Noah Wyle & Cast of 'The Pitt' on What Makes Show Special, Tackling Intense Scenes & Fan Feedback | THR Video - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

The stars of the Emmy nominated show 'The Pitt' sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to dish on what makes the HBO show special ahead of the 2025 Emmy Awards. Noah Wyle (Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch) explains how the show is like "exposure therapy" for the cast, while Taylor Dearden (Dr. Melissa King) reveals why the show was "stressful" from start to finish and more.   Hear from cast members Patrick Ball (Dr. Frank Langdon), Katherine LaNasa (Nurse Dana Evans), Supriya Ganesh (Dr. Samira Mohan), Fiona Dourif (Dr. Cassie McKay), Isa Briones (Dr. Trinity Santos), Gerran Howell (Dennis Whitaker), Shabana Azeez (Victoria Javadi) and Shawn Hatosy (Dr. Jack Abbot) talk about how they relate to their respective characters, and the "gratifying" feedback they've received from the medical community.

Transcript

00:00We all have had to compartmentalize trauma and experience in order to meet the demands of the day

00:06and show it for our families and show it for our co-workers and our bosses.

00:11But that doesn't mean that stuff goes away.

00:14And this is an examination of that and an attempt to kind of exercise it

00:18and get it out where we could all kind of hopefully heal from.

00:22It's like exposure therapy every an hour a week to try and get over our trauma, collective trauma.

00:30Hey, Dave, what's the good word?

00:31We're fucked.

00:3352 in the waiting room and it's not even seven.

00:37Every episode covers one hour.

00:40One hour in a hospital emergency room following the doctors and staff of a single 15-hour work shift.

00:46In the pit, every minute counts.

00:48As does every detail, which is why the show is praised for its precision.

00:52Welcome to the pit. Let's go save some lives.

00:54The most gratifying feedback has come from the medical community.

00:57Doctors, roughly my age, who've been doing it a while, reaching out and saying,

01:02you guys got it right.

01:03And in our efforts to be the most authentic medical drama on TV,

01:08I feel like that validation was most appreciated.

01:13As soon as I saw the script, yeah, it became very clear.

01:16They were taking the medicine very seriously and it really stood out.

01:21I loved making the show so much that when they would show us the first cuts of the episodes,

01:27I was terrified.

01:28Oh, does this scene run? Is it too slow?

01:30Are people going to tune up? They're going to stop watching.

01:32I thought everything had to be just perfect because I loved it so much.

01:36I wanted people to love it.

01:37There's always this belief that it's, when you're doing it, that it's going to pop,

01:42but it's not until it pops that you know.

01:45The first season was incredibly stressful to film from start to finish

01:48because it was such an experiment and none of us had done medical except for Noah.

01:52And so it was a big, like, I have no idea if I look competent.

01:56And it wasn't until actual, the reception of the audience that it was like,

02:00you're watching and liking. This is crazy.

02:03When we got together, finally, I was like, it's a hit. I think it's a hit.

02:06We need to get her up to 90 if you have any chance of restarting her heart.

02:08Remind me again why we picked this specialty.

02:10It was also, like, a kind of slow burn.

02:13It feels like it skyrocketed, like, around episode, like, 8 or 9, 10.

02:20And then all of a sudden, I was just, like, on the street

02:22and everyone I passed would be just, like, by the way, I love the show.

02:27I'm so happy to be here.

02:29Trinity Santos, intern.

02:31Victoria Giavati, MS3.

02:33Dennis Whitaker, MS4.

02:35A lot of us are playing something that's very close to our actual personalities.

02:41Genuinely, I drew a lot from my own terror.

02:45For me, it was just, I'm an actor coming onto a big American TV show.

02:50It's always going to be a little bit scary.

02:52So, genuinely, I think I really kind of lent into that.

02:54It's Whitaker's first day in an ER.

02:57So, I just kind of mirrored that a little bit

03:00and let myself be a little bit scared and a little bit overwhelmed

03:03and just ran with it.

03:06Dr. McKay is trying her best and rooted in wisdom, I believe.

03:12This character is very, very close to the bone for me.

03:15Either you like me or you don't.

03:17I am so grateful that there's a mixed reaction to her.

03:21People are going, why is she like that?

03:24And having to work to understand her.

03:26She is so socially inept.

03:27She's not effortless at all.

03:29She's really putting in the work in every part of her life

03:31and she doesn't shy away from things she's bad at.

03:33And I think she is so good at being like,

03:35okay, I've never asked somebody out, but I'm going to try that.

03:38We could grab a coffee together sometime

03:40and could like help me get the lay of the land, so to speak.

03:45You asking him out?

03:48No.

03:48What?

03:48No.

03:49I get a lot of pity.

03:51A lot of people asking, what's the next bodily fluid?

03:55Medical professionals who come up to me

03:56and they really relate to Whitaker.

03:58Women really love Samira, I think because she's such a patient advocate

04:03and I think so many women have had the experience of going to a doctor

04:08and not being believed and not being listened to.

04:10So I think that's why a lot of women, particularly from Nicole,

04:12really love and appreciate her.

04:14Santos is a very, she's a very guarded person.

04:18She has a lot of walls up, just meets you with combativeness

04:22and at the end of the day, it's like a scared kid inside

04:25who just wants like love.

04:26And I think Santos has a very interesting way of searching for that

04:32and wanting it by saying like, I don't want it and actually you.

04:36You ready?

04:38One, two, three.

04:41Dana is giving, tough and compassionate and smart.

04:47My mom loves you.

04:49My aunt loves you.

04:50My, you know, I think a lot of tired old working women really love Dana.

04:56Dr. Mel is the sweetest human being, I think, on earth.

04:59My frustration manifests itself emotionally

05:01and then I get upset and then it looks like I can't handle things

05:05and, you know, then I can't cry in front of the patient

05:07because no one wants to see their doctor cry.

05:09That's just a big red flag.

05:10The thing that hits me the most too is just

05:12people within my own community saying that it's a positive representation.

05:18I think we're so used to seeing such negative representations

05:22or just like complete stereotypes without nuance.

05:26And so that, any feedback on that has been special, really special.

05:30Everybody was, you know, having fun with how much fun Langdon had

05:35and I think getting to come in the door and spar with my co-workers

05:38in a fun and sassy way.

05:40And you also got to meet him sort of at the height of his ability

05:43and the height of his confidence.

05:45And then everybody watches him watch the cracks start happening.

05:51Sure you want to work today, huh?

05:52For Abbott, that is, there's tremendous comfort in knowing your purpose

05:57and he knows it and, um, and Dr. Robbie is still figuring that out.

06:04It's been 18 years since a medical show was last nominated

06:07for a Best Drama Series Emmy

06:09and 26 years since Noah Wiley was last nominated for acting.

06:13Now a frontrunner, the pit could deliver Wiley his first Emmy win,

06:18playing a character leading his team, much like real life.

06:21But it brought out the best in the rest of us.

06:23I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you.

06:27Noah's leading the charge and you can see the, the passion instantly there.

06:32He sees, he sees everyone, cast and crew.

06:36So he instantly just gives this really lovely, warm vibe

06:40and everyone feels seen and we're just following his lead.

06:43He's an incredible leader.

06:44I feel like I'm really learning how to lead a set from him

06:47because he's such a great example.

06:49Noah really sets the tone

06:50and he is gracious, he is generous, he is patient, um, he's all about the work

06:58but also there's just this, like, kindness.

07:00Noah has created such a great environment of encouraging everyone.

07:04It's amazing.

07:05It's such a great, great family that we have.

07:07He's been a great mentor to me throughout and I think to all of us

07:11and he's, like, really held my hand as far as teaching me how to be on a television show

07:16and how to find your shot and how to do a breathing tube

07:19but also, like, how to navigate this moment in life.

07:22He's been really available for that.

07:23I joke that I'm more of a cheerleader than a leader.

07:26You know, everybody is so incredibly talented and qualified.

07:29One of the benefits of shooting a show in Los Angeles, which is a rarity these days,

07:34is you get the benefit of the talent pool that lives here.

07:36So we have kind of an all-star team of crew

07:39and this cast is so incredibly talented and personable

07:44and dedicated and committed and funny and intelligent.

07:48A wise man once told me that you learn to live with it,

07:52learn to accept it,

07:54and find balance if you can.

07:58By the end of season one, audiences have followed one long, very trying day

08:02at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center,

08:05a day filled with triumphs and heartbreak,

08:07bravery and breakdowns,

08:09surprise punches,

08:10and shocking reveals.

08:11Oh, he is...

08:13He's homeless.

08:14It was the cherry on top of everything that happened to Whittaker.

08:18But, yeah, I think every character in the show has...

08:21has a little surprise at the end of the season.

08:24Not like you think.

08:25I'm not high.

08:26I'm not high.

08:27You've seen what I do, Robbie.

08:29Could a drug addict do what I do?

08:32Apparently.

08:35Realizing that he might have a shadow,

08:39might have a dark side that he wasn't necessarily sharing from the beginning.

08:44And then you watch him really to the depths of his desperation.

08:50It's uncomfortable to watch.

08:51It's uncomfortable to watch.

08:57It's okay.

08:58We see her come in like a bloody zombie.

09:01That was the one I was most afraid of

09:03because you can't...

09:04You can't halfway do that.

09:06Your whole body, your whole psyche,

09:08like everything has to read like you've just been punched

09:12and you have blood all over you.

09:14But, you know, acting is a little bit magic.

09:16As much preparation as you can do,

09:18it's just a little bit magic whether it works or not.

09:21So, we had the magic with us on that day.

09:23It's nightmares.

09:24Jesus!

09:25Gloria!

09:29Robbie!

09:31Get some air, brother.

09:32The way it's set up in the beginning,

09:33that you think that Abbott is the one

09:34who maybe won't make it.

09:37And by the end of the show,

09:40they are mirrors of each other.

09:42The Abbott says to him,

09:44you know,

09:44I'm not sure why I keep coming back here.

09:47If you jump on my shift,

09:49that's just rude, man.

09:50And then after the end of this horrifying day,

09:53he figures out that I know why.

09:57It's because we can do it.

09:58We're the bees that protect the hive.

09:59It's in our DNA.

10:00It's a beautiful role to reverse it

10:02and so well drawn by our writers.

10:04The show was intended to take a look

10:07at what we've all gone through since COVID

10:09and haven't been able to really process

10:12or synthesize how much the world has changed,

10:15how much has been normalized

10:16that wasn't normal before.

10:18I really tried.

10:20We all did.

10:20If this had been any other day, man.

10:22I went through two really rocky periods

10:25in my life

10:26and it really showed me

10:28that I need work

10:29for my own personal orientation,

10:31my own sense of contribution,

10:32my own sense of artistic expression.

10:35mental health.

10:37So to get to do a show

10:39that is in Los Angeles

10:40where I can go home every night

10:41and sleep in my own bed

10:42and be with my kids and my wife

10:43to help employ 300-plus Angeleno artists

10:47in this city right now

10:49which has gone through

10:50a labor strike, a pandemic,

10:51and then some devastating wildfires.

10:54And to be able to tell a story

10:55that is contemporary,

10:59relevant,

11:00and is resonating all over the world

11:02is like the most gratifying thing in the world

11:04to feel like what you're doing every day

11:06is being seen and appreciated.

11:07So this is truly an answer for Green Country.

11:11Yeah, it's winning a lottery.

11:13Pinch me.

11:14Pinch me.

11:15Pinch me.

11:16Pinch me.

11:17Pinch me.

11:18Pinch me.

11:19Pinch me.

11:20Pinch me.

11:21Pinch me.

11:22Pinch me.

11:23Pinch me.

11:24Pinch me.

11:25Pinch me.

11:26Pinch me.

11:27You

Noah Wyle & Cast of 'The Pitt' on What Makes Show Special, Tackling Intense Scenes & Fan Feedback | THR Video

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