Michelle Asante and Pieter Le Roux
3 March 2011
A star of ITV1's major new drama series, Monroe, prepared for her role in the show by spending time with a surgical team from Epsom and St Helier hospitals.
Actress Michelle Asante, who plays shy junior doctor Kitty Wilson in the primetime medical drama, shadowed one of the Trust's leading surgeons, Mr Pieter Le Roux, as he and his team spent a day in the operating theatre and assessing patients on the wards.
Michelle appears alongside Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt, and Sarah Parish (Mistresses, Cutting It) in the show, which will hit our screens on Thursday 10 March at 9pm.
Michelle, who watched as Mr Le Roux performed keyhole surgery to remove a kidney from one patient and open surgery to remove part of a kidney that contained cancer in a second, said: "Spending time with the surgery team was an incredible experience. I'm sure most people have seen an operation on television, but to see it happening in real life is something else entirely. It gave me such an insight into the world of surgery, and showed me just how hard staff in the operating theatre work. Spending the day at the Trust showed me how it really is.
"My character is a junior doctor, so she's still learning and trying to become more confident, so watching a consultant do his job - not just in the theatre, but also interacting with patients on the ward and teaching the junior doctors around him - was really, really helpful."
Mr Le Roux, who has worked at the Trust for eight years and performs hundreds of operations each year, said: "I am really pleased that Michelle enjoyed her time with us and she found it to be informative.
"I love my job, so it's always a real pleasure to be able to share my experiences and to help people understand more about working in the operating theatre of a large hospital."
Michelle Asante and Pieter Le Roux
Michelle added: "I'm really excited about Monroe. The writers, director and cast were all fantastic, and I'm sure that within the first 10 minutes of the first episode, you'll feel your heart strings being pulled. The show has so much humour and so much heart - there's definitely something in there for everyone.
"I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Epsom and St Helier hospitals for having me, and for taking the time to show me around and answer all of my questions - I don't think I stopped asking questions all day!"
