Carolina Strong: Atrium nurse balances medicine and acting in Netflix show

CHARLOTTE — One woman from North Carolina is getting a chance to chase her dreams on the big stage, all while helping patients at the same time.

“I think every little girl grows up wanting to sing and dance and be on stage and do all these things,” says Eden Lee.

Growing up, Lee wanted to act.

“It wasn’t discouraged, but I grew up in an old school Korean household where our traditional trajectories were going to be like a doctor or a lawyer,” Lee told Channel 9’s Elsa Gillis.

So that passion fell to the back burner while she pursued a career in medicine. She’s been an emergency room nurse at Atrium Health Union since 2013.

“The pace, the atmosphere, there are bonds that are made in the ER that I think you kind of can’t, you just kind of can’t have that anywhere else,” Lee said.

In 2017, Lee felt like something was missing, so she started acting classes. Fast forward to 2025, and you may recognize her as one of the FBI agents in the Netflix show “Zero Day.”

“What was it like being part of something so big?” Gillis asked.

“Surreal? I mean, there are bucket list items that I think every actor wants to do, you know, but working with Robert DeNiro was like never even on my trajectory, just because it felt so big and unattainable,” Lee said.

Now, she’s following two dreams simultaneously.

“I don’t plan to choose, I love being able to do both. I think it’s a beautiful blessing and a luxury that I have,” Lee said.

Lee has the benefit of a very flexible work schedule, which allowed her to move to New York for a couple of months to shoot Zero Day. Keep an eye out for her in future projects, she says there’s more to come.

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