Marlyne Barrett says she has already typically exchanged “250,000 words before 6 a.m.” with this Chicago Med co-star on work days.
In between keeping things in order at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center’s emergency department, charge nurse Maggie Lockwood fits in some time for flirting, as well as gossiping with colleagues, and consoling troubled friends.
On Season 9 of Chicago Med, Maggie, played by Marlyne Barrett, bonded with Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) as they both tested the waters with new potential relationships.
The pals playfully pushed each other toward new romantic interests, with Hannah asking Maggie if she was going to let Dr. Loren Johnson (Henderson Wade) “know you’re interested,” and Maggie telling Hannah to be more assertive and ask Dr. Mitch Ripley (Luke Mitchell) what his deal was when it came to his romantic interest in her.
Everyone needs a close work friend to confide in, and that goes for the Chicago Med actors as well.
So, who is Barrett’s bestie on the set of the medical drama? As it turns out, life imitates art in this case.
Who is Marlyne Barrett’s work best friend on the Chicago Med set?
“It is Jess, who plays Hannah,” Barrett spilled of Schram to NBC Insider in an April 2024 interview. “Jess is just — she’s a great friend. I have this saying that when we get into that makeup chair at five o’clock in the morning, we will definitely have 250,000 words before 6 a.m. Because when we see each other, it’s about anything. God forbid you ask the simple question, ‘How did you sleep?’ ‘Oh, well, blah, blah, blah, blah… ‘
“So it’s just a natural relationship that I think they just fostered in [to the show],” Barrett continued. “For us, it was just organic from the beginning. So she’s my bestie.”
Barrett and Schram aren’t the only Chicago Med cast members who found friendship on set. S. Epatha Merkerson, who plays Sharon Goodwin, has told NBC Insider that when it comes to the current cast, Oliver Platt, who portrays Dr. Daniel Charles, is “a steady friend on and off screen.”
“I can never say anything other than great things about him,” Merkerson said of Platt. “He’s not only a great actor and a great scene partner, but he is so sweet. And he has a wicked sense of humor that I always get caught in. He always will say something to me — I will be the one laughing — and it would look like I was the one who was messing up.”
Merkerson and Platt’s characters on the drama series have also leaned heavily on each other, with Dr. Charles being there for Sharon throughout Season 9 as she dealt with her ex-husband Bert’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
And Maggie lent an ear to Dr. Crockett Marcel (Dominic Rains) after the devastating death of one of his young patients, which brought up memories of his own baby daughter’s death.
To find out where these friendships go in Season 10, tune in when Chicago Med returns in the fall of 2024 in its regular time slot on NBC, Wednesdays at 8/7c p.m.
And in the meantime, you can stream episodes of all nine seasons on Peacock.
—Reporting by Jessica White and Stephanie Gomulka
