Mandy Moore on why “Dr. Death” season 2 is the perfect departure from “This Is Us”

Moore also reveals her surprising personal takeaways from working on the true crime medical anthology.

Mandy Moore was not looking to work again when Dr. Death season 2 fell in her lap.

"The opportunity came into my world right before they started shooting. I had a six-week-old baby, and I remember thinking like, okay, the shoot's in New York imminently, and it's probably not going to be the right thing," she recalls to EW. "I wasn't even thinking about working yet, and then I read the first two scripts and was like, dang it, I can't say no to this."

This happened to be the second season of the medical true crime anthology. Like the first season before it, Dr. Death round 2 is based on the hit Wondery podcast, but this time, it follows "Miracle Man" Dr. Paolo Macchiarini (Edgar Ramirez), who is known for his breakthroughs with biosynthetic tracheas. Moore plays investigative journalist Benita Alexander, who approaches Macchiarini about a story, only to fall in love with him. Things get mighty complicated for Benita as she gets deeper into his web of lies, and as a group of doctors make shocking discoveries about Macchiarini that call everything about him and his work into question.

Ahead of the season's eight-episode drop on Peacock on Dec. 21, EW caught up with Moore to find out why this project was the right one to do after the end of This Is Us, why she didn't feel the need to speak with the real Benita, and the surprising thing she learned from working on the project.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This is your first major starring role since This Is Us ended. Why was this project the perfect follow up to that?

MANDY MOORE: The opportunity came into my world right before they started shooting. I had a six-week-old baby, and I remember thinking like, okay, the shoot's in New York imminently. It's probably not going to be the right thing. I wasn't even thinking about working yet, and then I read the first two scripts and was like, dang it, I can't say no to this. It just was so juicy and something I'd never done before, and tonally was just so different and just a real left turn from what I had done for six seasons [on This Is Us]. So I was like, yeah, fun. Limited series, New York, moving the whole family. Let's do it. I'm in. [Laughs.]

So it's safe to say that you were looking for that sort of departure?

I was, and I didn't know what it was until I read it. It was hard to distill down, well, I would love to do something like this. It was like, well, I don't know. I guess I'll know when I see it? And then I read these first couple of scripts and was like, this is fun.

Did you get to speak to the real Benita at all, or did you even want to?

I think because this series is based on the Wondery podcast and I was able to listen to the podcast when I got cast, I feel like there was so much ripe source material in that — and the script is based on that, and it's a dramatized version of what happened — that it wasn't entirely necessary to delve into that. So much was on the page as an actor as well that I felt very taken care of in terms of who Benita was. I loved that that wasn't even something that I needed to do.

I felt like so much was available to me, and this was such a public story to be able to do research on in my own way, that to me, I was more concerned with, okay, I would love to get down to brass tacks and understand what it means to be a producer as this investigative journalist, and how she does find stories and how she weeds out what's going to be interesting and what she brings to her bosses and that side of her world. And also the really personal, how do I navigate motherhood and being a single parent and losing my daughter's father in the midst of being at the top of my field with work — the human aspect of it was way more interesting and I got to do the fun part of my job myself in that sense.

So did you get to be like a journalist yourself — go to a news station and start asking questions?

I talked to an investigative journalist and a producer and sort of picked their brains about how they approach their job and whatnot, but also this was so fast and furious. I got cast and two weeks later I was on set shooting. So there wasn't a ton of time, which probably was my saving grace. I was like, cool, I'm nursing and I'm researching and I'm just jumping into the deep end as fast as possible. My head was sort of spinning, but also I didn't have a ton of time to freak out about it.

As you got into the material, which is all pretty shocking, was there an aspect of the character or story that particularly surprised you?

I guess just how chilling it was that someone like Paolo was able to get away with what he was able to get away with for so long. The unchecked power that he had because of the notoriety that came along with, I think the hope of what he was doing and instilling in people and just being such a pioneer in this field of regenerative medicine, and what it could mean not just for tracheas, but for other organs in the body, that this could have huge ramifications on just the entire medical field and transplants and keeping people alive. And so I think the fact that he had just this unfettered, unchecked power to continue operating on people without his history following him, that was what was so wild to me. How does this exist? How could this person get away with this for years and years and years? And it really took the deception on the personal side of his life and someone like Benita recognizing like, oh, no, no, no, I need to tell this story because I don't want this to happen to someone else, and then trying to hold this man accountable for his actions.

Do you feel like working on this series has made you think differently about the medical field or doctors in general?

Sure. I mean, I don't think it has to be scary. I think ultimately you can view it as empowering. You are your own best advocate always at anything in life, and especially when it comes to your medical care and really trusting your gut and recognizing everyone is human and fallible, and obviously not all doctors are going to be nefarious like Dr. Macchiarini, but absolutely, you should get a second opinion or you should trust your gut. I think that is a very important takeaway of this series. And even though my character, my storyline doesn't veer into that territory, I think the same lesson can be gleaned on the personal side of things. My character is capable and smart and at the top of her field and has been around really impressive people before, but for some reason there was a slightly more vulnerable season of her life that allowed her to fall victim to this kind of very expert manipulation. And I hope that the audience could see themselves in that and see the red flags and maybe recognize it in their own life, but also have grace for themselves. Sometimes this just happens. If it could happen to someone like Benita, it could probably happen to any of us. And although that's terrifying, you're able to come out of it on the other side stronger and better for it. And sure, her life definitely had to unravel before she was able to pick up the pieces again. But we're stronger sometimes than we give ourselves credit for.

What else did you personally take away from working on Dr. Death?

I guess the idea that no matter who we are and the success or wherever we find ourselves at whatever juncture in our life, anybody could kind of find themselves a victim to this, and to just, I hate to keep saying have grace for yourself, but I do. I have had my own forms of betrayal in my life, and my takeaway is not to sort of harden myself and to not trust the world around me. I still want to be engaged and connected and open and present to the world. So I think that was my biggest takeaway. There are evil people out there, but ultimately I'm not going to let that change my lens on life.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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