OnER, Noah Wyle was a prime-time TV star.
In the streaming era, hes just happy to be part of the company.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Noah Wyle is having a nightmare of a day onThe Pitt.
Blood pools on the floor and soaks through doctors scrubs; ambulance sirens overtake the sound mix.
Robby, who previously strode from patient to trainee with unassailable empathy and decisiveness, looks lost.
He was supposed to attend the festival with his exs son, and he hasnt heard from the 17-year-old.
His face, so often calm and ready, crumples into despair.
Things arent going to be okay.
What youre seeing is the water level in his eyes.
Hes almost going under, Wyle says.
We gave the press the first ten episodes.
Everybodys enjoying this train ride.
Im the only one that knows we take this train over a cliff.
It features a star from the second-longest-running prime-time medical drama of all time.
Viewership is wide,reviewsareenthusiastic, and in more present-day terms of success,social-media postsabout Wyleare thirsty.
The skull used to be right here you used to be able to pick it up, he says.
Were chatting six days afterThe Pittwrapped in early February.
The next week, Wyle will report to the series writers room to begin work on season two.
I stayed with it, he says.
What came after that came after that.
What came after was a string of almost Jimmy Stewart characters on basic cable.
We worked hard, we played hard back then, Wyle says.
We were all sewing each other up.)
Hes extremely intelligent, and that intelligence comes off, Wells says.
Its not just empathy.
Many were a Hey, Carter, we could use you out here appeal.
The volume was sort of directly proportional to my depression at the time, Wyle says.
The first idea was a project affiliated withERand Dr. Carter, which fell apart in April 2023.
I just wanted to put this spotlight back on these first responders.
I wanted to put the attention back on this community that needed it, Wyle says.
And Wells goes, We could still do that.
That was the incubation, so that when we hit the ground, we hit it really running fast.
Wyle says hes still surprised to have been cast as the lead whenThe Pittshed its connections toER.
This was just an answered-prayer gig.
And Noah, hes very humble about himself.
I dont think he realizes just how large a star he actually is.
It was a role he performed behind the scenes, too, as an executive producer and writer.
Theres an element of Noahs personal experiences in a business thats tough, says Gemmill.
Any character, a lead or an extra, could be tapped for a major moment.
Theres no differentiation on a good set between foreground and background, or cast and crew.
Its just company, Wyle says.
We got in the hallway and just started walking around, pushing each other around, Ball says.
Sometimes, theres games with people trying to steer a scene in their direction.
It was just like throwing the ball back and forth.
Performing the back of the season was as emotionally grueling as youd expect.
Youre covered in blood and youre listening to a lot of screaming and crying.
You dont ever get a reprieve from it because youre so immersed in it, Wyle says.
I need to stay in this.
I need to stay in it all the time.
Its a question of will.
But Wyle stops short of suggesting that story lines onThe Pittare partisan.
It wasnt like we sat around in the room going, What would really rile up America?
They cut down on disease transmission.
It shouldnt be a political position.
Hes on a streaming series now, but hes doubtful of any business model that ceaselessly prioritizes unlimited growth.
And then we came up with something better and bigger and totally unsustainable.
And then we went, What did Dad do?
And then we rebuilt what Dad did.
This whole thing feels very cyclical.
Ive been through a lot of shit in that city.
Ive never seen anything like that, he says.
Because I know it doesnt lead to anything other than, you know,this.
He called his wife early in the morning, wondering if he had a concussion.
She told him to go to the doctor.
He jokingly replied that he basically is a doctor.
you’ve got the option to be on a hit show.
Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
