Layla Mohammadi and Amanda Morrow Bring the Heart back to Sacred Heart Hospital in the Scrubs Revival
By Elizabeth Paige Richardson | February 25, 2026 | Best TV Shows, Celebrity & Culture
SCRUBS, Pictured: Amanda Morrow, Layla Mohammadi (Credit: Jeff Weddell/DISNEY)
I was much too young to watch Scrubs when it was originally airing on NBC in the 2000s, but during the pandemic lockdown I became obsessed with watching each season on my parents’ extensive DVD collection.
Now the show is back with a batch of new episodes, revived by ABC 16 years after it went off the air following its ninth season. It carries a familiar energy thanks to a few running gags—from J.D.’s (Zach Braff) iconic dream sequences to the return of a recognizable handshake with Turk (Donald Faison), the revival feels like an instant comfort watch.
There’s a healthy mix of old and new. Case in point: there’s a gaggle of new interns at Sacred Heart who find themselves in the same struggle that J.D. found himself in back at the start of the series, but with an added dose of modern problems.
But how have the halls of Sacred Heart been updated for the new era? I asked Layla Mohammadi and Amanda Morrow, who play surgical interns Amara and Dashana dealing with Gen Z problems in a hospital run by the old guard.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Right from the jump, I think that the show has a more modern take on some problems that I don’t think anyone would have predicted 20 years ago, or at least would have had the vocabulary to talk about the way that we do today. Was there anything in the script that jumped out to you as specifically speaking to our generation?
Layla: Yeah, I think episode two does a fantastic job talking about people who don’t have insurance and not being able to pay for their medicine. And the show does such a fantastic job at touching on those things in a comedic lens, but they are very much issues that we’re dealing with in real life.
Amanda: And socially, interpersonally, I think that the mentorships play a part, a huge part—especially the Black mentorship between Donald and I and Turk and Dashana is really important. And seeing a young Black woman excel in her field is something that we now have more of a vocabulary and we’re seeing more often and is highlighted in a way that it wasn’t before.
I think just like classic Scrubs, season one is really a great mix of these very heartfelt moments, but it also has a ton of laugh-out-loud moments. How did this season test your comedy chops? Did this feel like new territory?
Layla: I think there was nothing I’ve done before that was anything like this show. I don’t think there’s any other show that has a tone like this one. So it’s very specific. And just being able to, sometimes in a scene, you’re watching someone make you laugh and then you want to cry within the same breath.
I think they do such a great job at blending the two. And also the fantasy sequences are so much fun. You never know what crazy thing you’re going to be doing or getting to watch one of your co-stars do.
Amanda: I think this is a type of comedy I’ve never done before. And Scrubs, the tone is so specific. So to have the O.G.s there to really guide us through that and to also be brought into a world where the environment is full of play and you’re allowed to try new things and you’re encouraged to improv.
All of that took some warming up, definitely, but was so, so excited to be able to jump in. And echoing Layla, the fantasy sequences, I mean, it’s the best of both worlds.
Is there maybe a little sneak peek you could tell me—a favorite fantasy sequence that you guys took part of?
Layla: I just have to say, the fantasies are, they’re back. They’re better than ever. They’re all so funny though. And even the ones that we weren’t in, we would walk onto set and just see these insane sets being built every week.
The production team on this show was incredible. There’s just some crazy things that I don’t think people are expecting to happen this season.
Was there anything that you feel like you learned on set, maybe some advice on acting or tips or maybe even some medical lingo that you walked away with, as you were being surrounded by such an incredible and experienced cast?
Amanda: Yes, talking to our medical consultants on set was really, really insightful. And so I learned a lot about what it means to be specifically as surgical interns in the OR space and what that environment is like.
And I think I took away a commitment of craft for sure from Donald and Zach and Sarah and Judy and seeing the way that they approach these characters and their commitment to making this show great. And also just being great people with each other.
Layla: Yeah, that and just also they were very generous with letting us be on set even if we weren’t working. And me and Amanda took advantage of that a lot, and we would go and sit behind monitors and just try to learn as much as we can because no one can do it like they can.
I also was just struck by the portions where you’re talking or experiencing being a person of color or woman in the medical space. So, is there anything you guys have to say to the experience of being a person of color in the acting space, even right now?
Amanda: I think it’s really important to see the representation of a Black woman on screen being excellent and excelling in her craft without restraint or apology. And that’s something that I think Dashana embodies really beautifully.
And a testament to the writers also for bringing this character into this space and bringing women of color into this space and into the surgical field, which is known as being a boy’s club. I think that’s really, really important and I’m very glad that the show has highlighted that.
Layla: Yeah, and I think in a hospital, there’s so many people that come from so many different backgrounds and they don’t highlight it enough on TV. There’s doctors and surgeons and women who are doing these things every single day. And to just shine a light on them, I think, is very special.
Scrubs season 10 revival premieres on ABC on Feb 25 at 8 p.m. EST.
