New Amsterdam: The Iggy Frome Character Explained (& Where You've Seen The Actor)

Dr. Iggy Frome (Tyler Labine) on New Amsterdam is one of the key medical experts on the NBC medical drama, and sharp-eyed fans will recognize the actor from some of his other works. On a show like New Amsterdam, the doctors, nurses, and staff of the hospital are more critical to the success of the show than the conceit of the series or how shocking the story of the week is. It’s about how fleshed out the characters are and the relationships between them that determines if a standard medical procedural will rise above the crowded pack of similar shows.

New Amsterdam stars Ryan Eggold as Dr. Maximus “Max” Goodwin, the new medical director at New Amsterdam Medical Center, one of the oldest public hospitals in the US. Not only must Max deal with an assortment of different-minded doctors and staff, but he must work around the crumbling infrastructure and sluggish bureaucracy of the hospital. Fortunately, he has a team of intelligent department heads who, while they may have their idiosyncracies and foibles, are experts in their fields and committed to saving the lives of the patients who come through, and notable among these is Dr. Iggy Frome.

Dr. Ignatius “Iggy” Frome Is The Head Of New Amsterdam’s Psychiatry Department & Martin’s Husband

Iggy Is A Talented Doctor Who Sometimes Lets His Desire To Help Get Him In Trouble

Dr. Ignatius “Iggy” Frome is the Head of the Psychiatry Department at the hospital and one of the most likable characters in New Amsterdam. Iggy is an extremely caring doctor, whose devotion to his patients sometimes causes issues. He has a big heart and has adopted four children from Bangladesh with his husband, Martin McIntyre (Mike Doyle). Throughout the series, Iggy has struggled with possible narcissistic personality disorder and definite self-loathing, but it’s his relationship with Martin that’s the crux of his character.

Iggy and Martin have a tumultuous relationship. Starting the series married, the tension in their relationship comes to a head in season 4 when Iggy refuses to put a stop to a new nurse’s flirting. Iggy and Martin end up divorcing at the beginning of season 5 but remarry in New Amsterdam‘s finale. Dr. Iggy is a crucial character to the series. Wickedly smart but affable, everyone seems to like Iggy. Tyler Labine talked about his portrayal of the character with CinemaBlend,

“Yeah, but I also love it [playing Iggy]. I know that there’s a lot of regrettable decisions that Iggy made, and there are things that I think people have been groaning about, and like, ‘Oh, how could Iggy do that?’ But we’re just looking at a small portion of a person’s life. It’s a TV show. We’re zooming in on elements of a person’s life, whether it’s been five years or not, it’s still a short period in this guy’s life. And it’s a rough period. The last three years have been rough, and I think we all do and say things and make mistakes that are regrettable. We just don’t have a TV show chronicling them. [laughs] And you hope, ‘Oh, man, I can make up for that. I’m going to pick up the pieces in another way. And I’m going to learn from these mistakes.'”

Labine plays Iggy with a warm heart on his sleeve but a deep anxiety that he keeps hidden, though sometimes it reveals itself at inopportune times. But as the actor says, Iggy learns from his mistakes.

Iggy Actor Tyler Labine Starred In Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil

Labine Has Had A Prolific TV And Movie Career

Tyler Labine had an impressive career well before his starring role in New Amsterdam. He’s been a prolific TV and film actor since his first appearance in an episode of the 1991 series Street Legal. Most fans will recognize Labine for playing one-half of the titular characters in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Dale Dobson, a kindly country boy whom a group of teens assumes is a serial killer. Like Iggy, Dale is loving and sweet. With Labine’s cherubic face, it’s hard to be anything but.

However, unlike Iggy, Dale doesn’t have a conniving bone in his body, as Iggy can be sarcastic and scheming, though usually for the right reasons. Compared to a lot of Labine’s characters, Iggy in New Amsterdam is a touch meaner and more ambitious. Not that he’s a bad guy, but he’s not as warm and fuzzy as Jimmy Farrell in Breaker High or Bert “Sock” Wysocki in Reaper.

New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam is a medical drama series based on Eric Manheimer’s book Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital. Ryan Eggold stars as Dr. Max Goodwin, the newly appointed medical director of the New Amsterdam Medical Center. Over the course of five seasons, he works tirelessly to bring change to the neglected facility so that it might better care for its patients.

Cast

Ryan Eggold , Jocko Sims

Release Date

September 25, 2018

Seasons

5