Interview by Paul Salfen, Text by Christine Thompson for AMFM Magazine
When Netflix announced a new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie, fans braced for the usual Hollywood reimagining. What they got instead was something rarer: a respectful, beautifully crafted series rooted in the books and anchored by real history. At the center of that history stands Dr. Tan, a Black physician, Civil War veteran, and Kansas pioneer whose medical skill quite literally saved the Ingalls family. In an exclusive conversation with AMFM Magazine’s Paul Salfen, actor Jocko Sims opens up about stepping into the role, discovering the extraordinary true story behind the character, and why this portrayal feels like a full-circle moment in his career.
Jocko Sims has played doctors before — most notably Dr. Floyd Reynolds, the brilliant head of cardiac surgery on NBC’s New Amsterdam. But nothing prepared him for the moment he learned that his new character, Dr. Tan, in Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie reboot, wasn’t just a fictional creation.
“I didn’t know that Little House was based on a true story and based on books. I just knew of the original series,” Sims told Paul Salfen. “Believe it or not, I didn’t find that out until after I booked the role.”
What he discovered stunned him.
Dr. Tan was a real man — a Black physician in 1869 who treated the Osage and the waves of settlers moving west, opened a hospital in Oklahoma, fought in the Civil War, and became beloved in Kansas. Most remarkably, in 1870 he saved the Ingalls family during a life-threatening malaria outbreak. Laura Ingalls Wilder herself later wrote about his vital role. He even delivered baby Caroline. As Sims put it with quiet awe: “Without Dr. Tan, there wouldn’t be no Little House on the Prairie… He saved their lives, and that just stunned me.”
The weight of playing a real historical figure who helped shape the American West is not lost on Sims. In an era when Westerns have often erased or minimized the contributions of Black pioneers, his portrayal of Dr. Tan stands as a powerful corrective — not through heavy-handed messaging, but through honest storytelling.
When asked about the inevitable online criticism labeling the inclusion of a Black doctor as “DEI,” Sims didn’t flinch.
“He’s in the books. And he’s in real life,” he said plainly. “I love addressing that stuff, because you know it’s coming.”
The production itself gave Sims an immediate sense that something special was happening. The team built an entire town of Independence in Manitoba, Canada. When Sims first saw it, after 23 years in the business, he was floored.
“I was just like, what in the heck? … Okay, this is special,” he recalled. Netflix’s confidence was so strong they renewed the series for Season 2 before Season 1 even premiered.
Working opposite Barrett Doss (known for Station 19) as Dr. Tan’s love interest brought another layer of magic. The two had instant chemistry during their chemistry read, and Sims said their first scene together confirmed it: “Oh yeah, this is gonna be magical.”
Beyond the historical significance, Sims sees the series as something the culture needs right now.
“I think I would love for people to understand the importance of community. And the importance of coming together. And the importance of family,” he said. “Just these good old core traditional values that we often forget… This show does a great job of making you feel good.”
He hopes families will gather around the television the way earlier generations did — binge it, rewatch it, and let it remind them of what binds people together.
That theme of service and storytelling carries into Sims’ next chapter. This summer he’s stepping behind the camera to write and direct a short film about a military caregiver. The project is deeply personal to him as an ambassador for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, which supports the often-overlooked family members caring for wounded or ill veterans. Tom Hanks is executive producing.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Paul Salfen observed, “to be able to use who you are and what you do to tell great stories.”
Sims agreed without hesitation.
For aspiring actors, he offers hard-won wisdom from his own Hail Mary decision to leave pre-med studies at UCLA and pursue acting full-time in Los Angeles.
“You gotta commit. You can’t play around with this craft,” he said. “Be passionate about it, study it, read books, go to theater school, surround yourself with like-minded individuals… Learn every aspect of it. Learn how to operate a camera, learn how to be a director, learn how to write.”
It’s advice that feels especially resonant coming from an actor who once dreamed of becoming a real doctor and now finds himself playing one of the most important physicians in American frontier history — a man whose quiet courage helped write the story of the West.
Little House on the Prairie isn’t trying to replace the original series. It’s doing something more meaningful: reminding us that the real story was always bigger, more diverse, and more inspiring than many of us were taught.
And in Jocko Sims’ hands, Dr. Tan finally gets the respect and visibility he always deserved.
