St. Denis Medical's Mekki Leeper Loves The "Sweet and Sentimental" Season 1 Finale
The comedian talks about the joy of getting to play naive nurse Matt.
If there's a character on St. Denis Medical that most deserves our love and protection, it's certainly Nurse Matt. The sheltered child of a Montana family who doesn't believe in doctors and modern medicine, Matt's first year of nursing at the hospital has welcomed plenty of highs and lows for the earnest character as he's traversed a never-ending gauntlet of new things to experience.
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Comedian Mekki Leeper is the gifted talent who's brought Matt's trials and tribulations — not to mention his constant physical tumbles — to life all season long. Whether he's awkwardly crushing over travel nurse Serena (Kahyun Kim), or showing off his super basic magician talents to some bored kids, there's an endearing quality to Matt that makes him someone to root for week after week.
Ahead of the show's Season 1 finale, Leeper chatted exclusively with NBC Insider about what to expect in the last episodes, how he's a little bit like Matt, and his hopes for Season 2.
Matt gets fancy for the final episodes of St. Denis Medical Season 1
The whole St. Denis Medical creative family got two gifts in their freshman season, an extended pick-up of Season 1 episodes (18 in total) and an early Season 2 renewal. Because of that, Leeper said that there was an extra sense of joy heading into the season finale episodes.
"The finale was this great thing where it didn't feel like, 'Oh my gosh, this is so much pressure. This is my last chance to be Matt,'" he said of knowing they were coming back. "And I really felt like by then, everybody was in the pocket and having so much fun."
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The scale of their last episodes also meant Leeper got to introduce some Matty rizz into the hospital before the season finished.
"During the table read for the finale, we were taping our gala episode," the actor teased. "It's the only time that Matt is not wearing scrubs and I'm in a full tuxedo; the bit being that I am overdressed. So, I'm wearing a tuxedo to the table read and that was fun and I felt silly."
Stopping short of revealing whether Matt in a tux finally makes Serena do a double take his way, Leeper did admit how much he loves the finale for his character.
"We get to see a little bit of professional growth for Matt that I found very exciting and inspiring," he explained. "It makes me excited to see what he'll do next season, and hopefully beyond. The finale was really special, and it was nice to have an emotional finale without any of the actual finality. It was just sentimental and very sweet."
What's next for Matt in Season 2 of St. Denis Medical?
St. Denis Medical production is on hiatus until this summer, which means Leeper and friends have not yet seen any scripts for Season 2.
"I don't have any details at all yet, but I will say the fun and the privilege of being Matt is that he starts as like an egg, if you know what I mean?" Leeper said metaphorically. "He has such limited experience in relationships, of being a fan of pop culture and in his professional life, so any direction you move in at all is totally new territory for him. And that's really fun."
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"It's fun to be starry-eyed and excited in character because that's how I feel," he shared. "We film on the Universal [Studios] lot, so I really feel like Matt. So anything that they do for this man, I would love to play."
Catch new episodes of St. Denis Medical when they premiere on Tuesdays on NBC at 8/7c. Episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.
