Mags seems to have everything that she could want in Transplant season 4. However, there are now some more major decisions she needs to make, and Laurence Leboeuf talked about her character having to make those decisions while chatting with us.
From the beginning of Transplant season 4, Mags has been that character to show that it’s okay to want what you want in your career. There are some sacrifices that need to be made, but there are also great friendships and relationships that can come from it. Of course, there’s also been the slow-burn romance with Bash, which just about got there, but now seems almost impossible with everything else happening.
We got the chance to speak with Leboeuf about Mags’ journey, and she teased some of her arc to come in Transplant season 4, episode 5.
GeekSided: As a Day One Canadian fan of Transplant, I’ve loved seeing Mags’ development and that portrayal that it’s okay to want what you want in your career. What’s that been like for you to show on screen?
Laurence Leboeuf: It’s such a wonderful journey to play this character from Day One. I was in love with this show. I was in love with Mags. I loved how smart she was, how driven she was, how sensitive she was, and how human she was, as we went on season after season to peel the layers and go deeper to discover more and more vulnerability with different patients. I have loved the journey from beginning to end.
GS: We got a look into her personal life around season 3, and just in the most recent episode [Transplant season 4, episode 4], she turned to her sister for some advice. That advice about keeping secrets from work felt so realistic to me, but what was that like for you to show on screen?
LL: It’s funny because, when you do it, you know maybe what’s coming and the consequences of that, and you have to pretend you don’t. So, it’s interesting, but I’m following Mags’ journey, so I’m following what she’s deciding to do, and I think they’re really hard decisions to make.
I think this is her dream coming true, and now this is happening. I think she wants to have both. She wants this fellowship that she just got, so I understand the feeling of being stuck in the middle of these decisions, and not really knowing which way is the right one. And then you just pick one, and we go down that path.
GS: And she’d only just decided she was even happy on the transplant list. Now suddenly, she has a whole new decision to make about her heart. Can you share what’s going on in Mags’ mind right now?
LL: I think nerves are getting in a little bit. I think she knows this is a big deal, and I think she knows that she is lucky she gets this opportunity. I think her nerves and she’s scared to go down that path, but she also knows this is the right thing to do. She needs to solve this once and for all, but [she is] scared at the same time.
GS: Now Bash will learn that her health was more serious, and Devi will learn she hid something. Can you tease how these relationship dynamics will change and unfold?
LL: I think Mags is going to come to learn to open up a little bit more when she needs help. She’s got family; she’s got friends; she’s got people that love her and want the best for her. I think it’s going to help her ease a little bit of the position she’s now in.
She’s the patient now, and she’s gonna have to focus on getting better in her health in order to get any of this in the end. She needs to focus on getting better, and I think she’s gonna come to learn how to let those people in that love her to help her a little bit more.
GS: Who’s the better doctor for her? Bash with his empathy, or June with her straightforwardness?
LL: June resonates with Mags, though. They have this special bond, and the way they talk to one another is very special. They kind of have their own language where they understand each other.
But I think Bash has always had this precious place for her in her heart. She respects him as a doctor and his decisions, and his opinion on the matter. I think when you’re in a position from being a doctor to being a patient, you might get blurry a little bit, even though you’re the best doctor ever. I think your emotions might blur your judgment a little bit, and I think she always has an eye on Bash to see if he agrees with her that she’s going in the right direction.
GS: Let’s talk this slow-burn romance with Bash. We get there and then we don’t. How has that been for you to develop it?
LL: It’s fun. It’s a fun thing to play throughout the seasons, because you always have this tension. There’s always this undercurrent between these two people, and then they have to pretend that they don’t have that between them, but they do.
I’ve established my character that from the first time she saw him, she knew she wanted to be with this guy. She knew that it was him for her, so I kind of had that little secret in my heart since the first time that we started shooting this. It’s a fun thing to play this push and pull, will-they-won’t-they kind of thing. It keeps us in our seats too, when we read the scripts and we’re like, ‘Oh my God, they still haven’t? Why?’ We got passionate about it.
GS: While romance is fun, there’s also a great female friendship between Mags and June, and I think that is something that’s so important to show on screen. It’s also a friendship I didn’t see possible at the start of Transplant, so what’s that been like for you to give some inspiration for younger girls and women watching?
LL: Exactly, it was really nice to see that on screen and to portray it as well. We totally felt that evolution with those characters. Just like I was saying, they had their special way to talk to one another, but they were also never in competition with each other, which is why and how this beautiful friendship could grow. You could feel like it’s two people that want to push each other further and onward to better things.
The whole crack with June about love and Mags telling her that she is worth so much love and that she’ll be there to love her. I thought that was all beautiful. It’s a great thing for people to witness on screen for sure.
GS: How much research did you go into as Mags ended up on the transplant list and having heart issues? I know I overlooked how an elevator being out of order in the hospital could put a strain on her.
LL: I didn’t go too deep into it. We had a doctor who would come to set for our scenes for procedures and medical stuff, and we also had a nurse with us on set every day, so I asked them, mostly, for the medical stuff. While it’s medical, it’s also something very personal and I think I wanted to keep that my own and not too much about how other people go about it. But I wanted to know the medical situation, like the flights of stairs and how it feels. Is it a pinch? It is that she’s out of breath. All the technical stuff.
For the rest of it, I went with how I felt Mags would deal with that, especially since she knew she had this from when she was young. She was living with it her whole life, so it’s different than just finding out recently. If she feels uncomfortable, sometimes she’s used to that, so it’s a different vibe.
Transplant airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.