Patients come first for ‘HawthoRNe’
The odd spelling of the title of the TNT drama “HawthoRNe,” premiering at 9 p. m. Tuesday, is not a typo.
Instead, it’s the last name of the main character, Christina Hawthorne, with the “RN” done in capital letters to stand for her profession—registered nurse.
Created by John Masius— who won two Emmy Awards for his work on the 1980s hospital drama “St. Elsewhere”— “HawthoRNe” is set at Richmond Trinity Hospital in Richmond, Va., where Christina, played by Jada Pinkett Smith, is the chief nursing officer.
With her counterpart and friend, Chief of Surgery Dr. Thomas Wakefield (Michael Vartan, “Alias”), Hawthorne battles on behalf of her nursing staff and patients.
Also starring are Suleka Mathew (“Men in Trees”), David Julian Hirsh (“Lovebites”), Joanna Cassidy (“Six Feet Under”), Christina Moore (“90210”) and Hannah Hodson (“The Ron Clark Story”), who plays Camille, the widowed Christina’s teenage daughter.
On many levels, it’s a familiar position for Pinkett Smith, the daughter of a nurse and single mother.
“My mother’s very focused,” says Pinkett Smith, whose 100 Percent Womon Productions is a partner in the project. “She’s very organized. I love that. As soon as something like a physical trauma or a medical emergency happens, her analytical mind kicks in right away.
“That’s one of the things I learned from her to put inside of Christina, that she’s a problem solver, period. If there’s any problem, she’ll fix it, and by any means necessary, no matter whose toes she has to step on, no matter who gets upset with her. I really admire that about her.”
On the other hand, Christina’s sometimes single-minded problem solving can cause problems of its own. On a bright April day, Pinkett Smith and Vartan are shooting a scene in the hospital parking lot in which Christina makes a promise to a patient’s husband, only to have Wakefield chide her for offering what she may not be able to deliver.
“He basically is here to clean up Christina’s mess,” says Vartan, sitting at a picnic table among the dressing trailers. “That’s so far what’s happened in the first few episodes, not so much a doctor as therapist and counselor.”
“Exactly!” says Pinkett Smith, calling in the next day. “That’s what he does. He’s my advocate on the show. We have quite a history together. We’re friends, but he doesn’t like how I do things.
“He thinks that I’m really smart and values that, but he doesn’t like how I do things. Most of the time, he ends up in the middle of everything.”
The real problems of modern health care are front and center in the news, making the issues in “HawthoRNe” very relevant.
“You want to be relevant and deal with the issues of health care workers and their salaries —or lack thereof—and union vs. nonunion,” says Executive Producer Jamie Tarses. “Our lead, Christina Hawthorne, she came up through the nursing ranks, but she has been elevated to an administrative position.
“So it is about her balancing both those worlds, to do right by her nurses, whom she is fiercely loyal to, and try to make the best hospital possible. That is something she’s balancing.”
Pinkett Smith says, “We’re not so much dealing with medicine but dealing with people and how they’re being affected by whatever illness they have, or whatever issues or problems that may be going on, whether it’s a patient that can’t afford health care or doesn’t have health insurance, but needs to have this particular procedure done, and what this group of nurses does to help out.
“Whatever a patient needs, a good nurse will do. In this particular show, you see that these nurses not only heal you physically, but spiritually, emotionally.”
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments