'St. Denis' star Josh Lawson: 'You want a surgeon to be cocky'

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Josh Lawson says the bravado he exhibits as his character Bruce on St. Denis Medical, airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC, is appropriate and even desirable for a surgeon.

In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Lawson, 43, analyzed the humor the medical comedy derived from his character.

"You want a surgeon to be cocky," Lawson said. "I don't want my surgeon to be self-effacing. I want them to be like, 'I got this. Trust me. You're in good hands.'"

Lawson's co-stars David Alan Grier, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Allison Tolman previously told UPI they enjoy self-deprecating humor. But Lawson said it was important to creators Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer that the show is never making fun of Bruce.

"I remember vividly them saying, 'Make sure you realize he's very good at trauma surgery,'" Lawson said. "The joke wasn't that he was confident and bad."

Some of the surgeries Bruce must perform on St. Denis Medical are more unorthodox than the ones he trained for in medical school. In a recent episode, a patient came in with an engagement ring stuck on his private parts.

Bruce attempted to use one of his collectible samurai swords to remove it, allowing Lawson to practice some physical comedy.

"Obviously, that sword is blunted," Lawson said. "I feel more comfortable if it is heavily rehearsed, just so I know the physical stuff, I do it enough so that it gets into my muscle memory."

As annoying as Bruce can be, such as dancing to the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" before surgeries, his patients typically wind up healed. Lawson believes the amount of schooling it takes to become a surgeon has earned Bruce some legitimate confidence.

"By the time you get there, you've been praised quite a lot so I think ultimately his ego is bolstered as you go through the training," Lawson said. "I think Bruce takes it to the extreme but it's been fun to play someone like Bruce."

Playing Bruce required Lawson to learn some basic techniques like intubating for scenes on the show. He also has to memorize a healthy amount of medical jargon for his dialogue.

"You know the blood pressure cuff, that's called a sphygmomanometer," Lawson said. "I'm probably saying it wrong but I'm not far off."

It is not only his medical prowess that contributes to Bruce's confidence. He also likes to flex his muscles in his OR scrubs for the cameras. Like The Office, the premise of St. Denis Medical is that a documentary crew is filming the hospital.

"I think Bruce, in Bruce's mind, looks like The Rock but he does not," Lawson said. "I think he's very aware that the camera is there. I think he's always trying to put his best foot forward in front of it."

Bruce's biggest rival at St. Denis is Dr. Ron (Grier), a veteran emergency room doctor. Bruce and Ron bonded in last week's episodes when they tried to fix the pipes together.

Lawson believes there was always love underneath Ron and Bruce's antagonistic ribbing of each other.

"I think they pull each other's pigtails but I think ultimately they've got a brother relationship," Lawson said. "I think they tease each other but ultimately they defend each other to the death if they had to."

Ultimately, Lawson believes Bruce's cockiness transcends surgeons or people showing off for cameras.

"The joke is really that there's someone like Bruce in every workspace," Lawson said. "Someone who's a bit of a blowhard, who you roll your eyes at. Eh, he's harmless but oh my God, a little bit of Bruce goes a long way."

Lawson has also filmed the sequel to Mortal Kombat, in which he plays the video game fighter Kano. Lawson said he did learn some fight choreography for the films, but prefers to let his stunt double Ben Siemer do as much as possible.

"He looks really good at it," Lawson said. "I would look like I just learnt it."

Lawson said he has a lot of scenes with Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) in the sequel. He also noticed the script picked up on the improvisation he did in the previous film.

"They really locked into Kano's syntax in this new one so I didn't need to improvise nearly as much," Lawson said.