Nicole Beharie Opens Up About Chris’ Emotional Morning Show Plot Twist

Spoilers for The Morning Show Season 4, Episode 5 ahead. Nicole Beharie didn’t expect things to get this real on The Morning Show. In an interview with Bustle, the actor opened up about her heartbreaking monologue in the Oct. 15 episode, after her character, Chris Hunter, confesses to breaking Olympic rules and tearfully explains the devastating reasons behind her actions.

Early in the episode, an anonymous social media account accuses Chris of doping while training for the 2016 Summer Games. While she’s advised to ignore the accusation, she discovers that one of her former high school teammates is behind the allegations, and decides to confront her live on a podcast hosted by UBN colleague Bro Hartman (Boyd Holbrook), who fans the flames between them.

Once faced with a steroid prescription, Chris ultimately cops to doping before the Olympics, after losing her son Amari in early labor. Her sponsors had dropped her when she got pregnant and Chris couldn’t keep up on the track, so she resorted to taking steroids in order to regain her strength and provide for her family, but quit using them before the Olympic qualifiers.

How Did Nicole React?

Speaking to Bustle, Beharie admits she didn’t see the storyline coming. “I was surprised when I read it that this is where we were going, because it’s such a departure from what Chris presented herself as and how people, I think, saw her last season,” she says. However, she thought “the writing was so beautiful,” and wanted to do the story justice.

To prepare for the scene, Beharie did her research in order to accurately reflect the experience of going through a pregnancy loss in the best way she could.

“I read a lot of stories about women who had traversed that particular incident, and all I can hope is that it resonates with people and they feel taken care of and seen,” she says. “I’m really excited that the show is taking a real look at, and that I get to embody, what it means to be a mom who’s ambitious and who has sacrificed a great deal to be where she is.”

Beharie’s co-star Karen Pittman also shared her take on the emotional scene, complimenting Holbrook for his work during Chris’ monologue. “He really holds you down in that scene,” she tells Beharie. “He was doing a great job.”

However, Beharie still has a bone to pick with his character. “Boyd was tricky on that. He was a great actor, but... there’s still a little something there. I’ll see him tonight. We got to work some things out,” she says, laughing, before clarifying, “No, he’s fantastic. I’m joking.”