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In the Hulu series The Patient, Dr. Alan Strauss holds conversations in his head with his dead therapist Charlie. Alan is trapped in a serial killer’s basement, and his imagined therapy sessions help him to process what is happening to him. Here’s where you’ve likely seen the actor who plays Charlie, David Alan Grier, before.

David Alan Grier as Charlie in The Patient. Charlie sits in a chair wearing a brown jacket and blue button-down.
David Alan Grier as Charlie in ‘The Patient’ | Suzanne Tenner/FX

David Alan Grier plays Charlie in ‘The Patient’

The Patient Episode 6 introduces Alan’s dead therapist Charlie. Alan holds conversations with Charlie in his head as he tries to process what’s happening and figure out how to proceed.

Charlie helps Alan as he struggles to treat Sam, who wants to stop committing violent acts. He also helps Alan process his confusing dreams and his plans to escape.

Here’s where you’ve likely seen David Alan Grier before

David Alan Grier plays Charlie in Hulu’s The Patient. Grier graduated from the Yale School of Drama with an MFA and earned a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his Broadway performance as Jackie Robinson in The First.

One of Grier’s first on-screen performances came in 1984 when he landed a role alongside Denzel Washington in A Soldier’s Story. Set at the end of WWII, the story follows a Black Army investigator looking into the murder of a Black sergeant in the Louisiana backwoods.

Grier has also had a host of television acting roles. He appeared in the Emmy Award-winning series In Living Color, as well as DAG and Life With Bonnie. According to IMDb, Grier also wrote and produced the comedy series Chocolate News for Comedy Central.

Finally, Grier has lent his voice to a host of fictional characters. He was a voice actor for National Public Radio’s adaptation of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in 1980 and the fourth actor to voice Clifford the Big Red Dog. Grier also voice acted for children’s shows such as Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child.

Charlie shows that therapists need therapy too

David Alan Grier’s character Charlie has another role in The Patient. He introduces the idea that therapists need their own therapists too. Alan, in particular, has a lot to process. His wife Beth died of cancer shortly before his kidnapping, and he is estranged from his son Ezra. Charlie helps Alan process all of this.

An article by Forbes discussed the benefits of therapists seeing their own therapist. “Therapists benefit greatly from ongoing therapy not only when they are experiencing problems in their personal lives, just like anyone might, but they may need it in order to prevent professional burnout or ‘compassion fatigue,'” the outlet wrote.

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Additionally, Alan uses Charlie to bounce ideas off of Sam’s Treatment plan. It also allows him to explore things he may be avoiding. “Having the opportunity to get therapy allows you to explore your own personal issues in a safe space so that you become familiar with some of your ‘blind spots,’ ‘hot buttons,’ and issues that, if not addressed, may become problematic once you’re a therapist,” Forbes wrote.

Clearly, Charlie is an important character in The Patient, but so far, Alan has failed to really take any decisive action in order to escape.

Watch new episodes of The Patient every Tuesday exclusively on Hulu. 

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