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Warning: Spoilers for season one ofPulseahead!
Josh Wool
For Willa Fitzgerald, the actor who plays her, thats part of her appeal.
(If youre looking for a medical show thats more realistic, tryThe Pitt.)
I tore through the whole first season ofPulse.
Pulse. (L to R) Willa Fitzgerald as Danny and Colin Woodell as Phillips in Episode 107 of Pulse. Cr. Jeff Neumann/Netflix © 2024
I got sent the script while on a plane on the way to LA.
I was like, What is going on here?
There were so many things happening between the lines, and it was really interesting to me.
PULSE. (L-R) Willa Fitzgerald as Danny Simms and Jessy Yates as Harper Simms in Episode 101 of Pulse. Cr. Anna Kooris/Netflix © 2024
Ive been a fan of the medical drama genre for a long time.
I loved earlyGreys Anatomy.
And if so, how are you feeling about it?
PULSE. (L to R) Willa Fitzgerald as Danny Simms and Colin Woodell as Xander Phillips in Episode 106 of Pulse. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025
I think its great.
I worked a lot in I guess what you would call the horror genre.
I think that genre is only confining if you allow yourself to be confined by whats come before.
That genre works by giving you a template that you then can add whatever else you want to it.
Its just the skeleton on which you get to build everything else.
Those things are always very compelling as a viewer.
Did you know Spanish before filming?
Or did you have to learn it?
So I do not speak Spanish, but I will say, I tried so hard to learn Spanish.
Several people in the cast did speak Spanish, but several of us didnt.
All of us who didnt did Duolingo together.
How do you feel about that?
A hospital is on the front lines of every inequity that goes on in our society.
The emergency rooms the only place that they can be treated for those things.
We also had so many amazing day players who were coming in to be on the show.
Going back to your shadowing in the emergency roomhow long were you there, and what was that like?
So by the time I got there, I had about a week and a half.
And then at the 11th hour, they were like, We can fly you to California today.
I was like, Yeah, Ill do it.
I was quite nervous about it, because Ive spent very little time in emergency rooms.
The only thing that maybe changed was the pace of the feet.
Everything else was very consistent.
I also noticed how much residents do.
The attending was there and would be checking in, but they were mainly putting in the orders.
It was really the resident who was doing every single thing.
Theres a lot there.
In some ways, Danny is handling her sister with kid gloves because of Dannys own guilt.
I think thats a really hard thing for both parties in that situation to tolerate.
Or are you happy for Dannys choice to move on?
I dont think I can have an objective feeling about the situation.
Obviously, at the beginning of shooting the show, I knew what the arc was.
You see two people who are just missing each other.
This show has a lot of familiar themes that weve seen on TV in the years since Me Too.
What really makes this show different is that its not telling a story of HR saving the day.
Its not telling a story of, this person did something wrong, and this person did something right.
Theres room for those stories that are more black and white.
Thats entirely valid, and I think we have seen a lot of those stories.
Me Too was an amazing moment for so many women in every generation.
What this story is doing is much more personal, in a way.
The only means available to getting out of that situation is a third party.
And because of who that third party isHRthings then become coded in whatever way they become coded.
Theres a lot of complexity there for the characters, and theres a lot of complexity in their actions.
Right, its not SVU.
Dannys kind of…shes frustrating at times.
How do you feel about her decisions?
Do you relate to her at all?
Shes incredibly good at compartmentalizing, and I am too.
Its hardest sometimes to play characters whose problems are more closely aligned to your problems.
Shes a character who is gripping intensely to control the entire season.
As we all know, thats not a great functional place to stay.
Its certainly cathartic for me to get to see her have that moment at the end of the season.
Speaking of that last scene, the finale ends with the doctors prepping for victims of a boating accident.
Dannys in the ocean…. Am I jumping to conclusions?
Are we supposed to kind of feel like, oh my God, maybe it was her?
Wait, Im upset.
I never in a million years thought that.
But I love that thats what youre thinking about.
I mean, I do love to speculate.
Honestly, thatd be wild.
You just blew my mind.
Thats the first time I have ever thought about that possibility.
[The cast and I] were all talking about that.
We were like, Who would be the first one to go?
Maybe it was just the way they edited that final scene together.
That went right over my head.
Reading the scripts, I never thought about that.
Im going to literally text the showrunners right now and tell them that you said that.
Whats next for you?
What are you most excited for?
Im so excited about that.
We already got to have a week together doing prep, and it was just so fun.
Its such a great group of people, and I think its going to be a really juicy time.
Im excited to do it.
Has that impacted you at all?
Honestly, it feels entirely separate.
That just feels like a completely separate situation on a completely separate movie thats totally unconnected.
I feel like as a cast, we could not have a different dynamic.
Everyone is truly already so tight.
I actually went to college with Allison [Williams].
It sounds like youre very busy in the next year.
How do you reset when you have back-to-back projects?
What do you do to unwind?
I run, and I lift heavy weights.
Those things are what keep me emotionally saneand therapy.
What are you listening to when you run or youre lifting?
I mean, sometimes I am a silence girlie.
I just like to kind of use it as a meditative time, especially on long runs.
But Im always trying to read more, so sometimes I will listen to audiobooks.
Are you reading anything for fun at the moment?
Ive startedThe Overstory[by Richard Powers]for the fifth time.
But Im already on page 100, so I have such high hopes.
I highly recommend it.
With all the traveling you do for work, have you come up with any travel hacks?
I always bring melatonin for time zone changes.
And a lot of socks.
Ooh, like compression socks?
No, just for cold feet.
Just big socks for planes.
I did just get a little tiny humidifier that I take with me.
It runs on batteries, but you also plug it in.
I bring it to hotel rooms, and it saves me.
Whats your go-to skin care product?
It changed my life.
