Tracy Ifeachor hinted that she isn’t thinking about coming back for a possible third season of The Pitt yet after her shocking exit.
During the Warner Bros. Television Group’s Emmy Party on Saturday, September 13, Ifeachor, 40, teased her future with the hit HBO Max series, exclusively telling Us Weekly, “I’ve been so busy working on other projects. I’m actually in a movie with Jake Gyllenhaal so that’s been exciting and then I go to my next project.”
Ifeachor played coy about whether she would return in the future.
“I loved playing Dr. Heather Collins. I put so much into her and I gave so much of myself to that and I really left it all on the field,” she added before joking, “I left it all in the bathroom that day. So, I really loved that character and as a person. I just keep walking forward.”
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Us confirmed in July that Ifeachor will not be reprising her role in season 2. Amid reports that the decision was made by the show’s creative team, a source told Us that it was always the plan for Ifeachor’s character — who was a fourth-year resident in the first season — to go on and be a doctor in future installments of the show.
The insider noted that due to the nature of The Pitt, Collins won’t be in season 2, but Ifeachor “didn’t choose to leave the show” and isn’t aware of “any doors being closed” on a possible return.
“It was just such a joy and a pleasure to play Dr. Heather Collins and to know that my character has been so phenomenally well-received. It just blew me away,” Ifeachor told Us on Saturday. “I don’t know where she will be on the weekend of next season but I know where I’m going to be, which is on my next project, which is just so amazing. But I take the lessons that I’ve learned from playing Dr. Heather Collins — playing this character who goes through such a traumatic event and still shows up every day for other people.”
She continued: “[No one] stops to ask if she’s OK, if she needs time out, if she needs to run away. I think as a woman, sometimes we carry a lot of emotional labor without even knowing it. I’ve learned that through this character so I wouldn’t change that. This experience has been so life-changing, really.”
Ifeachor admitted she didn’t know where her character would be after the events of season 1.
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“These are the tough stories. Do I think she will get out of this? Maybe. Again, if she is able to be safe, she’ll have fun. Where would she go next?” she added. “The thing about playing a character that’s so wonderfully nuanced and well written, there was so much to mine is that it’s a story that could go anywhere. At the same time, I will leave it up to the viewer to decide where she would be.”
For now, the actress is focused on her next projects — including a role in Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan‘s Remain.
“I try to make everything a little bit different. I’m not a huge repeater of things. It’s you so there’s only so many colors you can show,” Ifeachor explained. “[Remain] is two different audiences coming together. It feels scary and it’s dark. They come together so perfectly because they’re both really intense. Something that takes so much focus and takes so much of you.”
Ifeachor loved the chance to film with costars such as Gyllenhaal, 44, and Phoebe Dynevor.
“Phoebe is so lovely. She’s got an amazing calm presence. She’s really generous, very gentle, strong and has a musical spirit,” she gushed. “Jake is a powerhouse. He has this attention to detail that is almost second to none. It’s been amazing because he was my first film crush. When I met him, I was like, ‘Do you age backwards, man? What’s going on?’ He’s been the same my whole life, I swear. He’s the same.”
With reporting by Ty Cole and Olivia Bria
