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Code Black: Benjamin Hollingsworth takes Mario Savetti to the next level

By Brittany Frederick

"Cabin Pressure" -- Over the radio, Leanne and Jesse talk a young girl through how to use the supplies on board a small plane to build a makeshift defibrillator when her mom, the pilot, loses consciousness mid-flight. Also, Rox and Willis are taken hostage at gunpoint while on their way to meet the plane at the landing site. Julitta Scheel, Marcia Gay Harden's daughter, stars as Ruby Harris, the young girl on the plane, on CODE BLACK, at a special time, Wednesday, May 30 (9:00-10:00PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Benjamin Hollingsworth (Dr. Mario Savetti) Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"Cabin Pressure" -- Over the radio, Leanne and Jesse talk a young girl through how to use the supplies on board a small plane to build a makeshift defibrillator when her mom, the pilot, loses consciousness mid-flight. Also, Rox and Willis are taken hostage at gunpoint while on their way to meet the plane at the landing site. Julitta Scheel, Marcia Gay Harden's daughter, stars as Ruby Harris, the young girl on the plane, on CODE BLACK, at a special time, Wednesday, May 30 (9:00-10:00PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Benjamin Hollingsworth (Dr. Mario Savetti) Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /
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Code Black’s Benjamin Hollingsworth is facing new challenges — and new opportunities — for Mario Savetti. Here’s what he told us about Code Black season 3.

Code Black star Benjamin Hollingsworth has always been able to take his character in new and compelling directions, but the current season of CBS‘s medical drama is his best performance yet.

Dr. Mario Savetti is now a third-year resident at Angels Memorial Hospital, and that comes with a lot more responsibility — but also even more to learn — for one of the show’s standout characters, as Benjamin told FanSided when we spoke to him ahead of tonight’s two new episodes.

“It takes him a little bit, because he has the skill and knowledge, and instinct, to know what to do in those situations,” he said. “But the tricky part is it’s not just some random doctor he’s having to manage; it’s his friends and more importantly, his girlfriend.

“It’s tricky enough to manage that relationship between boss and employer,” he continued. “And girlfriend and boyfriend, that dynamic is already pretty tricky. So you’ll see it kind of manifest and develop, and you’ll see him try to get more and more comfortable in that position.”

But it’s not just Mario’s budding relationship with Dr. Noa Kean (Emily Tyra) that’s challenging him in Code Black season 3. While his love life has been part of these early episodes, we’ve also seen him have to face his past as a recovering drug addict, and also reconsider some of the decisions that he’s made as a doctor.

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He’s no longer the slightly cocky, little bit brash newcomer that we met in the first season, and that’s what’s made the performance of Benjamin Hollingsworth so memorable. All TV characters ideally grow each season; that’s what they’re supposed to do. But Code Black is so well-written that we’ve actually seen Mario Savetti significantly change over two-plus seasons, and the actor behind him has done a fine job illustrating all of his differences.

And now, as he accepts more responsibility at Angels Memorial and learns to deal with everything that means, he’s going to have new roadblocks thrown in his way to overcome — and for him to improve from.

“There are situations this season where Mario is constantly tested,” Benjamin explained. “Similar to the first year, where as a resident you’re constantly put under the microscope to see if you have what it takes, third year you’re kind of auditioning for an attending position, because after your third year that’s it. After your third year, you’re done being a resident.

“So for Mario, he’s really put to the test this year time and time again and we’ll see. The interesting part is, is he successful? Does he fail?”

Code Black
“Cabin Pressure” — Over the radio, Leanne and Jesse talk a young girl through how to use the supplies on board a small plane to build a makeshift defibrillator when her mom, the pilot, loses consciousness mid-flight. Also, Rox and Willis are taken hostage at gunpoint while on their way to meet the plane at the landing site. Julitta Scheel, Marcia Gay Harden’s daughter, stars as Ruby Harris, the young girl on the plane, on CODE BLACK, at a special time, Wednesday, May 30 (9:00-10:00PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Emily Tyra (Dr. Noa Kean), Benjamin Hollingsworth (Dr. Mario Savetti) Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /

Every character on Code Black has had their fair share of changes, but Mario has gone through one of the biggest transformations, not just as a doctor, but as a person. We’ve seen him hit some lows and climb up to some highs, while also changing the way he practices medicine and the way he looks at the world.

Benjamin told us how his perspective on Mario changed since that first season.

“I had done a lot of backstory and took some creatitive liberties in kind of mapping out who Mario was, over and beyond this confident first-year resident who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder,” he reflected. “As the [first] season developed, I had some really great storylines. Michael Seitzman is fantastic about writing these arcs that really color in the blanks, as far as what he’s been through in his life and why he might be this way, and the obstacles he’s had to overcome.

“You watch him on-screen go through these difficult moments. He’s not just maturing as a doctor but he’s maturing as a man, and I think that’s really interesting to watch. There’s still more levels to Mario to uncover and see.

“One of them is, we’ve seen him at the surface level in his relationship. We haven’t seen him really fall in love with a character yet, and what that might be like for Mario, and has he ever loved anyone before?”

Something it’s clear that he loves is Angels Memorial Hospital. One of Code Black‘s most unique aspects is its depiction of staff turnover, and that’s resulted in Benjamin Hollingsworth and Harry Ford being the only two actors whose characters made it to the third year of their residency.

It’s an interesting situation for any performer, losing people that you’ve worked with and come to know, while also welcoming in new people and forming new relationships. But in this case, it’s also added another layer to our understanding of the characters who’ve stayed.

Mario’s gained a girlfriend and a lot of experience, but he’s still at the hospital passing on that knowledge to the newer residents, and still trying to fight the good fight. You get the sense that he could easily be one of those veterans — like Dr. Leanne Rorish (Marcia Gay Harden), Dr. Rollie Guthrie (William Allen Young) or nurse Jesse Sallander (Luis Guzman), the man who shepherded him around on that first day — who never leaves.

For a character who was introduced with his own fair share of difficulties in the past, who could be a little reckless, he’s now become someone with a sense of purpose who’s helping other people to figure their own directions out.

“I think we represent on the show what’s true to any hospital, is that some leave and some stick around,” Benjamin told us. “I think when you walk into a county hospital, you see doctors like Mario. He’s really a rock star when it comes to being a doctor. He’s definitely earned his stripes there, and the next step is that he’s auditioning this year to be an attending.”

While we may not know if he lands that attending position, since Code Black has been cancelled by CBS, we will get to see Mario Savetti take several more steps forward in his journey. This season’s brought the character into a whole new phase of his career and his life, and cemented Benjamin Hollingsworth’s status as one of TV’s most promising performers.

Next: 5 reasons CBS shouldn't have canceled Code Black

Two new episodes of Code Black air tonight at 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. on CBS. For more Code Black season 3 news, follow the Television category at FanSided.