Here's Why The Cast Of Netflix's Pulse Looks So Familiar

Similar to HBO's real-time drama "The Pitt," which details one long, stressful hospital shift hour by hour, Netflix's fictional series "Pulse" takes place in a short amount of time. However, that's where the similarities end. Right from the top of the show, there's a bus crash, a hurricane, a sexual harassment complaint, a love triangle, a doctor caring for her own daughter, and much, much more. It's soapy and silly but also complicated and provocative, handling real-world issues that live in the gray areas instead of pretending that morality is always black and white.

The show is an engrossing watch, thanks in large part to its talented cast. For a show like this, you need actors who can pull off the sappy, emotional stuff while also sounding believable as they cut a patient open, and "Pulse" has that in spades. As you watch the characters conversing about heart procedures, hospital hookups, ventilators, dropping blood pressure, their sexy secrets, and of course, many mentions of "pulses," you may find yourself wondering where you've seen these actors before. Fear not and read on — here's why the faces of Maguire Medical look so familiar.

Willa Fitzgerald plays Dr. Danielle "Danny" Simms on "Pulse," a third-year resident who starts the series in a bit of a predicament. She's just filed a complaint against her boss and secret boyfriend, Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell). Unfortunately, there's a hurricane bearing down on the hospital, so even though he's been suspended and she's just been given his job, which sends the staff reeling, he's still around helping patients.

Danny is a complex character in a difficult situation, and Fitzgerald told Glamour that she likes it that way. "I think that the reason why this show works so well is because it's not telling the audience how to feel or telling them to like her or not like her, or believe her or not believe her," she said. "It's really interesting for the audience to get to make their own opinions, to change those opinions, to have a complicated relationship with what Danny has done, and to maybe change their mind."

You may know Fitzgerald because she's a star on the rise. After putting in time on MTV's "Scream: The TV Series," Amazon's "Reacher," and Netflix's "The Fall of the House of Usher," Fitzgerald's career reached new heights with the critically adored 2024 thriller "Strange Darling." She told Deadline, "I've been working for over a decade at this point, and it's just so rare that you get to have that kind of opportunity."

Colin Woodell has an interesting challenge on "Pulse." His character, Dr. Xander Phillips, is accused right at the outset of some kind of sexual impropriety, but we don't actually know what he's meant to have done as the story unfurls over the course of the first season. In the meantime, we find ourselves rooting for him, watching him save lives and joke around with his fellow doctors. We even get steamy flashbacks to the beginning of his relationship with Danny, even though we know things don't end well.

How should we feel about a character like that? Well, that's exactly what Woodell wants us to explore. "It's sometimes a scary territory to approach the subject. It can sometimes be black and white," he told Parade. "They're tackling a tough subject matter, and it was a really unique story that I hadn't seen before."

In that sense, "Pulse" is reminiscent of the show that gave Woodell his breakout role: the addicting Max drama series "The Flight Attendant," which saw Kaley Cuoco play a female antihero and Woodell play the sexy manipulator on her tail. Additionally, Woodell played an EMT in Michael Bay's "Ambulance," Buzz Aldrin in "Fly Me To The Moon," and Aiden on "The Originals." You may also recognize him from "The Continental," a Peacock prequel miniseries set in the world of the "John Wick" franchise.

At its core, "Pulse" is a show that investigates the sexual ethics of those melodramatic, sensual relationships we see on just about every medical drama. Jack Bannon's character, Dr. Tom Cole, gets himself into a love triangle where either option would be the kind of thing to annoy the hospital's Human Resources department. He's hooking up with a nurse, Cass (Jessica Rothe), but he also has his eye on a paramedic, Nia (Ash Santos), who becomes his patient.

Doctors technically shouldn't be sleeping with nurses or patients, but hey, it's a TV show, and Bannon is deliciously fun to watch. Showrunner Carlton Cuse told Tudum that they even made the character British to match Bannon's accent, recalling, "Jack is so talented. We loved his specific energy. We loved him so much that we adjusted the role to fit who he was as an actor."

You may know Bannon's Britishness from his roles on U.K.-set shows like "Ripper Street" and "The Loch," but he broke through on this side of the pond in the Epix show "Pennyworth," a show exploring the origins of Batman's butler Alfred. He told The Rake that he's not a superhero super-fan, but he was happy to be on a "Batman" show anyway. As Bannon explained, "I'm not really fussed about genres, as long as it's stuff with really good scripts and strong, well-written characters."

Ash Santos initially auditioned to play either Cass or Camila, and she didn't get either role. "I've been such a fan of medical dramas, and this is such a good medical drama," she told What's On Netflix. "It's so fresh, different, and I absolutely love the writing. I loved all the characters, so I just kept pressing my team." It worked out, as she snagged the part of EMT Nia Washington.

At first, Nia seems like she'll be part of the wise-cracking milieu of "Pulse," flirting with Dr. Tom Cole and walking-and-talking her way down the hospital hallways. Then the hurricane hits, and while on a rescue, Nia is struck by a piece of flying debris. She spends much of the season in a hospital bed, then, carrying on her flirting with the handsome doctor who's saving her life.

If Santos looks familiar, it may be because she's been in many Hallmark movies that are totally worth your time, including "I'm Not Ready For Christmas," "Broadcasting Christmas," "Sharing Christmas," and "My Summer Prince." You may also know her as Emily on "American Horror Story," Daphne on "True Story," or Coco on "Mayor of Kingstown." In 2024, she co-starred with Lindsay Lohan in the Netflix Christmas movie "Our Little Secret."

Jessie T. Usher plays Dr. Sam Elijah on "Pulse," another doctor at Danny's level who's hoping to someday become chief resident. He's friends with both Danny and Phillips, so when Danny makes her accusation, Sam's stuck choosing sides in a way that protects his shot at the job. Usher had to balance more than just his character's tricky motivations, however; he also needed to make him a believable doctor.

"There's blocking, there's walk and talks, there's backtracks, there's all this stuff that you do regularly in television. But when you throw a live baby in my hand, or you have a full-blown medical procedure ...," Usher told Blavity. He continued, saying, "This presents an entirely new world of obstacles for me and for the cast. We had a lot of really great medical professionals on set to walk us through what those beats and those moves look like."

You may know Usher from "Shaft," "Ride," or "The Banker," but on his other television job, he's not nearly as concerned about realism. That's because he plays A-Train on "The Boys," Prime Video's bitterly satirical superhero show in which Usher's character runs so fast that he, well, accidentally explodes a woman by running through her. "Oh, my goodness, it is incredible," he told Blavity about being on two shows at once. "It's very fulfilling, but it's like I'm playing this juggling act."

Danny isn't the only Dr. Simms caring for patients at Maguire Medical Center. Her sister, Dr. Harper Simms, works there too, and she's played by Jessy Yates. Like her character, Yates uses a wheelchair in real life, and she told New Mobility that she was glad to bring authentic disability representation to television. She even shadowed a real doctor who uses a chair: Mayo Clinic's ER physician Dr. Daniel Grossman. The experiences of doctors like Grossman changed the way the showrunners wrote Yates' character. "When you are standing over a patient, it can feel more like an authoritarian type of interaction, but when you are sitting, it becomes a conversation," she explained. "[Dr. Grossman's] patients opened up to him so quickly as a provider because they felt comfortable."

Yates has been working hard her whole career to make sure people with disabilities are included in spaces where they otherwise might not have been. The actor has only been in the business for a short time, having graduated from the Yale School of Drama in 2022. Still, she's racked up an impressive list of credits in short order. In addition to parts on shows like "Speechless" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Yates played a character named Morgan who advises a boy with superpowers on the Apple TV+ show "Me."

Dr. Sophie Chan (Chelsea Muirhead) is the surgical intern at Maguire Medical who is still trying to learn as much as she can about the medicine her colleagues practice all around her. She deals with some pretty low self-esteem issues, unsure whether the other doctors trust her to help with their patients, but as her friendship blossoms with medical student Daniela, Sophie learns the truth about self-confidence.

"When a doctor like Sophie is battling with her insecurities and anxieties, that is one of the biggest struggles — I'm sure — for anyone, let alone a doctor performing life-saving procedures," Muirhead told Movies We Texted About. "It's like, 'Girl, I hope you make the right slice and dice,' you know?"

While Sophie's still learning her job, Muirhead is settling well into the role of television star. She was one of the leads on the Canadian show "Slo Pitch," about a baseball team called The Brovaries, and she's probably most recognizable as Yan Mi from the third season of the Max hit "Warrior." She's a printmaker who turns to counterfeiting to get by, and Muirhead told Monday Morning Critic that she related the character's ambition to her own pursuit of an acting career. "Failure is not an option," Muirhead said. "Survival is the only way. If you have a dream, you're the only one that's going to fight for it."

When the hurricane hits Miami dead on, the chaotic scene at Maguire Medical requires all hands on deck. That includes Justina Machado's character, Dr. Natalie Cruz, even though she's the head of the whole operation. A tragic bus crash brings her own daughter into the trauma bay, meaning Dr. Cruz must grapple with letting the professionals save her daughter's life, as much as she'd like to intervene.

Machado enjoyed playing a woman in power, and she especially loved that the character has to balance various facets of her life. "I love that she's a boss. I love that she is a mom. She's emotionally intelligent, besides being very intellectually intelligent," she told Tudum. "She's that way with the people who work with her and for her, and with her family."

Machado's career stretches back to the 1990s, but it really took off in the 2000s. She played Isabella in "Final Destination 2," Henderson in "Torque," and the lovable Vanessa Diaz on 42 episodes of "Six Feet Under." She's perhaps most recognizable for having led the cast of "One Day At A Time," a revival of the classic sitcom about a Cuban-American family just trying to get by. Machado was happy to be the show's main star, telling NPR, "I didn't think that was going to happen anymore. ... I'm not necessarily an ingenue anymore."

Though the doctors and surgeons get most of the focus in "Pulse," the busy halls of Maguire Medical are peopled with all sorts of other recurring characters that round out the world. That includes Arturo Del Puerto's character Luis, who is the charge nurse managing patients when the doctors aren't around. "He is unflappable amid the chaos — and never sacrifices his signature wit," Netflix wrote in a character description. "For both those reasons, Luis is beloved by his staff."

Del Puerto has an extensive résumé, so there's a good chance you've seen him in other projects. He's appeared in many major television shows of the past decade, including "Chicago P.D.," "NCIS," "Superstore," "Westworld," and "For All Mankind." Perhaps most famously though, Del Puerto was one of the main characters in "Camping," the Jennifer Garner-led HBO series created by Lena Dunham.

Jessica Rothe's character Cass rounds out the love triangle that Dr. Tom Cole has found himself trapped in. She's a nurse who's been sleeping with a doctor — one who also seems to be in love (or lust) with one of his patients. What's a girl to do?

Creator Zoe Robyn told TV Guide that the show was set up to explore the gray areas in relationships that seem like they should probably be off the table, ruminating, "A lot of times when there's a power dynamic relationship portrayed, it's always very black and white. There's always a 'bad guy' and a 'good guy,' and there's always some sort of judgment to be made about it." That's not the case in "Pulse," and Cass is one of the characters who complicates those boundaries.

If Rothe looks familiar, it might be because you're a horror fan who flipped for her comedic tour de force in the "Happy Death Day" films. You also may have spotted her as one of Emma Stone's friends in "La La Land," or you may know her from the musical remake of "Valley Girl." She also starred opposite Bill Skarsgård in "Boy Kills World," romanced Harry Shum Jr. in "All My Life," and reconnected with a country music-playing boyfriend in "Forever My Girl."

As far as Maguire Medical's organizational chart goes, Daniela Nieves's character Camila might be towards the bottom. After all, she's only a medical student, there mostly to observe as the actual doctors and nurses on staff go about treating patients. "I think what's fun about [Camila] is that everyone else has so much history in the medical field and with each other and in the hospital, but we really see Camila from day one," Nieves told Hola! magazine. "This is literally the first time she's in this hospital, she's meeting everybody."

Nieves has been acting since she was much younger, kicking off her career with roles on shows like "La Viuda de Blanco" and "El Rostro de Analía." She starred on 85 episodes of Nickelodeon's "Every Witch Way," played Andi on "WITS Academy," and has been on "Snowfall" and "All Rise." Her breakout role, however, was in Peacock's "Vampire Academy," in which she played a vampire learning the rules much as Camila does at the hospital. In an exclusive interview with The List, Nieves reflected on the show's emphasis on mental health. "It's definitely important to see that in media," she said. "Representation is important in any aspect."

When things at Maguire Medical get particularly bad, the doctors and nurses need to call in a surgeon. That's where Dr. Ruben Soriano (Néstor Carbonell) comes in. He's an affable guy who takes Tom under his wing, hoping to mentor him, even as the younger doctor's ambition and love triangle threaten to upend his status at the hospital.

You may know Carbonell from his previous work with "Pulse" co-creator Carlton Cuse. Cuse was also one of the major creative forces behind "Lost" and "Bates Motel," two other shows that featured Carbonell in pivotal roles. "Néstor is just so talented as an actor. We wanted some actors with authority that would lead this hospital, and we wanted them to be Latino doctors because this is Miami," Cuse told Tudum. "And Miami is really a Latin city. We couldn't have asked for two better people than Néstor and Justina [Machado], who are really good friends off-screen."

In addition to playing a sheriff on "Bates Motel" and a mysterious island-dweller on "Lost," you may know Carbonell from his roles on "The Tick," "Shogun," or "The Morning Show."

"Pulse" represents an on-screen reunion for Willa Fitzgerald, pairing her once more with her "Scream: The TV Series" castmate Santiago Segura. Gabriel plays a nurse and is a constant presence throughout the show's first season, always willing to throw in a quip or a bit of advice when various characters are standing around talking.

Segura's other memorable roles include appearances on "Walker: Independence," "Roswell, New Mexico," and "MacGyver." You also might know him from his part as Benjamin in "47 Meters Down," one of the hunky guys who accidentally gets Mandy Moore and Claire Holt trapped underwater in a shark-diving cage.

In the second season of "Scream: The TV Series," he played Gustavo, one of the major suspects behind the Ghostface mask. "I'm just a sketchy guy, doing sketchy things," he joked in a video for MTV, teasing that he was happy to provide the show with some eye candy. "I'll be like, in a lake or something, and I'll look jacked and tan," he said, "and that'll be fun for everyone!"