‘Pulse’ cast and character guide: Meet the residents of Netflix’s new ER-set series

Willa Fitzgerald as Danielle “Danny” Simms

Willa Fitzgerald’s first TV role found her acting opposite John Goodman and Billy Murray on Amazon Prime’s Alpha House (2013–2014). The Nashville-born actress returned to Amazon for a key supporting turn in Reacher‘s first season (2022). She’s likely best known for leading MTV’s Scream series (2015–2016), though she turned heads as the star of last year’s indie thriller Strange Darling (2024).

Fitzgerald leads Pulse as Danny Simms, a third-year medical resident who recently filed a sexual harassment claim against her boss, Dr. Xander Phillips.

“There’s a lot there,” Fitzgerald told Glamour about the role. “Danny’s kind of in a powder keg situation, where not only does she have this romantic relationship that’s creating conflict in her life at work, but she also works with her younger sister, and they have a very complicated home-life history.”

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she elaborated on the “ill-fated” relationship between Danny and Xander. “As much as they love each other, there’s an essential mismatch happening, which is deeply tragic, and I think it’s done in a really cool way in the season,” she said.

Colin Woodell as Xander Phillips

Colin Woodell has appeared in several hit shows, including ABC’s Devious Maids (2014), The CW’s The Originals (2014, 2018), and Max’s The Flight Attendant (2020). He recently played astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the Scarlett Johansson-starring Fly Me to the Moon (2024) and led Peacock’s John Wick prequel The Continental: From the World of John Wick as a young iteration of Ian McShane’s Winston Scott.

Woodell’s Xander is a respected doctor from a family of respected doctors, but his integrity is called into question following Danny’s allegations.

He talked about the complexity of their relationship with Harper’s Bazaar, saying, “Personally, if I were to fall in love with someone and then have to see them every day at work, [I’d think about] how hard that would be. I think there’s a part of him that wonders how he’ll be able to even function.”

Jessie T. Usher as Sam Elijah

Jessie T. Usher was a regular on Cartoon Network’s Level Up and Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse before landing the role of A-Train on The Boys, which he’s starred in across four seasons and counting. His film credits include Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), Shaft (2019), and Smile (2022).

Usher plays Dr. Sam Elijah, a third-year resident and close pal of Danny’s.

After saying Pulse has “the feel of early Grey’s Anatomy,” Usher told ScreenRant that it was a refreshing experience after so many years on The Boys. “I didn’t realize how dark and twisted my filmmaking mind had been until I got over to a show where we’re saving people instead of killing them,” he said. “So, it’s just nice to flip the switch.”

Jack Bannon as Tom Cole

English actor Jack Bannon is a TV regular in the U.K., and likely best known to American audiences for Pennyworth (2019–2022), a prequel series about Batman’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and his past in the Special Air Service (SAS).

Bannon stars as Tom Cole, a second-year resident with an irresistible accent and a wandering eye when it comes to the women in his life. Speaking with Tudum, Cuse revealed that the character wasn’t written as English. “We loved [Bannon] so much that we adjusted the role to fit who he was as an actor.”

Justina Machado as Natalie Cruz

Justina Machado first charmed audiences as Six Feet Under‘s Vanessa Diaz in all five seasons of the HBO series. In the years since, she’s been a regular on several beloved series, including Jane the Virgin (2016–2019) and One Day at a Time (2017–2020). In 2020, she was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, landing in fourth place alongside partner Sasha Farber.

Machado’s Natalie is the hospital’s chair of surgery and emergency medicine, meaning she winds up right in the center of the mess between Danny and Xander. The creators have big plans for her if the series gets picked up for more seasons.

“Justina Machado is so amazing, and I’m really excited personally to dive into her as a character separate from the Danny issue,” Robyn told EW.

Chelsea Muirhead as Sophie Chan

Prior to joining Pulse, Chelsea Muirhead starred on Slo Pitch (2020–2022), a Canadian web series that later found a home on IFC, and the Max series Warrior (2023).

Muirhead’s Sophie Chan is a surgical intern with a fierce work ethic and an uneasy relationship with Bannon’s Tom.

“She’s very close to me,” Muirhead told Yahoo Canada about what appealed to her about playing Sophie. “In the breakdown, we don’t really get much information, and I just take whatever job comes around, but as we were working on her, the most interesting thing for me playing Sophie, something that I really wanted to inject into her … career and life, was all of her fears, all of her hopes and dreams. I wanted to make sure she was a three-dimensional person, so I injected a lot of myself into her to try to figure out some stuff.”

Daniela Nieves as Camila Perez

A former telenovela star, Daniela Nieves found success in the States with leading roles on Nickelodeon’s Every Witch Way (2014–2015) and Peacock’s Vampire Academy (2022).

A third-year medical student, Tudum describes Nieves’ Camila Perez as being “optimistic despite long hours and an endless workload.” A key part of Camila’s arc is her friendship with Muirhead’s Sophie, whom she helps to lighten up and focus just a bit less on work.

“[When] you’re working so hard your whole life, … trying to be a surgeon, … something I think that’s pushed to the side is a little bit of life,” Muirhead told Yahoo Canada about her character’s relationship with Camila. “She’s learning how to have friends and how to ask for help and how to live, not just be alive.”

Jessy Yates as Harper Simms

Jessy Yates was previously a series regular on Apple TV+’s Me (2024) and the PBS children’s show Skillsville (2025). Like many young actors, she appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2021).

Yates plays Harper Simmons, Danny’s younger sister who is also on her way to becoming a doctor. Like her character, Yates uses a wheelchair. “Jessy came on set and did such an incredible job. She really blossomed,” Robyn told Tudum. “I think the sister relationship between Harper and Danny is very deep, and they made it so.” 

Fitzgerald discussed Danny’s relationship with Harper with Glamour, saying, “Being an older sibling, so often your responsibility is to protect, care for, and be a secondary parent to the younger sibling or siblings. I think it’s really complicated to navigate that sort of dynamic when there’s past guilt involved, and when there’s a workplace involved in the present.”

She continued, “Those two things come in conflict a lot, and there’s also the very real growing pains of being stuck in the past with someone who doesn’t want to be stuck in the past anymore. In some ways, Danny is handling her sister with kid gloves because of Danny’s own guilt. I think that’s a really hard thing for both parties in that situation to tolerate.”

Jessica Rothe as Cass Himmelstein

A budding scream queen, Jessica Rothe arrived on audience’s radars as Tree Gelbman, the hero of slasher-comedy Happy Death Day (2017) and its 2019 sequel. On television, you might have seen Rothe on Amazon Prime’s Utopia (2020) and Netflix’s Virgin River (2024).

A senior ER nurse, Rothe’s Cass is balancing the breakneck pace of her impossible job while navigating a love triangle with Tom and EMT Nia.

Arturo Del Puerto as Luis Dominguez

Arturo Del Puerto’s television career encompasses network staples (Chicago P.D., NCIS, CSI) and critically-acclaimed dramas (For All Mankind, Fear the Walking Dead). He’s also appeared in films like Ride Along 2 (2016) and Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).

Along with Rothe’s Cass, his Luis Dominguez is an ER nurse. Tudem describes his character as “unflappable amid the chaos — and never sacrifices his signature wit.”

Ash Santos as Nia Washington

Bronx-born Ash Santos has worked with two of today’s most prolific TV makers as a regular on Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018) and Taylor Sheridan‘s Mayor of Kingstown (2023–2024).

As Santos tells it, she auditioned three times for Pulse — first for Camila and then for Cass — before scoring the role of EMT Nia Washington, the third part of the love triangle also involving Tom and Cass.

“Nia Washington is from a small town in Florida and comes from a huge family,” Santos explained to What’s On Netflix. “She’s Dominican like me and comes from a family where being a paramedic was one of the most incredible things she could ever do with her life because most of her family tends to just stay in that town, as not a lot of opportunity is afforded to them.”

Néstor Carbonell as Dr. Ruben Soriano

Veteran film and television actor Néstor Carbonell rose to prominence on turn-of-the-century sitcoms like Suddenly Susan (1996–2000) and The Tick (2001–2002) before playing the mysterious Richard Alpert on Lost (2007–2010) and Sheriff Alex Romero on Bates Motel (2013–2017). Last year, he won an Emmy for his guest turn on FX’s Shogun.

Carbonell’s Ruben is a senior surgeon who’s described as “respected and sometimes feared.”

“We wanted some actors with authority that would lead this hospital, and we wanted them to be Latino doctors because this is Miami,” Cuse told Tudum. “And Miami is really a Latin city. We couldn’t have asked for two better people than Néstor and Justina, who are really good friends off-screen.”