Jessy Schram’s Chicago Med character, Hannah Asher, has gone through a lot. And fans have responded pretty favorably to the character through her ups and downs, to the point that right now a lot of the interest in the show centers on the ship between Hannah Asher and Dean Archer (Steven Weber).
But as interested as we all are in where Dasher is going—particularly after Archer confessed his love in the Season 11 finale, only for Hannah to kiss him and say nothing—Chicago Med has given Schram plenty of Hannah storylines. In the Season 12 premiere, we saw the show lean on Hannah’s past while treating a patient, and on the last episode we saw her get emotional after her patient lost her newborn baby.
About the premiere, Schram shared, “There’s obviously the connection of Hannah’s past that’s so important with this girl, of seeing herself in her. But I also think as me, Jessy, looking at this and reading this moment and getting to act this… of asking somebody to consider the possibility that things could be different one day, that you might not feel this way right now, and to choose, like the hardest thing is to choose sometimes to survive, just fully hit my heart in the deepest of places.”
But all of these storylines now hit Hannah differently, because she’s a mother, and that means her outlook on life has changed. “Hannah lost her family when she kind of went off the deep end. She understands now, being in recovery, why that happened, and that was a healthy thing for them, but it didn’t make her any less alone, didn’t make her feel any less loved.”
“And then I think now that Hannah’s a mom, there’s a level of not understanding to any degree of which she still wouldn’t, you know, lie down on tracks for her (Mabel), no matter what she did. So, I loved getting to Hannah and Mabel and just letting her know no matter what happens in this world, I will always be there. You couldn’t do anything that would drive me away from you.”
We’ve also been following the journey of Hannah getting to have both her baby and her career, even if it’s sometimes a lot. “I think that there’s definitely the pressure, and a lot of ways that there could be stigmas that come with it, but I love getting to see Hannah, at least right now, finding some balance in being a mom and having a career. And hopefully we get to see the hardships of that too, because there is absolutely nothing that is easy or simple about that. But I do really appreciate that they’re letting me be a doctor as well as a mom, as well as a sister, and as well as a friend.”
But Schram is also very thankful for the fact that Chicago Med has allowed Hannah to grow and to be happy. “I’m constantly on record talking about how Hannah is a character that they could have just left where she was, and by no means did they do that. And instead of just constantly seeing Hannah struggling or trying to survive, we get to see Hannah thrive, and that’s not a typical story for a character like this.”
However, she’s still got a… let’s say complicated relationship with her baby daddy, Dean Archer, to define. Because what are they right now? Kissing friends? A couple? What does Hannah even feel?
“I mean, the nursing staff is consistently trying to get that out of her, Doris especially. So, the nursing staff is all over that, consistently poking and prodding, trying to figure out and put a label to it,” Schram said to our joke that if we were a character on the show, we’d just want to sit down with a glass of wine and discuss that relationship.
“But honestly, right now, talking about surviving and thriving, they are surviving having a newborn and both working the same shift at a hospital. So right now, the emotional component and any labels are more on just being mom and dad right now.”
But we watch TV. We know that an “I love you” that isn’t reciprocated needs an answer at some point. “We’ve got 22 episodes. So, I’m sure somewhere along the way, we’ll have a little bit more closure. Well, not closure, but a little bit more of clarity of what they mean to each other.”
Schram shared that she recently discovered Dasher fan accounts, laughing that she “gets to go back and watch random scenes between us and our relationship.”
“I just love that people are as invested in this relationship as I am. How flattering is that, to be part of that romantic relationship that people are so invested in.”
Watch where Hannah and Dasher are going on Chicago Med, which airs Wednesdays at 8/7c.
