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Westside Hospital, the fictional medical center on Fox’s hit series Doc, is a stressful place to work. The set of Doc is not.
In a new digital cover story with PEOPLE, series stars Molly Parker, Amirah Vann and Felicity Huffman open up about the behind-the-scenes traditions that make it warm and welcoming.
“I didn’t know a set could be that sweet,” says Huffman, 62, whose character Dr. Joan Ridley is introduced in season 2. She was pleasantly surprised to discover that her colleagues give accolades to each other on a weekly basis.
Ari & Louise
“The person who got the award last week gives it to the next person. So they’re like, ‘Felicity, I’m going to give it to Amirah because she’s just so awesome and last week she killed it.’ I mean, it’s the dearest thing you’ve ever seen,” continues Huffman.
Adds Parker, 53, “I want the work to be great. I also want to be going to work in a sane and happy place. You know? I try to create that. We all try to create that as a company. We sing ‘Happy Birthday’ constantly — even when it’s not people’s birthdays.”
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Huffman credits series star Parker with setting the tone. “You lead in a way that I have never seen anyone lead. It’s with great gentleness and grace and calm,” she says. “That is an education and I wish there were more TV shows where women were number one [on the call sheet].”
On Doc, Parker plays Dr. Amy Larsen, a brilliant medical professional who loses her memories of the past eight years following a car accident that left her with a traumatic brain injury.
As Amy slowly comes to terms with the major life events she forgot — including the death of her son and her divorce from Westside chief medical officer Michael Hamda (Omar Metwally) — she has her best friend Dr. Gina Walker (Vann) by her side to help.
FOX
Gina remains loyal to Amy, who has at times treated her friend brusquely. “Hopefully there’s someone in your life you can look at and say, ‘When I was my ugliest, you were right there with me.’ And I think that that is, without getting too teary-eyed, I think those are the people that you just learn to treasure,” says Vann of their characters’ relationship.
Joan’s presence also introduces a new dynamic for Amy, who used to have the chief of internal medicine job prior to her accident.
Ari & Louise
“She is starting at the bottom. She has to learn how to be the doctor that she was again. And along comes Joan, who was her teacher, was her champion and is going to force her to work as hard as she can to earn back her capacity to be a great doctor,” says Parker.
This article was written independently by PEOPLE’s editorial team and meets our editorial standards. Fox is a paid advertising partner with PEOPLE.
