Brilliant Minds is an American medical drama television series created and written by Michael Grassi for NBC that is inspired by the Oliver Sacks books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars.
Cast and characters
Main
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Zachary Quinto as Oliver Wolf (named after Oliver Wolf Sacks), an attending physician in Neurology at Bronx General Hospital
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Ted Sutherland as teenaged Oliver Wolf
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Jaden Waldman as young Oliver Wolf
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Tamberla Perry as Carol Pierce, the chair of psychiatry who is Wolf's best friend
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Ashleigh LaThrop as Ericka Kinney, a first-year resident in Neurology
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Alex MacNicoll as Van Markus, a first-year resident in Neurology (season 1, recurring season 2)
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Aury Krebs as Dana Dang, a first-year resident in Neurology
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Spence Moore II as Jacob Nash, a first-year resident in Neurology (season 1, recurring season 2)
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Teddy Sears as Josh Nichols, the chair of neurosurgery who becomes Wolf's lover
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Brian Altemus as Charlie Porter, a new second-year resident in Neurology (season 2)
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John Clarence Stewart as Anthony Thorne, an attending physician in the emergency department (season 2)
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Al Calderon as Nurse Scotty Silva (season 2)
Recurring
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Donna Murphy as Muriel Landon, Wolf's mother, the chief medical officer at Bronx General Hospital.
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Alex Ozerov as John Doe
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Mishel Prada as Katie Rodriguez
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Rainbow Sun Francks as Morris Allen
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Julia Chan as Alison Whitaker
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Dorrett White as Nurse Carter
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Mandy Patinkin as Noah Wolf, a family medicine physician who develops a mentor relationship with his son Oliver.
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Gray Powell plays a younger Noah in flashbacks.
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Bellamy Young as Amelia Frederick (season 2), a clinical director of Hudson Oaks Behavioral Health Services Facility
Guest
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2024–25)
Season 2 (2025)
Production
Development
In November 2019, it was announced that the series was in development at Fox, with the network landing the project with a
Put pilot.
However, Fox did not go forward with the project. On January 24, 2023, the show's development was moved to
NBC;
it was given a series order on October 20, 2023. The series is created by Michael Grassi, and he is also expected to executive produce alongside Lee Toland Krieger,
Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman, Henrik Bastin, Melissa Aouate,
Andy Serkis, Jonathan Cavendish, Will Tennant, and
DeMane Davis.
Production companies involved with the series are Grassi Productions, Berlanti Productions, Fabel Entertainment,
The Imaginarium, Universal Television, and Warner Bros. Television.
Brilliant Minds was moved to the 2024–25 season due to strike-related production delays.
Casting
On February 23, 2023,
Zachary Quinto was cast to star.
In April 2023,
Teddy Sears, Tamberla Perry, Alex MacNicoll, Spence Moore II, Aury Krebs, and Ashleigh LaThrop joined the main cast.
On November 28, 2023,
Donna Murphy was cast in a recurring capacity.
In July 2025, Brian Altemus, John Clarence Stewart, and Al Calderon joined the cast as new series regulars for season 2, while
Bellamy Young was cast in a recurring capacity.
Filming
Principal photography for the series began on April 8, 2024, and concluded on August 23, 2024, in
Toronto, Canada.
Filming for the second season began on July 2, 2025 and is scheduled to conclude on March 31, 2026.
Broadcast
Brilliant Minds premiered on September 23, 2024, on
NBC.
The second season premiered on September 22, 2025.
In Canada, the series airs on
Citytv and is available to stream on Citytv+.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes reported an 88% approval rating based on 17 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Benefitting from a characteristically sharp performance by
Zachary Quinto,
Brilliant Minds is a medical procedural with brains but also a surprising amount of heart."
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Ratings
Season 1
Season 2
External links
