North Carolina nurse lands Netflix role with no plans to give up ER day job

“Zero Day” star Eden Lee is balancing saving lives as a real-life emergency room nurse with her rising career in Hollywood.

The 34-year-old actress, who works in the ER at Atrium Health Union in Monroe, North Carolina, landed her first major role in the new Netflix political thriller limited series starring Robert De Niro.

During an interview with Fox News Digital, Lee explained why she decided to pursue acting while continuing to serve her community as an emergency medical professional.

“Acting is something I’ve always wanted to do ever since I was younger,” she said. “It wasn’t something that was particularly encouraged. It was seen as more of a hobby.”

“And so when I started settling into my career a couple years into working in the ER, I was very happy,” she continued.  “I found my now-husband. I was feeling very fulfilled in my career, yet subsequently I felt like… something was missing.

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“And so I started looking around and realized I now have the luxury of being a grown-up and making my own choices because I make my own money and let’s see what acting classes do for me.”

Lee, who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, told Fox News Digital that she initially planned to attend medical school. However, she decided that she wanted to “get to the bedside quicker,” so she declared nursing as her major.

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The New York native launched her acting career in 2017. She appeared in a string of short films before making her streaming debut in the 2021 Fox Nation holiday movie “Christmas in the Pines.”

Over the past few years, Lee racked up acting credits with guest appearances on TV shows like “The Resident,” “Dynasty,” “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” “Twisted Metal,” “First Wives Club,” “Found” and “Parish.” 

Lee also took on roles in the 2022 action film “County Line: No Fear” and the 2023 coming-of-age movie “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” based on Judy Blume’s 1970 novel of the same name. 

WATCH: ‘ZERO DAY’ STAR EDEN LEE SAYS SHE WON’T GIVE UP ER NURSE DAY JOB ‘ANYTIME SOON’

While speaking with Fox News Digital, Lee shared how she juggles her acting gigs with shifts in the ER. 

“Luckily, I’ve been an ER nurse for 12 years now, so I have a loyalty to my department, and my department has a loyalty for me, and so I’m offered a lot of flexibility and freedom to pursue my career,” she said.

Lee recently told the Charlotte Observer that as a PRN nurse, she works on an “as-needed” basis, which has enabled her to more easily divide her time between her two professions.

She explained to Fox News Digital that managing her busy schedule is a “matter of balancing it from week to week.”

“I pick my schedule at work in a way that suits me and suits my auditioning schedule, and if there’s ever times where I need to take an extended leave of absence, my department is very accommodating of that,” Lee said. 

Though Lee has now established herself as a working actress, she told Fox News Digital that she doesn’t foresee hanging up her scrubs in the near future. 

“I’ve been working professionally for a few years and, so luckily and thankfully, I have the luxury of honestly letting my nursing job go,” she said. “And my husband has from time to time been like, ‘You should just quit. Why are you still going?’” 

“And I worked really hard for this thing too,” Lee continued. “So emergency nursing feels very much a part of me as acting does.”

Lee said she enjoys each of her vocations equally, adding, “Obviously, there’s one I’m pursuing with a little bit more fervor, but I don’t see myself letting go of nursing anytime soon.”

The actress went on to say that she sees parallels between her two occupations, noting that they both require “empathy.” 

“I tell people all the time on both sides, whether it’s acting or in nursing, that I find that they inform each other very well,” she said. “Obviously, when I’m working as a nurse and working at the bedside, empathy and compassion is a big part of doing what I do.”

“And subsequently, I feel like working as an actor is a constant practice of empathy as well,” Lee continued. “And on my bad days, you know, I got to be a real good actor at work, too.” 

Lee recalled that there have been a “couple of times” when she has had to use her ER nursing skills while working on sets.

“There was a show that I got hired on to play a nurse and I realized very quickly when I got there that they were also in need of a little bit of medical expertise when it came down to handling some of the equipment,” she said. 

Additionally, Lee told Fox News Digital that she stepped in to help an injured actor during the filming of one of her projects. 

“There’s been an instance on a smaller scale working on a short film project with a friend of mine,” she said. “We had an actor get hurt when he was on set, and between the time it took for our onset medic to get there and between him getting injured, I was able to lend a hand in a situation that felt very crisis-like for a lot of people there.”

WATCH: ACTRESS EDEN LEE RECALLS USING ER NURSING SKILLS TO HELP INJURED ACTOR IN ‘CRISIS-LIKE’ SITUATION ON SET 

Lee told Fox News Digital that the “toughest part” of working as an ER nurse is “realizing over and over again that we live in a world that is less than ideal.”

“I feel very fortunate to be very well tied into my community, but at the same time, it is a privilege, but it’s also really hard to see all the things that people who don’t work in healthcare are not privy to,” she said. 

“And so I feel like my biggest struggle is realizing that the state of our country is the way that it is and, hopefully, what I do and how I participate in it is making it better,” Lee added.

“Zero Day,” which was released on Feb. 20, follows a “former US President, George Mullen (De Niro}, who is called out of retirement to investigate a devastating cyberattack,” which becomes known as “Zero Day,” according to a plot synopsis for the show. 

“As he delves into the event, he uncovers a web of lies, conspiracies, and personal betrayals that threaten to unravel the nation.”

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Along with Lee and De Niro, the six-episode miniseries features an ensemble cast that includes Angela Bassett, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Plemons, Connie Britton, Joan Allen, Bill Camp, Dan Stevens, Matthew Modine and McKinley Belcher III.

“Zero Day” marks De Niro’s first leading role in a TV series. The two-time Academy Award winner also executive produced the show along with creators Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim, and Michael Schmidt as well as director Lesli Linka Glatter and Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman.

In a recurring role, Lee portrays Special Agent Angela Kim, who heads the FBI National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force. Kim joins the Zero Day Commission, which is led by Mullen, as they work to uncover the culprits and motives behind the deadly cyberattack.

WATCH: ROBERT DE NIRO’S ‘ZERO DAY’ CO-STAR EDEN LEE REFLECTS ON WORKING WITH ACTOR 

During her interview with Fox News Digital, Lee reflected on her experience working with De Niro.

“I couldn’t in my wildest dreams ever imagine that I would be working with Robert De Niro,” she said.

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She continued, “I think every actor has this bucket list that in our wildest dream we would get to do, like go to the Oscars and work with Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep and so on. This wasn’t even on my bingo card.” 

“And working with him was such an eye-opening experience,” Lee added. “I think for me, my biggest takeaway in working with him is realizing that working really hard and being a kind person are really the key factors to making sure that you have a long and successful career.”

Lee also shared what surprised her most about working with the “Taxi Driver” star. 

“I think the thing that we as aspiring actors and looking up to people like Robert De Niro, we make some assumption that these people are infallible, and they’re perfect, and they must show up camera-ready every single day,” she said.

“On our early mornings, if there were days when he would trip up a couple of lines or things like that, it was just really eye-opening, right? It’s a consistent practice of showing up and working really hard,” Lee added. “But he comes in ready every single day, which is very impressive.”

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Lee noted that she didn’t ask for any advice or “sage wisdom” from the veteran actor.  

“He’s generally, I believe, a very introverted person. And so between takes and stuff, he keeps to himself,” she said. “I felt like watching him work was probably the best way to learn what I should be doing.”

Following “Zero Day,” Lee is continuing to line up new acting projects.

The actress told Fox News Digital that she recently wrapped filming on the independent film “Bedford Park,” the first directorial outing for writer and editor Stephanie Ahn. Lee said she is playing a small supporting role in the movie, which she described as “more of a coming-of-age romantic drama” that is “based on two Korean-American leads.”

As a Korean-American herself, Lee shared that it was “super important for me to make it into that project.” 

Lee also shared that she will be traveling to Atlanta to film a guest appearance in the long-running Canadian TV series “Murdoch Mysteries.”

“And so hopefully the train just keeps chugging along,” she said.

“Zero Day” is streaming on Netflix now.

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