TV

“Code Black” star Melanie Chandra on playing a lesbian doctor on the new medical drama

With the 2015 fall television season, we’ve been introduced to a variety of new queer characters, some great and some on Gotham. Landing squarely in the “great” category is Dr. Malaya Pineda of Code Black, a gritty new medical drama on CBS. Malaya (played by Melanie Chandra) is a smart, highly capable ER resident who also happens to be a lesbian. She works in an intensely busy Los Angeles ER alongside such talented actors as Luis Guzman and Marcia Gay Harden.

You might recognize Melanie from her modeling days (Bare Escentuals, Nescafe and more) or from her work on HBO’s The Brink, Parenthood, or NCIS: Los Angeles. I recognize her as my freshman year dorm-mate at Stanford University. Melanie majored in Mechanical Engineering, while I majored in smoking pot and getting mono. LOOK AT US NOW, WE’RE BOTH FAMOUS AND SUCCESSFUL!

I sat down with Melanie to reminisce about our college days, settle old scores, and find out if she knew I was queer before I did (SPOILER ALERT: she did not).

AfterEllen: So I’ve been watching Code Black, and it’s very exciting. I think what sets it apart from other medical dramas is it’s so intense, and so focused on the medicine and the work. It’s not a “slumber party in your pajamas” soapy kind of show. You guys are hardcore! What’s that been like as an actress?

Melanie Chandra: It’s very rewarding! We find so much meaning in this project, you know, it’s not fluff. These are all really grounded stories and there is so much humanity behind it. I feel like I’m learning so many valuable things in life, it’s like going to medical school. It’s like paid medical training! I’m learning so many fascinating things about emergency rooms, it’s a really fulfilling experience. The other day I was at a dinner party, and this woman was talking about her friend who had to go to the ER and had a tube put inside their chest, and I was like “oh, that’s a chest tube insertion, this is how they did it, this is why they do it” and she was like, “are you a doctor?” and I said “no, but I play one on TV!”. It was the first time I actually got to use that line!

AE: Nice! So did you know from the start that Malaya was going to be a lesbian, or was that something that was sprung on you later?

MC: We did not know in the pilot that she was going to be a lesbian, but before the show got picked up to series, the showrunner (Michael Seitzman) gave me a call a few weeks before we started shooting the second episode, and he said “I want to run something by you. We’re thinking about making Malaya gay. What are your thoughts on that?” and A) I thought it was really cool that the creator of the show was asking me what I thought about it and B) I said I think that’s a really strong idea and I’d love to do it. I think it adds a whole new element for Malaya, and it’s something I can get behind, and I’m really excited to play and tell the story not often told on network TV. I’m sure you guys keep count of every single gay character on TV right now…

AE: Accurate!

MC: We talked about how it was gonna be told, and she’s just really comfortable about it, no questions asked, this is just who she is and something she owns, and first and foremost she’s a doctor in this crazy emergency room, but she does have a personal life and this is her story. I thought it was a really strong choice and I was ready to get behind it.

AE: So, not only are you awesome on Code Black, but you did great comedic work on HBO’s The Brink. What was that experience like?

MC: Oh man, it was so fun! It was so fun working with those guys, I mean, Jack Black and Aasif Mandvi…to work with those guys every day was great.

AE: So you’ve been acting for a little while, but before you were an actress you were a student at Stanford University…

MC: With you!

AE: I was there! And you studied Mechanical Engineering. I think our audience is dying to know, what was it like going to college with me?

MC: (laughs) I remember our freshman year being a blast, and we were in the best dorm out of all of Stanford.

AE: Say What?

MC: C-House! That’s all I have to say, really. That’s my answer, C-House.

AE: I would also like to use this interview to take a moment to publicly and formally apologize to you for the time I did not put a towel under my door when I was smoking weed and hot-boxed the hallway. So, I would like to apologize Melanie, that was sincerely my bad.

MC: Apology taken. But you know, we all got, you know, it’s a growing experience. It was a learning experience and a growth opportunity for me, Chelsea. Thank you.

AE: You are so welcome. So you’re working with this amazing cast on Code Black, led by Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden. Did you know that my porn name in college was “Marcia Bisexual Harden”?

MC: (laughing) No! I’m learning all these things about you! This is great! I should be interviewing you.

AE: You should. We’ll have you on the chat show for an in-depth reverse interview. In episode 6 (which airs November 4th) Shiri Appleby makes an appearance as your pregnant ex-girlfriend. What was it like working with Shiri, and are we going to see more of Malaya’s love life in future episodes?

MC: She was wonderful, she’s extremely talented and very giving as an actress, you know, the hard part about TV is you don’t have very much rehearsal time. You just meet the other actor who you’re supposed to have this long-standing relationship with, and you have to be able to bring that to screen within a couple of seconds. So yeah, it was, we were kinda thrown into it, but we got to know each other through the process and she’s so funny, she’s actually pregnant in real life, so they just wove that into the story. I could see why Malaya is who she is because of Carla (Shiri’s character) and her backstory with Carla, who made her come out of her shell, who made her stronger and step up and be who she actually was. As an actress, it was a great opportunity to go through that with someone in real life too! She’s got so many great things going for her, and she’s more seasoned as an actress, so I definitely look up to her as well. It was a very natural dynamic that we were able to pull off.

AE: Is this the last we’re going to see of Carla or will she be returning?

MC: She is recurring, so you’ll see her in future episodes, in episode 8 she comes back, and towards the end of season she’ll be back as well. We’ll continue the storyline and flesh things out with the pregnancy and her illness, and how Malaya deals with that. Is she going to bring her baggage into the workplace? Is she gonna fight for Carla? All these questions that the show needs to answer.

AE: Shifting gears here, you are a newlywed (Melanie married her longtime boyfriend Neeraj Chandra over the summer), congratulations!

MC: Thank you!

AE: Your wedding has been all over the blogosphere (The Crimson Bride, PopXO, The Times of India) people are calling it “the wedding of the century”, “the most beautiful wedding ever!”, “perfectly executed destination wedding”, so that’s a lot. Recently, I got engaged…

MC: Yeah! Congratulations.

AE: Thanks. The La Canada Jewish Women’s Weekly described my upcoming wedding as “an event that will occur sometime in the future.” Are you jealous of my press coverage?

MC: I’m pretty jealous, yeah, I mean, that’s one thing we didn’t get that, in retrospect, it would have been nice.

AE: Look Melanie, I know you’re an up and coming star, but you don’t have the La Canada Jewish connections that I have. But you’ll get there, young lady.

MC: Can you tell me more about that publication, I’m not familiar with it.

AE: I’ll tell you more about it…when it’s invented. And I start publishing it. So, something about you that a lot of people don’t know, is that you have a black belt in Karate. I, for one, would love to see you as an action heroine. I could totally see you as a Marvel/comic book superhero in a movie, that’s my dream casting for you. Do you have any dream roles you’d love to do?

MC: Oh my God, you summed it up entirely! I would love to be a superhero! I would love to even be the female Indiana Jones, something more adventurous and larger than life, with mystery and suspense, you know, this girl that could really kick ass, personality-wise and physically as well. That’s my dream.

AE: I think you would be amazing in something like that. I’m starting a petition right now. #MelanieChandraforSuperHero.

MC: Yes! Love it.

AE: Finally, let’s talk about your charity, Hospital for Hope.

MC: I actually started it with a few Stanford alums. There was this program at Stanford called Project Dosti, which basically, you’d apply and fundraise and go volunteer in different parts of India every summer, and I think it was between my sophomore and junior year, I went to volunteer in the northern region of India, which is one of the poorest regions of India, so this was even more extreme than most people realize. I just fell in love with the people there, and this was while I was a student, so after graduation a few of us (from the program) kept in touch, and we still wanted to help this region, and we’re resourceful people, maybe we can help them build a hospital and provide health services because there is none, and there is so much illness and no one is treating these people, and they’re beautiful people and we need to help them. So a few years later, we started Hospital for Hope and partnered with some amazing organizations, and we built a hospital that was inaugurated a year and a half ago, and we’re serving a region of over 100,000 villagers that otherwise wouldn’t have access to a clean facility to provide healthcare. It’s up and running, we’re serving thousands of patients every month, and it’s really rewarding. We’re actually making somewhat of a difference. It’s just five of us, working virtually, we all have full-time jobs, but we hop on a call once a week and we have fundraisers every few months and we work with people on the ground there. We’ve developed this amazing thing that continues to grow, so we’re all very excited and humbled.

AE: Congratulations, it’s an amazing organization and you guys are doing great work. We’re all super proud of you.

Follow Melanie on Twitter and Instagram @MelanieChandra and tune in to Code Black Wednesdays at 10/9c on CBS. For more information on Hospital for Hope, go to www.hospitalforhope.org

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