A shining light in The CW series 4400 – airing Mondays on the network – is the character of Andre who is affectionately called “Doc” by other characters. A doctor from the 1920s displaced to today, Andre is determined to help as many others as possible and wishes for more knowledge of modern medicines to assist the others in the group. Last week’s episode “Harlem’s Renaissance Man” explored Doc’s backstory; we were able to talk to actor TL Thompson about the role and what they bring to this groundbreaking character for sci-fi TV on a show that more people really should check out.
You can find the interview below; a new episode of 4400 airs tonight (November 22) at 9PM ET/PT on The CW.
KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: As an actor, how nice is it to be on a series that does individual spotlights on it’s an ensemble, the way that 4400 has?
TL THOMPSON: It’s really nice, I feel like it’s especially nice with this story, because you do have so many people from disparate times that it’s really cool to be able to go back and see each person’s past, so that you as an audience member are more informed as to why they are making the decisions that they’re making. I feel as an audience member, that’s always my favorite part of a show is, seeing “how did we get here?” Some of my favorite episodes to read were the other characters’ episodes, so I could get an idea of where they kind of came from as well.
What are some of the larger surprises that Andre has seen in modern medicine?
I think he does say something in one of these episodes about an X-ray machine. He’s never seen an X-ray machine! He’s trying to take a pulse, just with his stopwatch and his fingers! Everything has kind of blown his mind.
You’ll see in further episodes that he’s learning more about why they’re all where they are, and there are certain sort of medical things that they’re discovering. And even that, he doesn’t know what that is. He knows World War I medicine, he knows immediate care, but he was also doing research on bronchial infections. That’s also something that’s really interesting, that he was doing research on respiratory illness, and now we have popped into 2021 post-COVID. So that’s interesting.
Can you talk about Andre sharing his truth with Shanice and how she accepted it?
I think that Andre and Shanice have such a beautiful bond; a trauma bond, perhaps, with both of them being dropped into this crazy circumstance, but they meet every night at this bench. And I feel like out of all the people at the hotel, he’s opened up the most to Shanice, previous to this big reveal, and so it only feels natural for him to share this ultimate truth to her. He even says “I know that I’ve done this before, I do not want to do this again.” That’s one of the things that I really appreciate about Andre, is his adaptability. Not only as a medic, not only as a trans man in the 20s… he is not only able to be popped from the 20s to now, he is the most able to adapt, more than anyone, I think, in the 4400 so far.
Can you talk about his reaction when he found out about Noah?
When I saw that in the script, I wanted to make sure that… sometimes Andre is kind of the funny guy, and I wanted to make sure that that moment was not a funny moment. I wanted you to see Andre understanding that there is another way to be trans – to be non-binary – to be whatever he is. Times have changed so much that it is possible to be something else. And Andre is so non-judgmental that that absolutely could not be a judgmental moment as well. One of Andre superpowers, I feel, is his listening ability. He does not judge. He says, “okay, this is what it is. Got you. Okay, what do we do next? You need help? You need this medicine? I don’t even know what it is, but you need it. I got you.”
Can you talk about Andre’s friendship with LaDonna?
I think that he appreciates LaDonna, because he sees that she’s mad smart. He’s not looking at people for what they can offer him; he’s looking at people for what they just have. He sees an intelligent person, and so he’s like, “hey, you and me, maybe we could do a thing. What else are we doing?” She’s teaching him a lot about a good hundred years that he’d missed. They help each other in these ways. She helps to feel seen by Andre. And, you know, he learns from her. Their Sherlock Holmes thing is really adorable.
Can you talk about Andre felt when he wasn’t one of the four people given a day release?
Yeah, he was definitely really, really disappointed about that. I mean, he considers himself an important member of the crew, and he’s a doctor. He needs to be updated on all of these new advances that he’s missed. And so he feels that’s a slight. He feels like they’re not understanding his importance in this. So unfortunately, what happens is that he’s not getting that recognition, so he goes and tries to make something happen on his own, which, as you see, was not the best plan.
Do you think Doc sees the characters’ abilities as like a mystery to solve, kind of like the bronchial issues were a mystery to solve in the past?
Absolutely. When Doc gets attached to something, he needs to see it through, like the bronchial research stuff.
He feels like he is the only one that can figure it out. No one else is even trying. He’s trying to figure it out. The government’s not talking to him, so he’s got to do it on his own. Thankfully, he’s got people that trust him in order for him to experiment, but as you see, some of them don’t really work out so great.
Can you talk about his relationship with Cynthia?
Yes. Cynthia was his love in the 20s. They were trans folks living in secret. They had community, but it was small, and it was secret. We learn this later in a future episode.
So, the whole idea that it is possible to have Gay Pride or hold hands with your love outside was not a thing for him. Their love was beautiful, but also, their world was very small. Andre loved her a lot.
Well, I read on your website that in addition to acting, you’re also a writer and you’ve written many things. Would you like to talk about that?
I am a New York Neo-Futurist which is where we try to do 30 plays in a hour, and they’re all plays that we write; like two-minute plays. So you can get through maybe about 30 plays in an hour. We never play characters; we always play ourselves. So we write little skits about our lives, and we would do that Friday and Saturday. It’s kind of like a Saturday Night Live in the sense of that you have to always be writing things, so that definitely got me into a crazy writing practice.
I was also in the writers’ room for These/Thems, which is a web series. We were writing Season 2 of that, before I got this job, and now I’ve moved to Chicago and making things happen over here.
Also, I do a lot of voiceovers. I did 400 Souls on Audible. I’ve done the Magic: The Gathering video game, I was the first sort of trans character on that, in that game.
As an actor, can you talk about the importance of bringing a character like Andre to the screen?
I know every day that I show up on set, that I am doing something that, as far as I know, has not been done before. I’ve seen Black, Trans leading characters, but I have not seen a Black, Trans series regular on a sci-fi show. I think that is amazing. I love sci-fi. I saw the original 4400; I always thought there were not enough Black people in the sci-fi that I’ve seen on TV. I read a lot of Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin, so I knew it was possible, but I had not seen it.
I am just so happy that young little non-binary and trans people are going to see somebody on screen that is not a villain, that is not demented in some way. They are just a good person trying to get through the day, trying to get through this crazy circumstance everybody’s been thrown in. I’m just so dang proud to be able to bring this man into the sci-fi canon.
