Jessie T. Usher is no stranger to intense roles—from high-octane action in The Boys to dramatic arcs in film and TV. But taking on a role in Netflix’s new medical drama Pulse introduced a whole new level of complexity—and a learning curve he never saw coming.

“Just the medical procedures alone were an entirely new obstacle that I cannot relate to anything I’ve done before,” Usher told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in a recent interview. “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…”

Because so much of the work on Pulse is practical, Usher and the cast were required to run rehearsals using prosthetics and dummies to perfect their technique. “We want to make sure that our hands are in the right place,” he said. “We want to make sure that the IV actually is going where an IV would go, or we’re intubating the way that a professional would actually intubate. And then we finish the scene out throughout the procedure.”

Usher said attention to detail is key—and a personal pet peeve is when a scene breaks realism. “My whole thing is that you walk into the room, and you see him with a scalpel in his hand, and he stops to say the lines, and then he goes back [laughs]. “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.”

Adding to the challenge is the natural choreography of a functioning hospital. “You’re also having to work with people who aren’t necessarily in the scene but are in the room—the nurses, the paramedics,” he said. “Whether they’re saying something or not, certain moments have to be thrown to them, because naturally, that’s what would be happening in a hospital. Adding those components on top of it was really fun too.”

Exploring Sam Elijah’s journey and dynamic with Danny

Usher plays Sam Elijah, a doctor navigating not only the chaos of hospital life but also the turbulence of personal relationships—especially with Danny (Willa Fitzgerald).

“I feel like it’s wavering confidence,” he said. “He shows up confident, but then something happens that tears his confidence down and he has to rebuild it again. And that happens with his role in the hospital, but also with his relationship with Danny. He very much wants to trust that everything is going to work out.”

As the season unfolds, so does the complexity of his character’s emotional life. “When a hiccup happens, he has to take a moment to regather himself. He’s just not as fluid as he thinks he is. But he is as trusting as he thinks he is. And that could be a good or a bad thing in a hospital.”

Sam’s relationship with Danny adds another layer of tension and growth. “It started in one place,” he said. “This whole experience of the first season—finding out how many secrets she had, about wanting to be chief resident, but also about the relationship—it’s going to change the course of their relationship. It’s also going to help him wake up and realize that not everybody needs to be, or ever will be, 100% open and honest with you.”

Highlighting the role of instinct in medical decision-making

What sets Pulse apart from other medical dramas, according to Usher, is its dedication to showing the gut-driven side of being a doctor.

“I think that’s the reality of it,” he said. “When we were doing research for these characters before we started filming, I have two close friends who work in the medical field. I would just talk to them about instincts, and how much of their instincts get put into this, versus medical school.”

Their answers stuck with him: “Basically, man, we go through medical school so that we can recognize common stuff. But everything else is just instinct.”

That dynamic plays out on-screen in Pulse too. “We see a lot of, ‘Well, we checked the list twice, and it’s not what you say it is, but my gut is telling me that it’s something else.’”

He said that this same tension applies to relationships within the hospital as well. “Yeah, I hear what you’re saying to me, or what’s being said makes perfect sense, but my gut is telling me something else. And that’s when things get murky. But that’s why we have these characters who care so much. They’re willing to stay in the gray area.”

Balancing roles on ‘Pulse’ and ‘The Boys’

If starring in one major series wasn’t enough, Usher is also still starring as A-Train on Prime Video’s The Boys.

“Oh, my goodness, it is incredible,” he said. “I’ve never had this much responsibility on two different sets. And it’s very fulfilling, but it’s like I’m playing this juggling act, you know what I mean?”

He works hard to keep the characters separate: “Samuel Elijah has his own backstory. He has his own relationship. He’s his own character. And there’s so much room for him to grow. I just want to put all of my own unique building into that character.”

But Usher also keeps A-Train ready for his return. “I don’t want to forget any of A-Train, so when I’m bouncing back over there, he’s right where we picked him off from Season 4 going into Season 5.”

To him, the challenge feels like an acting master class. “It reminds me of the first day I got to my master class at Richard Brander Acting Studios. Now I wasn’t doing two scenes—I’m doing six, and they’re all different characters. Even if I’m doing them back to back, or six months apart, I’ve done enough homework to know who each one of these people are. And just doing The Boys and doing Pulse at the same time just feels like that. It’s a masterclass challenge, and I’m having fun.”

Pulse is now streaming on Netflix.