Noah Wyle‘s win of his first-ever Emmy Award for the The Pitt was made all the more sweeter considering the way he’s navigated his career. (For the record, Wyle won two Pitt-centric Emmys on Sunday, one for his lead performance as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, the physician we’d most want caring for us in an emergency, and as an executive producer on the hit show, which won for Outstanding Drama Series.)
Before Wyle donned the white coat for The Pitt, he was, of course, part of the original cast of one of the great medical shows of all time, ER. His character John Carter (of the University of Pennsylvania, not of Mars) began as a wide-eyed student and ended as a great leader in his field. But he did tap out after season 11, only appearing in a four-episode arc in season 12 and part of the ensemble for the big farewell in season 15.
Kevin Winter/Getty
In 2019, Wyle, who received five Emmy nominations for his work on ER, explained his decision to leave the show. In fact, he knows the exact date he knew he had to make a change.
“I’m going to be so specific,” Wyle told The Hollywood Reporter. “Nov. 9, 2002. Owen Wyle [Wyle’s first child] was born into the world. It was a Thursday, and I didn’t go to work Friday. I had an early call time on Monday, and I went to work, and at about 10:30 in the morning, for the first time in [almost a decade] I looked at my watch, and I looked up from my watch, and I said, ‘Come on, everybody. What are we doing? Let’s go.'”
Wyle continuing reminiscing about his first few days of fatherhood. “And I thought, ‘What are you doing? Where do you want to be?’ And I thought, ‘You know where you want to be.’ I just thought, ‘I can’t be here for 80 hours a week and miss this. And I quit.'”
Warrick Page/Max
Before you send an ALL CAPS email to your boss informing them of your resignation effective 10 minutes ago, keep in mind that Wyle had, by this point, graduated to No. 1 on the call sheet of one of broadcast television’s most popular shows. Your most recent birthday check from Great Aunt Gladys probably isn’t gonna cut it.
Wyle continued, “I called it a divorce with visitation rights, because I didn’t want to say goodbye, obviously, to the best job and experience I’ve ever had. And really, the family [on the show] had become more than just a surrogate family to me. I was about to make a real family that needed to take precedence.” So that explains the season 12 arc.
John Johnson/Max
Post-ER, Wyle certainly continued to work, notably on the Librarian series of cable movies and the series Fallen Skies. But audiences understandably wanted to see this man with a stethoscope around his neck measuring things in CCs, and that’s what brings us to The Pitt, its cultural dominance, and its five Emmy wins.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
For nostalgia’s sake, let’s take another look at Dr. John Carter’s entrance on ER in a memorable scene opposite Eriq La Salle.
Source link
