Leonard Nimoy's Wife Susan Bay Nimoy Plays Hypersexual Widow with 'Bestie' Zachary Quinto in Brilliant Minds (Exclusive)

Susan Bay Nimoy is tackling her most freewheeling role yet.

In the newest episode of Brilliant Minds, airing Monday, Nov. 18, Nimoy guest stars as June, a hypersexual patient of Dr. Oliver Wolf's ( Zachary Quinto ) whose husband died recently.

In an exclusive clip provided to PEOPLE, Dr. Wolf has a candid conversation with June about her situation.

"You weren't entering other residents' rooms because you were confused." Dr. Wolf asks. "Is that accurate?"

"My son said I was confused," June responds, nodding in agreement. "It's more palatable than saying their mother was having sex. They don't want to use those two words in the same sentence. I'm not ashamed of myself."

When he asks June to walk him through her "sexual history," she cracks a joke.

"How much paper do you have?" June muses. "Mickey and I were high school sweethearts before we got married. I'd say we had a healthy sex life for the most part, and up until a year ago, he was my entire history. But now the number of my partners has increased 30 fold, give or take a few."

Dr. Wolf takes a beat before responding. "June, you should know that some diseases cause hypersexuality, and it's why we've admitted you to the hospital, so that we could determine the ideology," he explains.

June contends she's not ill but feeling rather invigorated. This new chapter could actually be some sort of sexual awakening for her.

"I'm not sick. I know my body," she continues. "I feel more alive than ever. Now that my kids are grown and my grandkids are teenagers, it's my time. I just wish my sons could get on board."

"Sometimes it's hard for us to see our parents as anything other than our parents," he explains.

"True," June replies.

For Susan, 82, her first role since starring in the 2018 short film, Eve, came about thanks to her longtime friendship with Quinto. The two first met in 2009 when Quinto was preparing to play Spock in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek — an iconic role Leonard originated in the beloved 1960s sci-fi series of the same name. (Leonard died on February 27, 2015 at age 83 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.)

Susan, for her part, felt "instantly connected" to Quinto, whom she now calls her "bestie."

"When this part of an 80 year old nymphomaniac came up, Zachary called me and said, 'Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You'll need to audition, but they love your short film,'" she recalls to PEOPLE.

While Susan and Quinto, 47, had not appeared onscreen together before Brilliant Minds, they kept up their friendship over the years by seeing each other when they could. Later this year, the actress will trek out to New York to catch Quinto star in the Broadway play Cult of Love, also starring Shailene Woodley and Barbie Ferreira .

"I think we're very honest with each other. I think he trusts me. I trust him. We feel safe baring our souls with each other," she says, adding, "I don't have that many really close, close friends. I have longstanding friends that I've known for years, but if I am sad or if I think I might've misstepped somewhere, I can call Zachary and he can process it with me."

It just so happens that their 15-year friendship had an added bonus, she continues.

"We have a relationship that has survived the loss of Leonard and the end of his [Quinto's] involvement with Star Trek," Susan adds. "I'm very grateful for his friendship, but who knew that it would end up being an opportunity for me to have a moment acting again in something really good?"