Steven Weber stars in Chicago Med, but there was a point in time where he wasn’t supposed to be on the show that long.
The 64-year-old currently plays Dr Dean Archer, after first joining as a recurring guest in season six. He was then promoted to series regular the following season.
However, during a recent appearance on the One Chicago Podcast, he revealed that his character’s arc was originally supposed to only last a few episodes.
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“The character was a guy who was a naval surgeon, who had been to Afghanistan, had been wounded, had PTSD, and in fact, at the end of this arc was going to do some self-harm. He was not good up here,” Steven said on the podcast, motioning to his head. “He was suffering and had untreated trauma, and at the end of this guy’s story, he was not gonna make it.”
He noted that he was excited to tackle the role, despite it only being a small arc.
Steven shared that if you go back and watch his early episodes, you can see clues pointing to his character’s short arc.
“He was doing a couple of things that now, basically in the canon of the show, we’ve sort of conveniently forgotten about. I mean, at one point, I think I took out some guy’s kidney without his approval. I sedated him, pulled it out. It was really dark, and that’s why he was gonna kind of end,” he said.
However, the show’s writers saw more potential in the character.
“Halfway through [the initial arc], I think they decided that this character had more depth and appeal and possibilities beyond where they were gonna take him. And so after that, they decided not to end the character, and they brought me back the next season for a number of [episodes]. And then from there, it sort of got longer,” Steven explained.
If you missed it, Steven recently reacted to a major reveal in season 11 last month.
Chicago Med, of course, airs weekly on Wednesdays at 8pm on NBC and next day on Peacock.
Get the scoop on who’s making a return this season and who exited the cast…