Noah Wyle recently appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and revealed the secret of his success: He has a trustworthy face and can convincingly convey complicated medical terms. That’s correct. From 1994 to 2009, for 254 episodes, he played Dr. on “Emergency Room.” John Carter. He was 23 when “ER” started, and today he’s 54. And after appearing in a number of not bad series like “The Librarians” or “Leverage 2.0”, he’s now slipped back into the white coat (metaphorically – in fact, he usually wears a hoodie in “The Pitt”).
With the German launch of the streaming channel HBO Max “The Pitt” can finally be seen in this country, the second season is just coming to an end. However, binge-watching is not recommended, as the 15 episodes per season are too hard fare. They each recount a shift in the emergency room of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center in real time. At the center is Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a capable emergency physician who still suffers from the trauma caused by the pandemic.
Noah Wyle seems as friendly as his characters
At the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Berlin, Wyle is of course not wearing a stethoscope, but he is wearing his famous smile. He seems just as friendly as his characters – and just as desperate in the face of the reality that surpasses every series.
An excerpt from the interview, which can be read in full in the March issue of ROLLING STONE:
What makes hospital series so special, why are they so successful?
Hospital series deal with the big themes – the drama of life and death, illness, birth and dying. We all have a built-in curiosity – we want to know what happens in hospitals: How would I be treated there, what would I feel, what do I see and hear there? Maybe it’s a bit of exposure therapy. It is an area that almost everyone can relate to because sooner or later they have points of contact. You may never have to go to a police station in your life, nor to the White House. But almost no one can avoid hospitals, and many things there are like other workplaces, hence the high identification factor. The pressure, the politics, things like that.
The series is hyper-realistic, without background music and other distractions. How come?
Of course, in such a crowded field you try to do something special. By being real time and removing all the manipulative tricks, the series speaks to the audience in a completely different way. We don’t tell people how to feel, how to react. They can look around within the given framework and make their own value judgments about the content. It’s not a passive looking, but an active one – I find that almost revolutionary. The audience participates.
Of course it’s about entertainment, but “The Pitt” also raises awareness of the brutal circumstances under which the hospital staff suffer. Is that equally important to you?
For me, this is even more important than entertainment. The reason I’m on The Pitt is because I want to bring attention to this demographic. I want to create awareness of what they go through and accomplish.
“Emergency doctors don’t have the luxury of starting a moral debate”
The series is constantly about life and death, but also about topics such as school shootings or trans rights. Do you even have time to think about this in more detail?
In the Writing Room, of course, we talk in detail about the topics, from every angle – and about how to turn a statistic or a headline into a good story, made of flesh and blood, that then engages people. While I’m playing, I don’t think about it. Real emergency doctors don’t have the luxury of starting a moral debate about gun control while treating a shooting victim. They just treat, and after the shift they might think about it.
How much can an entertainment product or a work of art, in this case a series, change real circumstances?
Because I’m a romantic and a bit delusional, I still believe: quite a bit. I believe social change has been driven more by the arts than any other field. It may seem naive to believe that one man with a guitar can make a difference – but sometimes a song can move mountains. Look at Woody Guthrie, look at Bruce Springsteen. He’s doing great things right now, he’s keeping a lighthouse going for a lot of people who are horrified by what’s happening in America right now. He can address it in the right way.
If this series alleviates people’s fears or gives them a sense of security, then that more than makes up for the exhaustion that sometimes sets in. If I can play a small part in making things better, I’m happy to do so.
“’ER’ was probably the most important thing I’ve ever done.”
Your roles, Dr. Carter and Dr. Robby, you seem to be more famous than you are now. How do you cope with that?
There was once an article in the New York Times about how Bela Lugosi will always be a vampire and James Gandolfini will always be a mobster and Noah Wyle will always be a doctor. (Laughs) I’ve received a lot of mail during the pandemic from first responders, nurses and doctors telling me that their interest in medicine was sparked by “ER” – and now they’re doing this hard work, now they’re saving lives. What this means to me is that, apart from my children, “HE” was probably the most important thing I have ever done in my life. This is how the idea for “The Pitt” came about in the first place. I think it’s completely okay to end my career with something that has social relevance and fulfills me creatively.
What will happen in the third season?
Season 1 was ultimately about the doctor as a patient, season 2 was about doctors not being good patients – and season 3 will be about doctors benefiting from being patients. My goal is for Robby to recognize that he needs and gets help, and that he is now able to articulate the benefits of that help. And for him to forge the path forward – not just for himself, but for everyone else who can relate to his mental health… I hope I can write it as well as I just said it!
