Pop-Culturalist.com

Natasha Calis and Morgan Holmstrom are on the front lines of the must-see medical drama, SkyMed.

Now in its second season, the nurses and pilots flying air ambulances in Northern Canada face all-new challenges as SkyMed expands, throwing them into intense emergencies at work and in their personal lives. In the end, they face what it means to grow up and must decide whether they’ll do it together or apart.

Both women brilliantly illuminate their roles, infusing profound depth into their characters. One moment, you find yourself sharing laughter with them, and in the next, you’re overcome with emotion, tears streaming down your face.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Natasha and Morgan about SkyMed Season 2, how their characters overcome trauma and adversity, the exploration of identity, the women in their life who have inspired them, and more. Plus, Natasha and Morgan share a fun fact about each other!

PC: Natasha, it’s such a testament to the entire cast and the trust that you all have built with the writers’ room that you all are able to bring so many impactful stories to life with so much care. More so than any other character on the show, they’ve thrown so much at Hayley. What was your reaction when you initially read her journey in Season 2? How did you prepare to tackle that arc?
Natasha: That’s a great question. I really love sinking my teeth into roles that are far from who I am and my own personal experiences. The interesting thing about SkyMed Season 2 is that we didn’t get all the episodes all at once. All the scripts weren’t written or accessible to us. So we got two scripts at a time. Then throughout the season, we found out what was happening as we were filming. With that said, I did have a one-on-one with Julie [Puckrin], our incredible showrunner and creator of this magical show before we started filming. She would tell us the arc and what our character is going to go through.

That meeting with Julie was very fun and exciting when she was telling me the journey that Hayley was going to go through. I immediately started thinking about how I wanted to portray that and do it in a real, raw, and authentic way that was equally heartbreaking but also inspiring. I had a lot of fun. It was obviously very heavy and emotional. I can’t count how many times I cried this season, but it was an important story to tell. It was inspiring that she finally does come to terms with everything and finally accepts and acknowledges all the past traumas that she’s been carrying that have been weighing her down and she’s been pushing down for all this time. It was a beautiful and inspiring thing to finally be able to see her face those head-on.

PC: Morgan, so much of Crystal’s arc this season is about bringing her whole self to work, and she struggles to find that balance, which you brought so much nuance to. As an actress who always brings so much of herself to her craft and her characters, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into that arc and contrast?
Morgan: So much of what Crystal’s going through is the opposite of Natasha and Haley’s contrast. It’s very personal. It felt like it was reflecting a lot of my personal life onto the screen as well. When you deal with identity and you deal with an industry that doesn’t always see the whole you, it doesn’t feel like you can always bring your full self to the field. What I like about this season is that she’s really struggling with self and identity. She’s finding her way of navigating that alongside Dr. Yana and realizes that she’s going through a similar thing as well. They can bond over that and the reality that they are a lot more similar than they are different.

Dr. Yana is also a person that’s a big mentor to Crystal. Even though she doesn’t necessarily have the same points of view because the field can get to you, weigh you down, and make you second guess yourself. Crystal really starts to put her foot down and says, “No, I’m going to be myself. I’m not going to let anybody tell me otherwise,” whether it’s a field I want to be in or not. It’s either they take me or they don’t, but it takes a little while to get there for her. Obviously, there are some ups and downs with that, but they did find with the writing and the character that balance between losing yourself and finding yourself again.

PC: It’s so satisfying for viewers to watch as well. Natasha, in a series where everything is so high stakes, it’s also really refreshing to see those light-hearted moments where these characters are able to let their hair down and we see their lives outside of work. How fun is it for you to bring that levity to the series and get to play in those different spaces? What was your favorite adventure that Hayley got to go on this season?
Natasha: It’s so much fun. We say this all the time, but we have such a great group of people that we have the pleasure of working with. Our cast is truly the best bunch of humans and we all get along so well. In those scenes where we’re all off duty and hanging out, it’s truly a reflection of our real friendship, it’s really a treat. It’s really fun living in those moments on camera.

My favorite adventure that Hayley went on? There were so many. The one that comes to mind is on one of our first days of shooting, we were snowshoeing.

Morgan: [laughs] Oh yeah.

Natasha: It was fun. It was both of our first times snowshoeing. It took a minute to get the footing. I felt like I had two left feet and it was hilarious. This isn’t off duty, but we had a new plane this year with a hydraulic rig, so the plane actually did move whereas in Season 1, we would use camera angles and lean in certain ways. But this year, it was a lot more real and authentic as the plane would actually move and shake, which added a whole new element of adventure and was also helpful during those scenes to be in it and feel those things. Those are two that came to mind.

PC: Definitely. Morgan, like you were just saying, Dr. Yana really takes Crystal under her wing and becomes a mentor to her. Who were the women in your own life who have shown up for you in a similar way? Did you channel any of them into that dynamic?
Morgan: Aw, what a great question. All of the women in my life are such powerhouses; I look up to my mom and my grandma so much. They have sacrificed everything in their lives for me to be here and do what I do. My mom grew up extremely poor in the Philippines. My grandma went through a lot of trauma with residential school. Channeling these women who have been through so much and have put their hearts on the line for everything that they do in life, just for me to be here and to have my dreams is everything to me.

With Dr. Yana being a mentor and everything she’s been through in her life, that’s really reflected in all of the women in my life and everything that they’ve given up to do what they’ve done in whatever field they’re in for me. They’ve given all of themselves. I really see the similarities between Dr. Yana and those women.

PC: This is a question for both of you. I love the friendship that has formed between your two characters and how they’re always uplifting one another. You’ve been able to bring your off-screen dynamic to that. Because you two are such good friends, what’s one fun fact that fans would be surprised to learn about your co-star?
Morgan: [laughs]

Natasha: [laughs] Great question!

Morgan: I always make fun of Natasha because she finishes drinks so fast. I will be sipping a drink and not be halfway done, and hers is fully empty. That’s for everything; smoothies, coffee, everything. I wish I could drink it that fast because mine will sit there for hours and I can’t finish it. [laughs]

Natasha: That’s so funny and very true. Morgan is an excellent tarot card reader. She’s so talented and her readings are so accurate. She’s so passionate about it and everything comes true. That’s one of my favorite things about Morgan is her tarot card abilities.

PC: They are very different. [laughs] There are so many possibilities where this series could go. If we’re lucky enough to get a third season, is there an aspect of your character that you’d like to delve deeper into or a relationship/dynamic that you want to explore more?
Natasha: Wow. I’m excited, fingers crossed if there is a third season, to see what world Julie creates for us. I mean with Hayley, I didn’t see the Wheezer-?Hayley relationship happening. So the fact that that happened and it was so fun to play with, I think it read really well and was such a beautiful relationship of two people hurting, coming together, loving each other, and supporting one another. That was beautiful. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you. I’m just excited to see what other surprises they have in store for us next season.

Morgan: Exactly. I don’t know where Julie’s going to take it, so we’ll see. There’s one character who Crystal didn’t have any interactions with this season, it’s Sydney Kuhne’s character, Stef. I’d like to maybe see them together at some point.

Natasha: Maybe a girls’ night.

Morgan: Maybe like the bachelorette party from the first season.

Natasha: Yeah, girls’ night out!

Make sure to follow Natasha (Instagram) and Morgan (Instagram). Season 2 of SkyMed is out now on Paramount+.

Photo Credit: Caitlin Cronenberg/Paramount+