Sophia Bush is starring in CBS’ new show, Good Sam, in which she plays a talented heart surgeon. And as it turns out, her new role has actually fulfilled a big childhood dream of hers!
Speaking with USA Today, the 39-year-old actress revealed that as a young girl, she had wanted to grow up to become a cardiac surgeon — which is exactly what her character is on Good Sam! Sophia shared:
“The medical jargon is one of the things I love most. I’m such a nerd. I wanted to go to medical school. I actually wanted to be a heart surgeon. I was obsessed with pediatric heart surgery for a very long time.
I don’t know what that’s all about for the younger version of me. But it really feels like I’m having this very crazy, full-circle manifestation moment.”
She said that her role brings with it a ton of medical knowledge, which she is absolutely loving:
“I love practicing one-handed surgical knots and working with all of the prosthetics and doing procedures. Just last week, I opened up a prosthetic chest and sawed through a sternum and then opened the clavicle and I was like, ‘This is a dream. What is happening? This is my job? This is crazy.’”
Sophia also opened up about what else drew her to the character and the role:
“All of the characters that (showrunner Katie Wech) writes are dynamic and smart and deep. No one is an archetype or stereotype. Sam, in particular, resonated with me so deeply.
To see the way that she has humanized a woman who is ambitious and smart and really good at her job, and also deeply empathetic, whose sensitivity is both a superpower and at times can be viewed as a hindrance: Those are things that I understand deeply and I think so many people will relate to when they watch the show.”
And she spoke more in-depth about her character, Sam Griffith, saying:
“Sam Griffith is phenomenal. She is incredibly smart, a little anxious like me. Very willing to think outside the box to find solutions because she really believes in people. She’s the kind of person who views empathy as a superpower just as much as she views being an incredible doctor and I have such a phenomenal time embodying her world every day.”
Sophia is also a producer on Good Sam, and stars opposite Jason Isaacs who plays her father, Dr. Rob “Griff” Griffith.
