PHOENIX — Tamberla Perry said she knew as soon as she read the script for what would become "Brilliant Minds" she wanted to play Dr. Carol Pierce.
"I knew right away," Tamberla Perry said. "I knew right away that it was a role that I really wanted to play. I loved the script, I loved the character."
Tamberla Perry also just knew how her sister DeShong Perry would react. Tamberla called up her sister while she was at work and told her she booked the role.
"I am not lying when I said I dropped to the ground and screamed," DeShong Perry said. "I laid out on the ground and I screamed because this wasn't just her moment - this was our moment."
Tamberla Perry in that role will be colliding with her sister's past. The new NBC drama "Brilliant Minds", is set to air after "The Voice" on Monday nights starting September 23 on 12News - the place where DeShong Perry got her start producing TV newscasts.
"For the first six months of the job - I was a mom then," DeShong Perry said. "My daughter was about 8 years old and I didn't have a babysitter and we worked the overnight shift and I would have my daughter sleeping under the desk."
Perseverance is a shared trait of the Perry sisters, as Tamberla Perry said she has persevered through 18 years as a full-time actor.
"I am incredibly excited to be here. This role is hugely special and hugely important to me. And what we're, what we're saying in the show is that mental health is real and that everybody experiences it. At any moment, we can all switch places and be where somebody else is," Tamberla Perry said.
Zachary Quinto is playing neurologist. Dr. Oliver Wolf on "Brilliant Minds".
"Inspired by the extraordinary life and work of world-famous author and physician Oliver Sacks, 'Brilliant Minds' follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier - the human mind - while grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
"Brilliant Minds" is set at Bronx General Hospital and is inspired by the life and work of neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks.
Tamberla Perry is staring alongside Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf.
On playing Dr. Carole Pierce, Tamberla Perry said while she and her character are different, they are both loyal.
"She is fiercely loyal to Dr Oliver Wolf, our hero of the show. She recruits him to come and work in Bronx General. Now, one of the reasons she recruits him is because she knows that he is a genius in his own right and that him being who he is and her being who she is, they can create this team - this neuropsychology Dream Team," Tamberla Perry said.
The Perry sister's mom, Josephine, along with DeShong did get a chance to visit Tamberla on set.
"I have three siblings, when one of us wins, we all win. So I took it as a win for me to be there to watch my sister do her thing on camera," DeShong Perry said. "And Zach said, we can keep coming back, so I'm planning on coming back."
"Brilliant Minds" premieres Monday nights starting September 23.
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