Ato Essandoh tells how The Code has challenged him

Ato Essandoh is taking on a new challenge as Trey Ferry on CBS’ The Code, and explained how it differs from playing Isidore Latham on Chicago Med.

While Ato Essandoh has been missed on Chicago Med, that’s because he’s kicking butt and taking names on his new series The Code.

Ato stars in the new CBS drama as Major Trey Ferry, an experienced prosecutor who’s part of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps and aims to dispense military justice in the courtroom. It’s a great role for him, and also a change of pace.

One Chicago Center connected with Ato ahead of tonight’s new episode to talk about what hooked him about The Code, and his thoughts on not having Dr. Latham around Chicago Med as often this season.

Get the latest from Ato Essandoh in our interview below, then make sure you tune into The Code tonight at 9 p.m. on CBS!

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One Chicago Center: What was it about The Code that made you want to join the show in the first place?

Ato Essandoh: I wanted the challenge of doing a procedural. I was also a little scared of doing a procedural, because sometimes I feel you can get stuck in a rut. But I talked to Craig Sweeny, the showrunner, when they were pitching it to me—and what he described was something that was a really compelling bunch of characters.

And I just wanted the challenge of trying to get to know what it was like to be a Marine, what it is to be a lawyer, what it is to live to that standard of being basically the law enforcement arm of the armed services. I took that challenge and I have not looked back yet. I had a great time shooting everything.

OCC: Your Chicago Med character Dr. Latham is head of his department; now you’re playing Trey who has to operate within a very strict military system and answers to someone else. Are there any similarities between the two or is what you do on The Code totally different?

AE: There are similarities in sort of the rigidity of everything when compared to my character on Chicago Med. There’s a ritualistic part of the military, where everything—the way you’re dressed, the way you stand, the way you talk—is all sort of orchestrated in a ritualistic way and that’s what I really see as the similarities.

The differences are I think it’s easier to speak about medicine, because medicine is something that we not necessarily know, but we all have bodies and we all sort of understand where things are even if the words that describe them are pretty big. Whereas the law is cerebral. It’s all conceptual, so it’s hard to parse out what we believe in until you really, really dig into the language. That’s the thing I found very challenging with trying to tell the story as a human being, but I think we found it and it’s really fun to pull all that stuff off.

OCC: Is it interesting to be a regular again and help build The Code, instead of guest-starring on a show like Chicago Med where you’re coming into something that has been established?

AE: Absolutely. I’ve made a lot of my bread as a guest star; I’m always coming into someone else’s house. So it’s nice to be apart of the family from the get-go. It’s lovely to be building something, and see where these characters go, and to know that I’m going to be there.

I’m not waiting for someone to write something for me. I’m being written for. That’s one gift of being a regular; you get to be in on the creative process. Craig will call me and be like, what do you think Trey should do next? Or here are my ideas of where Trey goes, what do you think about that? And that’s lovely. That’s worth the price of admission.

OCC: In our interview with Colin Donnell we talked about the impact not being able to write for Latham has had on Connor’s development this season. What do you feel, not being involved in everything that’s gone on with that character in Chicago Med season 4?

AE: It sucks for Colin, I feel like, because it’s hard to get me—so it’s difficult for him as the regular when the guest stars aren’t regular for him. I think that what was great for our dynamic is there’s the two opposite characters working together. and Connor is the greatest when he’s up against sort of an immovable object. It fuels his passion.

I think that’s what Latham supplied for him. He always had a wall to butt up against, and to learn something, and to also teach something. It was a really lovely dynamic he and I had on Med, because I wasn’t just his teacher—I was also learning and developing from him. It was really great. We should do a buddy movie at some point.

OCC: Even though you’ve been missed on Chicago Med, it’s been great to see your success with projects like this and Altered Carbon. What have the last two years been like for Ato Essandoh?

AE: It’s ratcheted up in the last two-three years and it’s a little tiring, because there’s a lot of jockeying to make the schedule work. There’s a lot of balls I’ve had to keep up in the air and you get a little schizophrenic…It’s a lot to keep straight, but it’s the life I’ve always wanted. Coming from where I was as a chemical engineer, this is literally the life that I imagined for myself, so I feel really lucky that I get to do this.

For the latest Chicago Med season 4 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.