The West Wing star Oliver Platt has revealed the learning experience he took on while playing a psychiatrist in a new medical drama.

Oliver, who is also known for his small screen roles in Fargo and Nip/Tuck, and movie parts in X-Men: First Class and 2012 plays Dr Daniel Charles in Chicago Med.

Oliver Platt as Dr CharlesOliver Platt as Dr Charles (NBCUniversal)

Speaking on the set of the show in Chicago, where Oliver has moved for production, he said: “The thing for me was to make sure that on a day-to-day level there was a realistic story engine there and I was thrilled to find out there was.

“An alarming percentage of people who walk into an emergency room are psychiatric patients and most of them don’t know they necessarily are and some do but don’t have any other place to go.”

Oliver Platt with S. Epatha MerkersonOliver with his co-star S Epatha Merkerson (NBCUniversal)

He added: “My character is nominally the chair of psychiatry and that would normally entail more administrative work, but I think this guy has made a deal with the devil and he is more interested in people who don’t have $400 an hour for mental health support. Those are the people that are walking into emergency rooms.”

He said he was fascinated by Dr Charles’s combination of instinct and experience, adding: “I think we all know people who have a certain radar or a gut instinct about other people.

Oliver with his Chicago Med co-starsOliver with his Chicago Med co-stars (NBCUniversal)

“To me, what is interesting about this guy is on top of having that instinct he has years of practical medical experience, he trained as a doctor and then specialised in psychiatry.

“I don’t know anybody like I’m playing but I know people who have a highly developed sense of whether people are telling the truth, he has all this other training that allows him to evaluate and get to the heart of the matter a little bit quicker.”

Chicago Med begins on Sunday March 20 at 9pm, on Universal Channel.