Saturday, March 13, 2010
Mercy! Daughter of New Bedford lawyer lands lead role in NBC drama
Mercy! Daughter of New Bedford lawyer lands lead role in NBC drama
Curt Brown
By Curt Brown
cbrown@s-t.com
May 06, 2009 12:00 AM
Taylor Schilling, the 24-year-old daughter of former Bristol County prosecutor Robert J. Schilling, has landed the lead role in NBC's new medical drama "Mercy."
Schilling said she was sleeping Monday morning when she received a call from the show's creator, who left a message that the pilot had been picked up by the network.
"Oh, my God. I was totally overwhelmed, totally excited," she said Tuesday in an interview from her home in Brooklyn. "It's crazy. It's totally nuts. It's exciting. I look forward to getting to work.
"I've done one pilot in my life. It's wild. I've been working for it for a long time. I didn't think it would happen this fast."
Schilling said she auditioned in March for the lead role of Veronica Flanagan, a nurse who returns to Mercy Hospital after doing a military tour in Iraq.
Her character is "a strong and forceful woman" who is full of confidence, she said. "She doesn't take anything from anyone. She knows what she believes."
Schilling said she found out within a couple of days she had landed the part in "Mercy," but had been waiting to hear if one of the networks would pick up the pilot.
While she auditioned for a few other pilots, she said "Mercy" was "the best" script she had read and the only pilot she did.
Schilling does not know if the new NBC show, a one-hour drama, will premiere in the fall or at mid-season, or the day or time slot for the new show. She also does not know how many episodes NBC will buy or when production will start.
The actress' father was a Superior Court prosecutor for four years in former Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh's administration and is now in private practice in New Bedford. He previously worked as a prosecutor in Suffolk County and was on the legal staff of the state Department of Corrections for 15 years.
He lives in New Bedford with his son, Sam, a history major at UMass Dartmouth.
"I'm very happy," he said Tuesday. "She has worked very hard for this. It's pretty neat. I'm very proud."
Taylor Schilling also has appeared in "Dark Matter," a 2007 film.
She grew up in West Roxbury and Wayland, splitting time between her parents, who are divorced. Her mother is Tish Schilling, an administrator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After graduating from Wayland High School in 2002, she went to Fordham University, earning a bachelor of arts degree in 2006.
She entered the graduate program at New York University to study acting but left after her second year. Since then, she has been auditioning for parts and baby-sitting to pay the bills.
Schilling said she travels to New Bedford about every other month to visit her father and younger brother.
"I love it. It's a very special place," she said, adding she likes the city's waterfront and its history.
Schilling, who formally studied theater for six years, said her first appearance was in a middle school performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" in Wayland.
Acting, she said, is "a heck of a lot of work, but it's fun, exciting and rewarding. ... I love stories. It's an immediate way to express things. It's just what I love to do."
Single and a "Red Sox fan by proxy" — her father and brother are the avid ones — Schilling said she is looking forward to what her professional future will bring.
"It's pretty exciting. I also feel grateful," she said. "I get to do what I've always dreamed of doing."
Curt Brown
By Curt Brown
cbrown@s-t.com
May 06, 2009 12:00 AM
Taylor Schilling, the 24-year-old daughter of former Bristol County prosecutor Robert J. Schilling, has landed the lead role in NBC's new medical drama "Mercy."
Schilling said she was sleeping Monday morning when she received a call from the show's creator, who left a message that the pilot had been picked up by the network.
"Oh, my God. I was totally overwhelmed, totally excited," she said Tuesday in an interview from her home in Brooklyn. "It's crazy. It's totally nuts. It's exciting. I look forward to getting to work.
"I've done one pilot in my life. It's wild. I've been working for it for a long time. I didn't think it would happen this fast."
Schilling said she auditioned in March for the lead role of Veronica Flanagan, a nurse who returns to Mercy Hospital after doing a military tour in Iraq.
Her character is "a strong and forceful woman" who is full of confidence, she said. "She doesn't take anything from anyone. She knows what she believes."
Schilling said she found out within a couple of days she had landed the part in "Mercy," but had been waiting to hear if one of the networks would pick up the pilot.
While she auditioned for a few other pilots, she said "Mercy" was "the best" script she had read and the only pilot she did.
Schilling does not know if the new NBC show, a one-hour drama, will premiere in the fall or at mid-season, or the day or time slot for the new show. She also does not know how many episodes NBC will buy or when production will start.
The actress' father was a Superior Court prosecutor for four years in former Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh's administration and is now in private practice in New Bedford. He previously worked as a prosecutor in Suffolk County and was on the legal staff of the state Department of Corrections for 15 years.
He lives in New Bedford with his son, Sam, a history major at UMass Dartmouth.
"I'm very happy," he said Tuesday. "She has worked very hard for this. It's pretty neat. I'm very proud."
Taylor Schilling also has appeared in "Dark Matter," a 2007 film.
She grew up in West Roxbury and Wayland, splitting time between her parents, who are divorced. Her mother is Tish Schilling, an administrator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After graduating from Wayland High School in 2002, she went to Fordham University, earning a bachelor of arts degree in 2006.
She entered the graduate program at New York University to study acting but left after her second year. Since then, she has been auditioning for parts and baby-sitting to pay the bills.
Schilling said she travels to New Bedford about every other month to visit her father and younger brother.
"I love it. It's a very special place," she said, adding she likes the city's waterfront and its history.
Schilling, who formally studied theater for six years, said her first appearance was in a middle school performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" in Wayland.
Acting, she said, is "a heck of a lot of work, but it's fun, exciting and rewarding. ... I love stories. It's an immediate way to express things. It's just what I love to do."
Single and a "Red Sox fan by proxy" — her father and brother are the avid ones — Schilling said she is looking forward to what her professional future will bring.
"It's pretty exciting. I also feel grateful," she said. "I get to do what I've always dreamed of doing."
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