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Sorting through old boxes recently, Dourif found receipts showing he ate nearly every meal for years at the Bear Cafe. \u201cI\u2019m not even sure he owned a pan,\u201d she said, describing a life spent among musicians from The Band and other local artists.<\/p>\n
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Over time, she\u2019s watched Woodstock and the broader Hudson Valley evolve, drawing more downstate transplants and a \u201ccooler\u201d cultural scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are great restaurants. There are young people. I have a few friends who have moved up and never go to the city,\u201d Dourif said. \u201cObviously, real estate went really crazy during the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, her routines haven\u2019t changed much: hiking Overlook Mountain, browsing Kingston\u2019s vintage shops and catching movies at Upstate Films.<\/p>\n
Now, Dourif is reaching a wider audience with her role as Dr. Cassie McKay on the HBO Max medical drama \u201cThe Pitt,\u201d whose second season is currently airing. Though she has worked with directors like Christopher Nolan (\u201cTenet\u201d) and Paul Thomas Anderson (\u201cThe Master\u201d), the series has brought a new level of visibility.<\/p>\n
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The Hudson Valley connection extends to the set. On her first day, Dourif was surprised to find head makeup artist Myriam Arougheti, whose family has known hers for decades. The moment underscored what she described as a close-knit, almost familial atmosphere behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew my mom before my mom passed,\u201d Dourif said. \u201cWhen I saw her there, I was like, \u2018What the f___ are you doing here!?\u201d<\/p>\n
She credits the show\u2019s success\u00a0\u2014 including major awards and strong viewership\u00a0\u2014 to its focus on flawed, human characters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all trying to do our best,\u201d she said. \u201cThe show is about people trying to be kind in difficult situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
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To prepare for the role, the cast underwent two weeks of medical training, learning everything from suturing to diagnostic basics. Medical professionals remain on set to ensure accuracy.<\/p>\n
Despite the intensity of the material, Dourif said the production runs smoothly, with a structured schedule that allows the cast and crew to maintain a life outside work. Landing the role in her 40s, she said, felt \u201clike winning the lottery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just an extremely well-oiled machine. Everyone is so professional and so happy to be there,\u201d Dourif said. \u201cWe\u2019re always wrapped by 6:30 p.m. We just work from Monday to Friday. Everyone has a family and life they want to go back to.\u201d<\/p>\n
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She hopes the show\u2019s success encourages more productions to return to Los Angeles and embrace a traditional, craft-driven approach to television.<\/p>\n
\u201cA good set makes all the difference,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s storytelling, writing, performances\u00a0\u2014 and a crew that really knows what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WOODSTOCK\u00a0\u2014 Fiona Dourif likes to say she didn\u2019t just grow up in Woodstock\u00a0\u2014 she was born into it.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[38895,611,844,158,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-184309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-hvculture","9":"tag-hvexp","10":"tag-latestnews","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-news","15":"tag-new-york-state","16":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","17":"tag-new-york-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}