The Pitt Star Isa Briones on Returning to Broadway, Her 'First Real Love' in Just In Time

Viewers of The Pitt were treated to a satisfying post-credits karaoke scene in the season two finale of the HBO Max show, in which Isa Briones (Dr. Trinity Santos) and Taylor Dearden (Dr. Melissa "Mel" King) let their hair down and perform a duet of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know." In an impressive feat of acting, Briones disguises her Broadway-caliber voice while in character, practicing "primal scream therapy." Off-screen, her pitch-perfect pipes won't come as a surprise to Broadway fans. She was born into a theater family—her father, Jon Jon Briones and her mother, Megan Johnson Briones met while performing in the German production of Miss Saigon. Her brother Teo is an actor as well, most recently seen in the horror film Final Destination Bloodlines. Briones made her Broadway debut in 2024 as Eurydice in Hadestown, alongside her father as Hermes.

Rather than taking what would be well-deserved time off in between shifts at The Pitt, Briones chose to return to Broadway as Connie Francis in Just In Time. Two weeks into performances at the Circle in the Square Theatre, she opens up about finding catharsis as Connie and her onstage chemistry with incoming Bobby Darin, Jeremy Jordan. Plus, she shares her hopes for Santos' character development in The Pitt season three and who she's manifesting as the next of her coworkers to come to Broadway.

You grew up in a musical theater family. Was that always what you wanted to do?
For the most part. Growing up, I was always around theater people. I think that was the biggest draw for me. I thought theater people were the coolest, which is funny because now I know that that's not really the case. We're kind of seen as the nerds. But I just thought, people working in a show together, it's so fun. They go out after the show and they debrief on how the show went and there's all these inside jokes. I was the one kid surrounded by all these adults doing this amazing thing. I was just like, "I want to be around these people forever." Then once my family moved to L.A. to start trying to audition for film and TV, I don't remember this, but they told me I was like, "So when am I going to start auditioning?" I guess I had made my decision at that point.

How old were you when that happened?
I was eight.

Did your parents always encourage you to pursue acting as a career?
I think they knew that they couldn't say no, because how hypocritical would that be? I think when I said that, they were like, "Oh god, here we go. We did this to her. We doomed her to a life of no money, and that's awesome." But no, they were so supportive. I think they knew that yes, this life is hard, but we chose it, and it's beautiful. If this is what she wants to do, then this is what she wants to do.

After your breakout as Natalie in the East West Players production of Next to Normal, you moved to New York to audition for the Hamilton national tour.
When I was doing Next to Normal, that was when I was like, "I think I need to pursue theater specifically." So I went to New York, lived there for about a year, was auditioning and working at a restaurant. Then finally, I got Hamilton and that took me on tour for a year. I kept trying to be like, "I'm going to live in New York." Then I kept being taken elsewhere.

Do you feel like that tour experience prepared you for Broadway?
Oh my god, yeah. The tour to me was the biggest thing in the world. I was like, "If this is the biggest thing I do, that's fine." It was unbelievable. I was 19, and I had felt some weirdness about, "Should I have gone to college?" But then doing that was like, "This is my education. I'm just learning on the job and what a gift."

At 19, you were the youngest person on the tour.
At the time, I think I was the youngest person to be hired, and definitely the youngest person to play a principal role at that point.

And that was a lengthy audition process?
At first, I got a general audition for the women in the show. Then they called me back for Eliza. For the next nine months, they kept calling me in for Eliza, every month or every other month, and kept being like, "You're still too young." Finally, they were like, "We want you to come in for [the dual role of] Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, and then we're going to turn this into a track that covers Eliza so that you can grow into it." That final audition for Peggy/Maria, I was getting the full move to New York treatment where I had the stomach flu and bedbugs. I was recovering from all of that. I hadn't eaten in five days. But I was like, "Hey, you know what? Maria is not supposed to be well, so I guess this works."

You’re an experienced stage actor, as well as continuing to work onscreen. How do you balance the two?
I think I have to have both. Theater is my home, and I'm so, so lucky to get to do TV—and to do a show that has become this big is just insane. I still can't believe it. But I think I need theater to come back to. It is the thing that fills up my cup more than anything. To get to do it even for a couple months is amazing. I've had so many moments, especially this time around, to be like, "Wow, I can't believe once upon a time I dreamt of maybe one day being on Broadway, and now I'm doing Broadway as my side job." That's so crazy. Like, what kind of life is this? I'm the luckiest person in the world.

What made Just In Time the right show for you to return to Broadway with?
When I saw it with Jonathan Groff [as Bobby Darin] and Sarah Hyland [as Connie Francis], I was like, "This is just two hours of pure joy." The Pitt is not really pure joy. It's quite intense. Even the musicals I've done have been quite intense. Hadestown of course has a message of hope, but it's definitely a lot, and Next to Normal, my god. It's nice to do something where I'm just having so much fun. I get to sing beautiful songs and wear a pretty dress and be with such wonderful people. The cast is so incredible. Everyone is so lovely. As soon as I left the theater—I was beaming, and my partner was with me—he was like, "I think you need to do this, because I haven't seen you smile like this in a second."

You started performing alongside Matthew Morrison as Bobby Darin, and now you'll be with Jeremy Jordan. How have those experiences differed?
Well, the funny thing is I only really rehearsed with Jeremy before I went on. I only rehearsed with Matthew one time before we had our put-in, which was insane. Then all of a sudden I was on with Matthew, and I was like, "Oh, here's different stuff." We've gotten into our groove, but I'm so excited because everyone has such a different take on Bobby. Matthew has been so incredible, and it's been such a brief, beautiful moment, but now Jeremy gets to come in and make it his own. In a way, it does feel like we did craft a bit of our show together, so that's really cool. We made chemistry together instead of being thrown together. I'm so excited for him and for Carrie [St. Louis] to come in [as Sandra Dee]. She's just so incredible, and it's going to be really fun.

What has been your favorite part of being in the show so far?
It's such a good community. This always happens, at least for me, but I think it's universal for actors where certain roles come along at the right time. I've felt most connected to playing Connie, especially when she's singing "Who's Sorry Now," being a performer and putting on the pretty dress, smiling and performing happiness or success while feeling something else on the inside. Going through one of the hardest things you've had to go through in private, but putting on this facade of, "I'm a superstar." All this has felt cathartic, because this is a time in my life where…I've never experienced this kind of success before The Pitt. I've never been on a hit show before and all of a sudden people see you and know who you are and project a lot of things onto you. People don't really see you as a person. They just see you as this figure, and you can be going through some really hard things on the inside, but performing a certain facade on the outside. There's something kind of lovely about getting to play that out through a different character and through a different era, but it still all is true.

Beyond that connection, how do you approach portraying a real person onstage?
The team of the show provides everyone with resources to watch and read. I've been reading [Francis'] book while I have a break [after Act One]. I enjoy analyzing people as I'm watching them, so I've watched a lot of videos of her trying to almost do the parasocial thing that people do with me, like, "What is she thinking? What's going on?" I think she was so strong. There's a lot of focus on how her father ruled her life. At that time, women couldn't even have a bank account. She was the star and she was making the money, but other people were reaping the rewards. It just shows how incredible she was. She recorded all of her music in every language. She was this amazing businesswoman. It's a really complicated thing that is also a result of the time. But unfortunately, things like that still reign true today in the misogyny that has continued in the world. It's always interesting to draw the parallels from then to today.

How does it feel being able to connect with audiences in real time in the show, compared to filming The Pitt and waiting for reactions as the episodes air?
It's very different. I love the intimacy of it. That's my favorite thing, is when theater can feel like the audience is another character in the show. I feel like that's how it should be, like the audience is the final actor that didn't show up until performances. An audience changes the show so much. It always affects us and how we perceive what's happening. It's a give and take. Knowing people know who I am going into the show—it feels like there are fewer stakes when people don't know who you are. But now people do and it definitely changes things and there's an expectation. It also means that sometimes people don't fully know where the boundary is, because they've seen me on TV and now that I'm in front of them they think that they can touch me or they can talk to me. That's not really how that works. I've had to calibrate for this new version of what coming back to theater means. Sometimes I am like, "I wish it was the simpler, I just go and do my show." But it is also amazing that people who are a fan of me from TV get to see me in person and also see me do something different. Like, I'm a fan girl. I have fan-girled over a lot of things and I love getting to show my appreciation for someone's work. When it's that pure, "I want to go see them and I want to support them," it's really beautiful.

As Dr. Santos in The Pitt, you portray a very different kind of complicated character. What do you like most about playing her?
It's funny, I say complicated, and that's not a bad word. I would hope that everyone is complicated. Every single human is. That's what a character should be. That's just, I think, the baseline. Even though things have changed, and we're so much more aware of it, it's still insidious how for so many female characters, we have to make them palatable and likable. If they're not, then they're a bitch. It's so interesting. I love getting to play a girl who is not just the girl next door, even though that's a wonderful character as well and has her place. But I do love getting to be someone who does not have to be liked. I feel like it's a good reminder for me, like I don't need to always care what people think about me. I don't need to always make myself smaller to make other people feel comfortable. I appreciate playing a woman who doesn't do that or at least puts up the facade that she doesn't have to do that, but of course, always feels the urge because that is so ingrained in how women move through the world. I also love seeing the people who respond to the character who are like, "Oh, I finally see this." So many women always feel like the villain when it's just us drawing a boundary. It's cool to see women be like, "This is me, and I can proudly connect to this character. I've been through a lot. I'm not always going to be the smiling, happy, I'll do anything and you can walk all over me kind of girl. I'm going to actually stand my ground."

What do you hope to see for Santos in season 3?
I hope that she can let her guard down more and actually admit that she wants friends, and admit that she has a friend. It's Whitaker. She does care for him and there's so much love there. I want her to play nice with others at recess a little more and let people in.

You’ve spoken about the importance of Filipino representation in the show. Is it true that you asked to change your character’s last name to reflect her Filipino background?
When they first cast me, it was a different name. I think they probably would've changed it anyway, because it just didn't match my background and what I look like. But I also wanted to be involved in the decision of what the last name was. I messaged them and was like, "Hey, if we could change the name to a Filipino last name, I would really love that. Here's a list of some names that I've thought of and we can talk about it." Then they landed on Santos. People ask about that as if it's this big thing, which it is. Historically, it's a big thing because years ago this would not have happened. But it shouldn't be a big deal. It should be that you cast who you cast and then you tailor the role to the culture of the person who is playing it. I'm so glad that I'm on a show where that's just a part of what we do. I hope that it continues to be like that instead of, "We need to check this diversity box."

Did you have any inkling of how big The Pitt was going to be when you were first filming?
I think seeing the Noah Wyle name, I was like, "Oh, he's got followers. There are a lot of moms out there that are going to ride for him." But you just never know, especially with a medical drama. There's a faction that's like, "I watch medical dramas." But then seeing it cross the barrier into mainstream, like, everyone is watching, I really did not expect that.

In what ways has the show's popularity changed your life?
It's definitely strange. I've had a lot of moments of realizing I have to change the way I live. It's such a blessing, but also there's a bit of mourning. I can't really move through the world as anonymously as I once did. That's kind of sad because I don't always want to be on display, but it's also the career I've chosen, and that is one of the markers of success. I asked for this, but also this is crazy. The goal of getting to act is just to be able to maybe get a few guest star roles, be able to pay bills and get to have a roof over my head and food to eat while doing something I love. So to get to this point, I never really expected this to be me.

What other Broadway roles are on your bucket list?
Definitely The Baker's Wife is a big goal. Into the Woods is a huge dream for me. Also, if they ever recreate the Cabaret movie musical, I want to f**king get in there as Sally Bowles.

You and your The Pitt co-star Patrick Ball are both on Broadway, and Sepideh Moafi will soon be off-Broadway. Who are you casting next?
Everyone should do it! I want everyone. Supriya [Ganesh] did a play last year in San Diego. I would love for her to get to do something on or off-Broadway, because she's a New York person. She moved to L.A. for The Pitt, and now she's kind of stuck there for other reasons. But I want her to come back to New York and I want her to do theater. Also, Lucas Iverson comes from theater. He's a Yale boy like Patrick, and he's incredible. I'd love to see him do something not in the realm of being the unlikable med student.

He's going to be in Shakespeare Theatre Company's Othello in Washington, D.C. this May.
Yes. Exactly. So it's like everyone is doing theater, but I want everyone to do it in New York at the same time as me so we can all then do post-show drinks all the time.

Get tickets to Just In Time!