Mandy Moore Reflects on Filming “Dr. Death” 6 Weeks After Giving Birth: 'I Sort of Rolled with It' (Exclusive)

"I think it made it easier not to bring work home with me," the actress tells PEOPLE

Mandy Moore had to cut her maternity leave a bit short after giving birth to her second baby boy, Oscar "Ozzie" Bennett.

Speaking to PEOPLE on the red carpet for the Dr. Death season 2 premiere on Thursday, the actress discussed how she started filming just six weeks after going into labor last October.

"I think that made it easier somehow," Moore, 39, tells PEOPLE of the unexpected transition. "It all happened so quickly that I wasn't able to really cognitively wrap my head around everything. I was like, 'Oh wait, I'm already in New York and we're shooting and I have a six-week-old baby.' "

"Yeah. I think had it been planned a little, I would've stressed out and had more anxiety around it, but because it all just fell together so quickly and last minute, I sort of rolled with it."

"I think it made it easier not to bring work home with me," she adds about returning to nursing and taking care of Ozzie after working on an intense role.

In Dr. Death, Moore plays investigative journalist Benita Alexander. During the second season of the show, her character approaches renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini (Edgar Ramirez) to write a story about him. She soon falls in love with Macchiarini but discovers that he has secrets he's willing to go to extreme lengths to protect.

Moore's director Jennifer Morrison gave major kudos to the This Is Us star for her impressive dive back into the professional world.

"Dude, it was insane," Morrison told PEOPLE. "She has a six-week-old baby, and you would never have known. She was so graceful, so professional. We never had a sense that she had had a baby except that she had this gorgeous child. She was so devoted."

Related: Mandy Moore Says Son Gus, 2, Is ‘Loving’ Being a Big Brother: ‘The Holidays Have New Meaning’ (Exclusive)

Moore first announced that she and her husband Taylor Goldsmith had welcomed Ozzie into the world with a sweet post on Instagram.

"Ozzie is here!" Moore captioned a carousel of black-and-white photos from the hospital with the baby boy, now 13 months.

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The couple's firstborn son, August "Gus" Harrison, 2, has adapted smoothly to the expanded household as well.

“He's loving being a big brother and he is loving the holidays,” Moore shared with PEOPLE on Thursday.

“Now, he's aware [of Christmas] in a way that he wasn't until this year, like last year, he was just sort of starting to grasp Christmas trees," she explained. "But now he understands the concept of Santa and all of that, it's so much more exciting."

The star is also anticipating an exciting new milestone with Ozzie this holiday season.

"He's about to start walking,” she says. “He just turned a year. So it's like the holidays take on new meaning. I'm excited for these next couple of weeks just to be home and cozy and enjoy this time of year.”

Dr. Death season 2 premieres Dec. 21 on Peacock.

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