Healing and Performing: Jackie Dallas on Merging Medicine, Acting, and Advocacy

(Photo credit to JSquared Photography)

Written by Colleen Bement, Editor

Jackie Dallas is no stranger to transformation—on screen and off. Raised in a family of doctors in Florida, Jackie initially followed a traditional path—earning a degree in microbiology, attending medical school, and training in surgery and pathology. But the call to storytelling, first sparked as a child in a summer theater production of The Chronicles of Narnia, never left her. After relocating to Northern California and meeting her husband during residency, Jackie made the bold leap to pursue acting full-time, starting in the San Francisco indie film scene before landing her first major screen role in Stranger Things.

Originally from Syracuse, New York, this Korean-American television and film actress plays strong, fierce and emotionally grounded characters in some of television’s most-watched series. It started out with a breakout performance in Stranger Things and recent appearances in Magnum P.I., Criminal Minds, NCIS, and Fear the Walking Dead. Now, Jackie steps into the spotlight once again in The Hunting Wives, Netflix’s exciting new series. Nerd Alert News had the chance to chat with Jackie and we discovered more about her journey from operating rooms to movie sets, her dedication to portraying complex human experiences, and how her medical background continues to inform her creative and philanthropic work- especially in women’s health. Get to know Jackie Dallas and be sure to catch The Hunting Wives on Netflix.

Colleen Bement: Let’s jump right into your latest role in the brand new Netflix series “The Hunting Wives.” Tell us about your character Jia-Yi and what was the atmosphere on the set like? 

Jackie Dallas: Jia-Yi is a strong, fierce and ambitious woman, not intimidated by money or power, and I think that makes you want to love her! She’s got some sass and doesn’t take crap from anyone and I admire that about her. I would like to think that I am as tough and fierce as her, but maybe that’s just my inner monologue while I smile on the outside, LOL. But with that ambition, she makes decisions where the ends justify the means, and some of those choices might not be ones that everyone will agree with. But in the world of The Hunting Wives, everyone’s got secrets and ulterior motives, so I don’t suppose she’s any better or worse than the next. On set, it was so fun getting to play these bold characters together. I work alongside Brittany, Malin and Dermot and it really motivated me to be on top of my game to make sure that I could compete on screen with these stars.

CB: How did you prepare for the role?

JD: In preparation, I purchased the book that The Hunting Wives was based off of. It’s a best seller by May Cobb and I was about halfway through when I got the script in my email. So of course, I started reading the script. That’s when I realized that the show was a little different than the book and at that point, I decided to stop reading the book, so that I wouldn’t get the two worlds mixed up. I realized that Jia-yi was an original character in the show, and so from then on, I prepared for the role as I would any other.

CB: I read your bio, and I’m just being honest when I tell you that my jaw dropped as I did my research. Not only are you a super- talented actress, you are a doctor and an advocate for women’s health. I read that you collaborate with a female urogynecologist to improve access to educational content around pelvic floor health and related disorders, while also advocating for increased research, funding, and awareness. You’re absolutely amazing and I’m in awe. I’m just being honest! What sparked your interest to become an actor?

JD: I always wanted to be an actor. Even as a kid, I was such a ham about performing and playing make believe. I did a lot of theater camp, school plays, drama club and that sort of stuff, but when it came time to go to college, it just didn’t occur to me that acting was something you could pursue as a career. Meanwhile, I had grown up in a family of doctors, so medicine was familiar to me, and so I decided to study towards that without really considering doing anything else. But I won’t lie, medicine is a tough field. It takes a lot of schooling, and then long hours and little sleep when you’re training, and a tough skin to handle the stress and disappointment when things don’t go as planned. I initially went into surgery, because I appreciated the artistry of it, but realized quickly that I had a difficult time emotionally distancing myself from my cases. I then decided to pivot to pathology, because it had a much lighter clinical workload. 

But as life would have it, my husband, then fiance, got matched into Urology at Stanford in California and after some discussion and deliberation, we made the decision for me to leave my pathology residency in Chicago and move to California. I figured an M.D. was a pretty good back up plan, and so I told myself that I would give acting a try and over a decade later, I haven’t looked back! It’s funny because I think the sensitivity that made it hard for me to be a doctor is what makes me a better actor.

CB: You had a spot in the first season of Stranger Things,  It’s such a good show and I’ll be sad to see it go! Would you happen to have a story from the set?

JD: I was so green when I filmed on Stranger Things. It was my very first ‘big’ production and I was so nervous. I just remember desperately trying to be chill, but I’m sure everyone just knew! But everyone was really great on set. The Duffer Brothers even came up to me afterwards and was like “So how was that? Do you think that your character and Mr. Clarke might have a future together?” and I think that I totally botched that opportunity because I was trying to play it cool and probably came across just uninterested and whatever. Ugh… if I could go back in time, who knows what could have been!

CB: Do you have another project in the works that you’re allowed to tell us about?

JD: I’ve got a horror film coming up called Her Monster which was initially based on a short film that got lots of attention at festivals and so the creators decided to turn it into a feature. It’s a creature feature about a young girl who discovers a long lost artifact that unleashes a curse that’s been tied to the family for generations. We will be filming that in Phoenix in a few weeks and I’m really looking forward to it!

CB: Can you share a little bit about women’s health and what people can do to make a difference in either raising awareness or donating to a cause?

JD: As a woman, I understand the importance of finding providers who specialize in women’s health, because so much of the existing research is based off of men, and so little is known about certain female-specific conditions. And as I’ve learned more about my husband’s specialty, urology with a focus on women’s pelvic health, I’ve also met some incredible female physicians along the way. Through them, I’ve learned that there are so many treatable pelvic conditions, such as urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse or pain with intimacy, that are disregarded as ‘getting older’ or ‘because you had kids’ and not properly addressed or treated because either physicians brush it off, or women are too embarrassed to talk about it. I think the biggest thing to make a difference is to create discussion about it, dispelling the stigma surrounding pelvic health and raising awareness that there are treatment options available for these pelvic conditions that affect so many women, mothers, sisters and wives.

 CB: Let’s end with three rapid fire questions:

• Cake or Pie? Cake.

• Dawn or Dusk? Dusk.

Favorite country that you’ve visited? Spain.

 

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