s safe,” he said. “There’s an efficiency that came with these protocols. We’re tested constantly, we have masks and we’re distanced in the right way and it’s all very safe.”
Ryan’s character Dr. Max Goodwin is a single father who is grieving his wife’s death. As the medical director, he’s committed to solving systemic health care issues at the hospital and is always ready to help.
Ryan reflected on the health care workers in his own life and said that his sister is a nurse. “She’s been on the front line fighting this thing and it amazes me,” he said.
“We have doctors and nurses on set who are advising and I’ve spoken to them, I’ve donated plasma and it’s really inspiring to see the challenges they were facing – not having enough equipment, not having enough beds, and too many patients,” he said. “It was an intense experience for everybody but it just makes you have that much more respect for everybody.”
But Ryan adds that one highlight of the pandemic is that it made everyone slow down and realize what really matters.
