'Chicago Med's Jessy Schram on the Men— Will and Dean— and Hot-Button Women's Health Issues that Hannah Deals With

Version 2.0 of Hannah Asher is back in the ED on 'Chicago Med' taking all the challenges that come with it.

It wasn’t an easy decision for Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) to return to Gaffney Chicago Medical Center as the emergency obstetrician-gynecologist in the ED. After all, everyone there knew her history with drugs and that she had given up her position to enter rehab, not to mention that her former boyfriend Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) was still on staff, but the new Hannah bit the bullet and went for it.

“It was a little nerve wracking at first because I was like, ‘Who is Hannah when we’re not focusing on her addiction? Who is she when she’s in a better space or has overcome something?’” Schram told Parade in this exclusive interview. “So, it’s been this uncovering of who Hannah is through the scripts that I’ve been given, but also just me as Jessy trying to take some of that past and then meld it into who I hope Hannah will be. She’s definitely the 2.0 version of herself.”

On tonight’s “The Clothes Make the Man…Or do They?” episode, the hospital is still dealing with supply chain issues, forcing Hannah and Will to work together and grow closer. It is truly a test of their agreement to start over.

“Because of the shortage, Hannah asks Will to scrub in and help her in a scenario that’s happening,” Schram said. “And because of that scenario, they’re forced to make do with the materials and options that they have within the operating room. So, he’s helping her with a case, and within that a lot of trouble unravels, which ultimately leaves them in a place of vulnerability together. It’s not something I imagined was happening when I opened the script.”

Will has a pattern of trying to rescue the women in his life. Natalie (Torrey DeVito) was a perfect example, but Hannah 2.0 isn’t having it and they have already been in conflict over it, where she’s had to say to him, “Hey, let me be the new me.”

But she feels able to ask him for help tonight because, Hannah feels as if they are in a space where he’s respecting her wishes to stand on her own and to not rely on him.

“But that doesn’t mean that there can’t be a really sweet friendship or relationship that evolves from there,” Schram continued. “Just because she wants to be strong and on her own, it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t need anybody. But I do think that Will is really respecting it. And if anything, there probably is more of an attraction within that because they are both evolving, and he’s being forced to [deal] with her being on her own.”

But was that also a spark between Hannah and Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber) on last week’s episode? Dean has been the most antagonistic to her since her return, but lately he has loosened up, even allowing her to go without her weekly drug test.

“I would say since Hannah’s return, all she’s been doing is butting against the stigmas of her [past]. And Archer has been really the only one that keeps on carrying it through, for personal reasons as we learn. He’s definitely projecting onto her because of his son’s situation of getting into drugs and also being in jail right now. So, he’s projecting a lot of his own upsets and feels onto her.”

Related: Chicago Med Star Announces Shocking News About His Character This Season

But Hannah has continued to take Archer on and little by little, she’s earning his trust.

“I don’t really think with Archer we’ve seen him let his guard down with other people. I think it’s a really interesting dynamic that’s starting to happen between the two of them. They’re both people that come from pretty broken pasts, and so there might be a really cool relationship or friendship from that.”

During our conversation, Schram also talked about the difficult cases that Hannah faces this season, why she didn’t have time to film a Christmas movie this year, and what filming in Chicago means to her.

When your character left the ED to enter rehab, that was a brave decision on her part, but it’s an even braver one to return to work in a place that everyone knew about her heroin addiction. Why do you think the character made that decision?

It’s tough. This is a question that came up for me when I was coming back, she’s going to a place with all her triggers. Literally, a lot of the problem started in Chicago at Gaffney Hospital. And amongst the people that she has there, her ex-boyfriend is there. So, it’s a pretty bold move.

I will say with Hannah, I believe she came back because Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) provided the opportunity. She kept in touch with her while she was away in rehab. And while she was working in different specialties and getting more experience under her belt while in rehab, she felt that this was an opportunity. She wasn’t going to let her addiction and being in recovery take over and not let her continue her life forward. So, I feel like the position that she’s at in Med, of heading up a certain division within the ED, that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. And so, Hannah decided that it’s worth, not the risk, but it’s worth the challenge.

Hannah has some interesting cases this season, including a complicated pregnancy and a sexual assault survivor. What is it like for you as an actress pretending to be a doctor, to have these complicated cases that reflect important issues taking place in our country right now.

The first one we dealt with was an ectopic pregnancy, and that’s something that we’re dealing with [in real life]. It’s a medical termination, because really an ectopic pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. It’s such a hard subject to talk about to be honest because it is in the news, it’s in our world, it’s in our every day. But at the end of the day, it’s a medical procedure to save the mom’s life when both the fetus and the mom are in danger, and for the fetus, there’s no chance it can survive.

So, it’s a medical procedure, and, in the episode, we take it through that way. I hope that it’s an education of something that is very physical and something that is very true of saving a life in the process when this unfortunate situation is happening. And so, we’re very sensitive and very much on set talking about these subjects. I talk with the writers about how we’re going to go about the procedure, so that it’s something where it is an educational service in certain ways. And so that everybody can just see what this experience is like for this particular story and this person.

And we do deal with sexual assault. That episode, immediately from the start, I felt gratitude that we get to tell these stories. Because if you’re not affected personally by something like sexual assault, somebody that you know, whether you know it or not, has been affected. It’s something way more common than is talked about, and there’s so many dynamics that are attached to it.

Because I am a female and I have my own experiences with gynecologists and OB-GYNS, I feel that there’s a part of me that, obviously I know my own experience of a routine exam every year. But being a woman and dealing with these subjects that are based around the female anatomy, it feels really important to me and it’s really special. And whether or not I’ve experienced the traumas that are coming in, it’s a possibility that I could. Therefore, I take it very seriously.

Our guest stars come in and they just do such an amazing job layering these stories, layering the personalism, layering what’s written on the page. In this episode coming up (Nov. 16) with the sexual assault, we have a lot of different layers on it. Nellie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) and Hannah kind of get to know each other in a different way through their own personal stories that are attached within the sexual assault story. And also too, it’s such a large subject, I get a little worked up when I think about it.

I think all women, even if they haven’t had a major sexual assault, there’s always the inappropriate ways that men have touched them that we can relate to it.

We’re also trained as females to look at the world in a different way. My fiancé slept out of his van and next to a motorcycle for a while. And I tell him all the time, “Yeah, when I walk down the street, I walk with my keys through each of my knuckles.” When women walk down the street, they look at things as a threat or how they can possibly be in danger, and that’s not always the case. And let’s be real, too, sexual assault is not just something that only happens to females.

It's so broad. But also, I think one of the things that touched me the most, and that felt so special, is because we put a lot of pressure on ourselves in this episode of really wanting to do it justice, after one of the scenes, I had a few male crew members actually come up to me, which was a little bit surprising, telling me how much it affected them, and how they knew stories of people that they loved that were affected.

It made me feel like we were telling a story that mattered and [appreciated] the fact that people that I wouldn't normally expect to talk about this felt this was a space safe enough to talk about it. And that I think is the most important thing of what we’re doing with these episodes.

You have a lot of scenes with Will and with Dr. Archer. Who do you wish you could work with more that you haven’t so far?

That’s a good question. I don’t really get to work with Crockett (Dominic Rains) much. Crockett’s one that I don’t get much time with for some reason. We’re both surgeons in different departments of the body, but he’s one that I don't work with much. I would say that I get Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) sometimes, Sharon Goodwin, Maggie’s (Marlyne Barrett) always around, but Crockett is one that Hannah hasn’t really brushed shoulders with as much on screen.

Related: Chicago Med's Marlyne Barrett Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Speaking of Marlyne, how is she doing? She did reveal that she had that cancer diagnosis.

She did reveal that. I will choose to let her continue talking about that. But I will say that we’re very aware, and she’s so amazing. She really is taking every day with a smile, and she comes to work ready, prepared, and strong as can be. She is just doing such an amazing job despite all that she has to battle right now. She really, really is doing fantastic from what we get to see on the outside.

You were born and raised in Illinois, and you moved to L.A. to launch your career. How cool is it to be able to go back home but also be starring on a major TV series?

Oh, it’s amazing. I feel so special and proud within that to be honest. It’s so cool to be back with what I consider my hometown people. It’s definitely a different vibe and it feels amazing. I worked with a makeup artist the other day that did my makeup when I was 10 years old, and we had no idea until she walked in the room and we’re like, “Why do we know each other?” So, it feels full circle, in a way that feels like I can see my growth because I’m here, and that feels really amazing.

And your family is there, too.

My whole family’s still here in the suburbs. I’ve got my dad and mom, a sister and a brother, and their families. Yeah, everybody’s here. I have nieces and nephews that I get to be a physical aunt for as opposed to just a Facetime aunt.

The last several years you’ve done Christmas movies, but this year you don’t have one. Do you miss it? What did you love about doing them?

I do miss it. Obviously, I feel very lucky because Chicago Med is taking up my time for this year. I’m hoping next year we can squeeze one in. I love the spirit of Christmas movies, and I just love how much the audience loves them. It makes me excited to do them every year.

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie?

I feel like all of them are my favorites for all different reasons. I will say going old school that Scrooged is one of my favorite Christmas movies. Can’t beat Bill Murray.

Chicago Med airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

Next, Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Season 8 of Chicago Med