'Do No Harm': On location in Philly

Philadelphia's most gifted neurosurgeon has a very dark secret.

That's the premise of Do No Harm, the new NBC drama premiering Thursday night at 10 p.m. that is set and shot in Philadelphia.

Steven Pasquale stars as Dr. Jason Cole, the pride of the city's apocryphal Independence Memorial Hospital.

Pasquale also plays Cole's alter ego Ian Price, a havoc-wreaking wild man interested in only three things: sex, drugs, and then more sex. In the tradition of Jekyll and Hyde, they're having trouble coexisting.

On this unseasonably warm day in December, Dr. Cole is ascendant, but not happy. He storms out of the surgical suite, peels off his gloves, exchanges angry words with his supervisor (Phylicia Rashad), tears off his blood-splattered paper surgical gown and stomps down the blue-tiled corridor.

The director has Pasquale and Rashad shoot the sequence over and over, for a 10-second scene.

A couple of floors at the Philadelphia School District building on North Broad are doing a good job of imitating a hospital.

But around the corner from the action, a security guard snoozes in a wheelchair, and over by a bank of elevators that go nowhere, extras and crew members lean on the counter of a pretend nurses' station as they chat.

In another corner, 20 people in identical scrubs and surgical caps wait for their far-ups. They sit at folding tables, checking cell phones, or reading newspapers, sipping coffee. It's a hub of inactivity.

Do No Harm has a couple of other regular haunts, including Northeastern Hospital, used as Independence Memorial's entrance, and a house at 21st and Spruce Streets, which doubles as Dr. Cole's domicile.

But they spend most of their time at the School District. Trailers for the primary cast members line North 15th Street.

For Pasquale, shooting the series here is "a bit of a homecoming. I'm from Pennsylvania."

Actually, he's from the Sweetest Place on Earth. His father worked for Hershey for 30 years.

"We had sweet access to all the new products before they came out," he recalls. "We'd test the new candies, like Kit Kats and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I had friends who were like, 'Let's go play at Steve's house because he has chocolate.' "

Being the lead in a one-hour drama is a taxing gig for an actor. Playing two leads means you're in virtually every scene. It's the Patty Duke daily double.

"From a logistical standpoint, playing two guys means I'm here 14 or 15 hours a day," Pasquale says, sitting in the set for Dr. Cole's office with its degree from Liberty Bell University on the wall.

"I have to be here first thing in the morning and I have to go to the gym before that," he says. "I play this guy who has a sexy nightlife. He always ends up half-naked with a gaggle of girls. The last thing NBC is going to want is a fat dude." He laughs with abandon. "So I have to build in my gym time."

That doesn't leave much time to explore the city. "I'll sleep in on Saturday and then cruise around," he says. "Rittenhouse Square, where I live, is a great neighborhood."

He's amazed at how often he's hailed on the street. "There's a lot of Rescue Me fans in Philly," he says. Pasquale played White Sean on Denis Leary's firehouse drama. "I get recognized more so in Philly than I do in some other places."

Alana de la Garza plays Dr. Cole's colleague and love interest. (Romance gets complicated when you're time-sharing your body with a sociopath.)

The actress, who spent four seasons as assistant district attorney Connie Rubirosa on Law & Order, spends more time in the city than any of the cast. Traveling back and forth to Los Angeles on weekends isn't feasible with her 2-year-old son, Kieran.

Fortunately, she's found the city very kid-friendly with attractions such as the Please Touch Museum and Sesame Place and the "amazing" Smith Memorial Playground and Playnouse in East Fairmount.

As a self-professed foodie, she's also found a lot to like. "The burgers are incredible at Village Whiskey. And the duck-fat fries!," she enthuses. "Barclay Prime is delicious. Serafina, Pietro's, I love the food in Philly. I'm a total Philly-head."

Until now, Phylicia Rashad has had only sporadic experiences in the City of Brotherly Love. "Howard University students were always coming up to Philadelphia, but I never came," she says of her coed days in Washington, D.C. " 'Going up to Philly!' 'Going to Philly. There's a party there'.

"The longest time I spent in Philadelphia was in the pre-Broadway run of The Wiz," she says. "We were here for two weeks at the Forrest Theatre. That was many moons ago.

"I've been here a couple of times with Mr. Cosby, of course," she says of working with one of the city's most famous native sons. She played Clair to his Cliff Huxtable for eight seasons on The Cosby Show. "We shot an episode that had some filming at the Penn Relays, and I've been a guest at his home."

Shooting the first season of Do No Harm has given her a new appreciation. "I like Philadelphia very, very much," she says. "I like the people. It's a city that makes me want to walk, day or night, and I like that."

The show tries to integrate local references. Dr. Cole gets Phillies tickets right behind home plate as a birthday present. You see him riding SEPTA's regional rail. "It's a true Philadelphia story. We mention Tacconelli's Pizzeria in one episode we just shot," says Pasquale. "I'm proud to say I got free pizza out of that."

Probably worth getting up at the crack of dawn for extra work in the gym.