The Pitt's Dr. Melissa King Is Seriously Stunning In Real Life

Taylor Dearden's break-out role as Dr. Melissa King on the Emmy-winning medical drama "The Pitt" has been a whirlwind — so much so that she can hardly believe it. The young actor from Los Angeles had no idea the show would become such a wild success. As she told Entertainment Tonight on the evening of the Emmy's, "It's so weird for us — at least for me — to know that people are watching it at all. And the fact that it's being received well is everything you could ask for." Some of her shock comes from the fact that her past work wasn't necessarily well-known. Her previous roles on "Sweet/Vicious" and "American Vandal" didn't achieve the same level of interest. "I think most of the stuff I've done, 20 people have seen it," Dearden joked in conversation with Parade.

Because of this, Dearden has tried to enjoy the thrill of starring in a successful television show — an experience that her father – Bryan Cranston from "Breaking Bad" – has already had in spades. Speaking to Gold Derby, Dearden thanked viewers for their dedication to the medical drama. "It's been really incredible. The fan base is amazing. And, we get a lot of feedback from emergency room workers, and it's so special," she said. But the show's success is no accident. Despite the many differences between Dr. Melissa King and Taylor Dearden, the actor has found a way to portray her character to a tee. 

Taylor Dearden grew up in a pretty accomplished family. Her father, Bryan Cranston, is a well-regarded actor known for his work on "Breaking Bad" and "Malcolm in the Middle." Her mother, Robin Dearden, has also taken on some serious acting roles. In fact, Robin and Cranston met on the set of the CBS show "Airwolf" in 1986. This means that Taylor Dearden grew up surrounded by two role models who could help her navigate the entertainment world. But just because Dearden hails from a real Hollywood family (and has faced celebrity nepo baby accusations) does not mean her childhood was always easy. As she revealed in an interview with Parade, growing up as an only child was often quite lonely.

"I think kids are so often ignored. I was an only child, so that's doubly true for only children," Dearden told the outlet. Although the solitary nature of her early years was often challenging, Dearden has channelled those feelings into her role as Dr. Melissa King on "The Pitt." Referencing her character's ability to relate to children, Dearden explained, "I think, especially in emergencies, [adults are] all going towards whoever is in crisis, as opposed to realizing that [the child who is witnessing the crisis] is going to be traumatized and need therapy forever ... Mel's just really in tune with that." Thus, Dearden uses her own awareness to fuel the show's empathy. 

In her role as Dr. Melissa King on "The Pitt," Taylor Dearden drew on her own neurodivergence to inform her character's position on the spectrum. When Dearden first read the part of Melissa King, she noticed her character was likely neurodivergent. Reflecting on this moment in an interview with Parade, the actor said, "To me, it was pretty obviously written. We had a meeting with John Wells and R. Scott Gemmell, and it was just kind of like, 'So the way I'm reading this feels very less than coded.'"

Dearden was then told that the writers' original vision had been for Dr. King to be on the spectrum. However, the higher ups were worried about finding the right person to cast for the role. "I went, 'Well, it's your lucky day. Hello!' because ADHD and autism are on the same spectrum now. And so it's just kind of like, 'I can do that,'" Dearden revealed in the same interview. To bring King's character to life, the actor tried to reveal parts of herself that she normally hides. "I think I've just been letting — some of the things that I am better at masking, I'm just letting the mask come down a little bit more," she revealed in conversation with NPR. This has allowed her to portray King realistically.

Taylor Dearden's character on "The Pitt" is known for her bubbly personality. Parade even applauded Dr. Melissa King's on-screen attitude as uplifting, writing, "Mel's cheerfulness, empathetic nature and kind disposition when especially dealing with children had made her arguably 'The Pitt's' breakout character." Speaking to the outlet, however, Dearden clarified that she's nothing like King in real life — at least not when it comes to her sunny disposition. This created an interesting challenge for Dearden when it came time to portraying King's bubblier side on-screen. "I mean, I'm not a peppy person," Dearden shared. "So I had to kind of try and find something that looked like peppy."

Ultimately, Dearden said, she had to tap into her anxiety to bring King's upbeat attitude to life. This allowed her to break into a role that she normally wouldn't play. "I mean, yeah, if you know any of my work, I would have been cast as [the more subdued] Santos more than anything else," Dearden admitted in the same interview. "And so just like being cast as someone called 'peppy' was like, 'Okay, don't know how to do that yet! I'll figure that out ... And I just went, 'Oh, I have anxiety! That'll work.'" Although playing King was really different from the "the sarcastic, irreverent" characters that Dearden has portrayed in the past, the actor has truly made King her own.

Grasping some of the trickier medical concepts in "The Pitt" was an obstacle for Taylor Dearden, as she lacks her character's medical background. To try bridge that gap, Dearden joined the rest of the "The Pitt" cast for a crash course in medicine. As Dearden told NPR's "All Things Considered" show, "Well, we had two weeks of medical boot camp before we started shooting, which was incredibly helpful."

A class on medical terminology wasn't the only thing that kept Dearden and her cast mates informed. Throughout filming, there were always real medical advisors on-set to help the actors make the scenes as realistic as possible. In the same interview, Dearden revealed, "all trauma scenes are directed by doctors instead of the director. It serves the medicine, is the whole goal." 

Interestingly, this meant that the physicians often had more on-set authority than members of the directing team. "I remember at the very beginning, [executive producer] John Wells told us that if we are unsure about something, instead of going to the director, if it's medical, just always listen to the doctor, even if the director wants something else," Dearden shared. This emphasis on science has helped "The Pitt" become one of the most realistic medical dramas on TV.

Just because Taylor Dearden is not a doctor in real life doesn't mean she can't relate to certain aspects of the medical profession. Chief among them? The high-pressure work environment that characterizes many hospitals and operating rooms. While filming "The Pitt," Dearden and her cast mates have to embody the tension and stress that make the show so compelling. Unfortunately, however, this can definitely leave a mark on their overall wellbeing. 

As Dearden pointed out in an interview with The Playlist, "In every single trauma scene, we have adrenaline, no matter what. And because we also shoot in sequence, it's every single day and often that scene will come up again, and we must do a different part of that scene, but it's spread out over the week, so we end up with full-on adrenal fatigue."

The intensity of portraying Dr. Melissa King's surgeries has forced Dearden to take a step back from her character — especially after work hours. "It definitely takes a toll, yeah. It was a good learning process for me to be like, 'Alright, I must find a way to separate myself from my character a little bit.' Because it seeps in," the actor explained in the same interview. Dearden added that, moving forward, she would like to learn how to slow down, although she also admitted that it's easier said than done. "I have no idea how."

"The Pitt" may explore elements of Dr. Melissa King's innermost thoughts, but not everything makes it on-screen. In an interview with The Playlist, Taylor Dearden revealed that Melissa King actually has a fascinating back story — one that helped inform her embodiment of the character. "Yeah, it was cool, we sat down in pairs and told our backstories. So it was me, Dr. Cassie McKay, and Fiona Dourif, and they went through the whole backstory with us. It was fantastic," she gushed.

While this might all sound incredibly interesting, most fans of "The Pitt" will never get the chance to learn about Dr. King's full background. The reason? Her life story only exists to aid in Dearden's interpretation of her — not to entertain viewers. "Most of it will never come up on screen, but it was for all of us [actors] to have something to anchor us when we started," Dearden shared. "The way it's written is much more organic and less expository. The backstories weren't necessarily in the script, but endlessly helpful." 

Ultimately, this means that fans who want to understand King on a deeper level will have to pay attention to the subtleties in the script. While not everything about her character will be revealed, her lines oftentimes hint at the greater forces in her past that motivate her present.

Back stories are not the only way that Taylor Dearden seeks to give Dr. Melissa King a little bit of extra character. The actor has also relied heavily on her improvisation background to shape King's persona. In one key scene, Dr. Langdon hit his hand against a doorway, and King imitated him right back. While King's response was not written into the script, Dearden decided to go for it because it felt lighthearted and right. Apparently, in moments like these, Dearden is grateful for her improv background. "That's where the improv training really, really helps ... Some actors will read something and it goes against character in some way and they'll just do it anyway. And you can tell," she told Collider.

Dearden's ability to pursue more genuine moments for Dr. King, though, is largely due to the support of her directors and cast mates. Whereas some creatives hate it when actors go off-script, the team at "The Pitt" has applauded Dearden's authentic portrayal of her character. "I come from improv. So I warn a lot of directors to pull me back if I get too big," she told AwardsWatch. At times, Dearden said, she would do something funny and expect her acting to get cut. "I'm like, 'There's no way they want to keep that,' and everyone would be like, 'Keep doing that,'" she recalled. This team-wide support allowed her to bring Melissa King to life.

The characters of "The Pitt" are known for their on-screen chemistry. According to Taylor Dearden, this is actually a reflection of how well the cast members get along in real life. Speaking to Decider, the actor explained, "We all hung out a bunch — before we got too exhausted while shooting — which was really fun." She went on to share that some cast members even get together to play poker, while others split off to enjoy "their own little groups."

In the same chat, Dearden said she gets along with the younger cast members — although she admitted that they aren't that much younger than the older actors on "The Pitt." "Me, Gerran, Shabana, Supriya, and Isa would hang out," Dearden revealed. Fascinatingly, Isa Briones — who plays Dr. Trinity Santos — knows exactly what it's like for Dearden to have a famous parent. Briones' own father is Jon Jon Briones, who played Hermes alongside her Eurydice in the 2024 Broadway production of "Hadestown." 

Because of Taylor Dearden's incredible dedication to acting, her father, Bryan Cranston, thinks she's even more talented than him. "She is far beyond where I was in my 20s as far as ability. She is a super talented young lady," Cranston told People in 2020. The veteran actor has also noted that his daughter understands just how much sacrifice goes into an acting career. In a 2025 conversation with People, Cranston explained, "She's a very observant young woman, and she saw her mom and I going through our lives, and I was 41 when I got 'Malcolm in the Middle' and had a solid hit show." This means that Dearden watched her parents struggle before Bryan Cranston's stunning net worth skyrocketed. 

In the same 2025 interview, Cranston added, "Before ['Malcolm in the Middle'], I was a working actor. I did a few series that didn't last. It's like it's up and down and up and down. You just stretch out the dollar to be able to say you're still an actor." The fact that Dearden accompanied her parents through the highs and lows of their acting careers has — in Cranston's view — prepared her for the challenges of pursuing a career in the entertainment industry. "She knows that it's a long haul. This is a marathon for a career," he said. Of course, the proud papa didn't forget to say that "She was terrific" on-screen.

Some celebrity children go years without finding out their parents are famous. Taylor Dearden, meanwhile, watched her dad, Bryan Cranston, thrive in a challenging industry. Because of this, Cranston says he doesn't always feel compelled to give his daughter acting advice. Instead, he prefers to lead by example. 

Chatting with the Associated Press, the "Breaking Bad" star noted, "As far as advice, I think she — because I'm her dad — she picks up advice hopefully by the way I behave in this business and navigate my way through." In terms of more direct acting advice, Cranston told the outlet that he does his best to steer clear. "But I don't ever say, 'Now young lady, here's some advice I want to give you.' It's like, kids don't want to hear that. They don't want to hear that," he joked. 

So far, it seems like Dearden has done just fine without her dad's constant pointers — even Cranston has just about admitted as much. "She's doing great, and the show is fantastic," he said. Earlier in the same interview, Cranston clarified that his daughter's success has left him feeling incredibly happy. "There is nothing more gratifying than when your kid receives praise. Nothing. No one could say anything to me that's better than that," he shared.