Abigail Spencer‘s prolific career means she has several costars across several projects that could guest star on her new Fox series Best Medicine.
“I’d really love for my friend Busy Philipps to come on. I think she would be hilarious. If Jen Tullock and Michael Chernus could come over from Severance, they’d be amazing,” Spencer, 44, who plays Louisa, exclusively shared during Us Weekly’s visit to the Best Medicine set. “Anybody [can come over here] — like my friend Nina Dobrev.”
Spencer has already found herself asking her famous friends to make appearances.
“I’ve talked to people like, ‘Oh, would you come and play with us?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, 100 percent.’ If my friend Leslie Odom Jr. could come on, [but] he’s doing his run in Hamilton at the moment. Or my friend[s] Griffin Matthews, Mike O’Malley and Jon Cryer would be great. I could see him coming through, or Donald Faison and Zach Braff.”
Is Port Wenn a Real Place? Best Medicine’s Filming Location, Town Explained
Best Medicine, which premieres Tuesday, January 6, follows a doctor who “moves from the city of Boston, Massachusetts, to a small practice in the East Coast fishing village where he vacationed as a child,” according to the official synopsis.
Josh Charles plays Dr. Martin Best, while Spencer, Josh Segarra, Cree Cicchino, Annie Potts, Didi Conn, Clea Lewis, Stephen Spinella, Jason Veasey, Cindy De La Cru, John DiMaggio, Carter Shimp and dog cast member Wattson make up the rest of the cast.
“The way that [executive producer] Liz Tuccillo has structured the show, every episode we have a great star come on and they get to do something delightful — and maybe something you’ve never seen them do before,” Spencer teased. “I would say what I particularly loved about the show was that it is a great opportunity for some of our more seasoned actors in the community.”
She continued: “There’s a lot of roles across ages where I’m like, ‘God, we could get so many great actors to come.’ I loved that.”
How the New Slate of Medical TV Shows Differ From Each Other
Fox’s newest medical series is based on the ITV series Doc Martin, which aired from 2004 to 2022. The show was created by Dominic Minghella, who developed the character of Dr. Martin Bamford from the 2000 film Saving Grace.
Doc Martin starred Martin Clunes, Caroline Catz, Ian McNeice, Joe Absolom, Selina Cadell, John Marquez, Eileen Atkins and Jessica Ransom. Clunes will appear in the role of Martin Best‘s father, while Spencer plays Charles’ onscreen love interest.
“Everybody loves Louisa. She’s the town school teacher. I would say she’s also the town’s tempest,” she teased to Us. “Louisa has always played by the rules, done the right thing and she’s kind of shaken things up by calling off her eight-year engagement with the sheriff.”
Spencer hinted that Louisa’s recent decisions will be “disruptive to the town” of Port Wenn, adding, “It’s fun to see her in an interesting pivot in her life. It makes space to maybe meet someone new.”
Best Medicine premieres on Fox Tuesday, January 6, at 8 p.m. ET.
