00:00Whitaker had a really hellacious first season.
00:02It was like one of the worst days on the job,
00:04one of the worst first days you can imagine.
00:06Yeah.
00:06This time around, besides what happens in episode six,
00:09he seems to be treading water.
00:11He seems to be doing a little bit better than season one,
00:14in my opinion.
00:15Is that fair to say, and how has it been playing
00:17a slightly less terrible day for Whitaker and E.D.?
00:21I think they're lulling you into a false sense
00:24of security there.
00:25It can only last for so long.
00:26No, he's 100% having a better day
00:29than season one.
00:31But, you know, season one was, I think, the day from hell.
00:36It literally had everything, you know, physically
00:40and metaphorically thrown at him.
00:42The only way was up from that.
00:43But, yeah, he's coming into his own a little bit more now.
00:47Yeah.
00:48At least on the surface, you know.
00:51I think he's learned to self-soothe a bit more
00:56and maybe not get as overwhelmed so quickly.
00:58But, you know, I think if he was, like, season one,
01:02he'd be fired by now.
01:03Or someone would say, go home.
01:04Yeah.
01:05You shouldn't be putting yourself through this.
01:07Yeah.
01:08So, yeah, he's having a better time, for sure.
01:10Yeah.
01:10I know I talked to you and Issa during the junket
01:13about what the roommate situation is like,
01:15but I wanted to follow up with you because I rewatched
01:17episodes five and six last night, and I think it's in five,
01:20but there's this moment where Whitaker kind of overhears a tense
01:23conversation between Santos and Garcia.
01:25And I noticed in your performance, it almost looks like he
01:27wanted to say something to Santos, but doesn't.
01:29Are you still coming over tonight?
01:31I think Whitaker is going to be playing farm boy again this
01:33weekend, so he's not going to be around.
01:35I may need a rain jacket.
01:36I'm really curious, being that he is kind of aware of her
01:39personal life, does he have any opinions, you think, about this
01:42relationship or that he keeps to himself or things he might want
01:44to say to Trinity?
01:45He's seen too much in that apartment, which in my mind has
01:50very thin walls and not much privacy.
01:54You know, it's not for me to say, but I think, yeah, I don't
01:57think it's a good relationship.
02:00Maybe not toxic, but I don't think it's, I don't think Whitaker
02:05believes it's doing Santos any good.
02:07Is it inappropriate?
02:10Probably, also.
02:12But more than that, Whitaker, I think, cares about Santos'
02:16sort of well-being and can see that maybe this, maybe you're,
02:19you're not, this is kind of a bad thing to do.
02:23You know, obviously the main thing that happens is that
02:26Louis passes away and it shakes the whole ED, basically.
02:30Too late for that.
02:32And he's not an ECMO candidate.
02:34Nothing else we can do.
02:41No, I think we're done.
02:42Ernest Hardin's performance has been so beautiful over the
02:44last two seasons.
02:45He brings all this joy and light into the series.
02:49I'm curious what it's been like working with him and what it
02:51was, did you feel any kind of mournful grief knowing that you
02:54wouldn't get to see him on set anymore after this?
02:57Yeah, he was, he was our introduction as actors and
03:01characters.
03:02He was kind of the first point of call in the ED.
03:06He was the first patient and, you know, the person we kind of
03:09see, you know, how to deal with patients.
03:12So, yeah, it was very, very emotional.
03:15And he was, you know, he was with us for a big period of, of
03:18season one, always in the background.
03:20And, you know, so it was kind of bittersweet us all getting
03:25together in that viewing room.
03:27It's very rare.
03:28You get all the cast kind of, you know, together like that.
03:33And I just remember it felt very outside of everything else we've
03:36done.
03:36It's kind of a room that isn't used very often.
03:39So, yeah, it was very, very, very emotional.
03:42And, yeah, Ernest is fantastic.
03:44He's been around for so long and he's just a fountain of kind of
03:48stories and knowledge.
03:50So, yeah, it was really sad to say goodbye to him.
03:54It's kind of like saying goodbye to our introduction to the show,
03:58I guess, in a weird kind of way.
04:00Yeah.
04:01But, yeah, it was, it was emotional, for sure.
04:03Everyone else got to kind of, you know, a little bit of a,
04:06a tender way of describing it.
04:08And Ogilvy just says, he croaked.
04:10I need to check on Louis.
04:11Uh, actually, Whittaker, he...
04:13He croaked.
04:14What?
04:15Five minutes ago, Robbie called it.
04:17I mean, I wanted to punch Ogilvy at that point.
04:19Um, how much anger is Whittaker feeling and, and how...
04:22I mean, talk, talk, take me through that scene and, and what
04:25that's like.
04:26I think that's what Ogilvy is a hundred percent there to do.
04:30And Lucas does it so beautifully.
04:34He's great.
04:35He's giving a very punchable performance.
04:37And I really mean that as a compliment.
04:39He really is.
04:40Um, yeah, I think, you know, Whittaker is feeling a little bit
04:45put upon by these, by these two medical students who kind of
04:50don't necessarily want to be there.
04:52Um, and that's putting a lot of pressure on him and, and stuff.
04:55But I think he also appreciates that everyone is dealing, deals
05:00with things in, in different ways.
05:02Everyone has a completely different approach to like life
05:05and death in the ED, whether that's like a protection thing,
05:08you know, or Ogilvy is a psychopath, too early to say for Whittaker.
05:15So, yeah, I mean, it definitely is rubbing him up the wrong way,
05:18but, you know, people deal with it in different ways.
05:22So, in that moment, he's just, it's the last thing he wants to hear.
05:27So he's just, yeah, but maybe it grounds him a little bit.
05:30Like, yeah, you know, it's another death.
05:31So move on in a, you know, in a messed up way.
05:35You go into Louie's room, um, Langdon's already there.
05:38And there's already been some tension in, in the last week's episode,
05:40or episode five, you do admit that maybe you, you infringed upon Langdon
05:44by trying to take over the Benzo subscription for Louie.
05:49I'm sorry, man. We didn't have time to find you.
05:52Found this with his stuff.
05:54Guess he was married at some point.
05:56Never knew that.
05:57When he kind of like lets Langdon take over,
06:00is that him trying to atone for that?
06:02Is he just shell-shocked from Louie's death?
06:04Yeah, I think it was completely unintentional to,
06:08you know, make Langdon feel uncomfortable.
06:12But without, you know, there's so much tension there.
06:16Again, the living situation with Santos,
06:19I think, you know, he's struggling with like,
06:24do I pick allegiances here?
06:25You know, because he's so close with Santos
06:27and knows what she went through with Langdon.
06:30It's probably one of the few people who does.
06:33Um, so that makes it very, a very awkward position for him to be in.
06:39So, I don't think he has personal beef with Langdon,
06:43but is kind of, feels a little bit stuck in the middle,
06:46but is not trying to offend him in, in, in that, um, in that scene.
06:52But it's just being wary, but he's, puts his foot in it.
06:56Yeah, for sure.
06:56You already mentioned the viewing room scene.
06:58And, um, what was it like being there and watching Noah
07:01give this monologue about Louie's wife
07:03and, and just that, that extra detail that, and, and the love that,
07:07you know, we get, and the insight we get into Louie's life and death?
07:12He never really wanted kids, but Rhonda wore him down,
07:17and when she finally got pregnant, he changed his tune,
07:20he got excited, and then about a month before the baby was due,
07:23Rhonda and the baby were killed in a car crash.
07:26It just goes to show, you know, every patient that comes in,
07:30it necessarily, you know, doesn't, we don't necessarily know,
07:34you know, everything about them.
07:36Um, you know, there's a real balancing act between how,
07:40how well do you get to know these people?
07:43You know, because that could come back to bite you.
07:45First, you don't know how long they're going to be there.
07:47You know, Louie's a special case, but you know,
07:49you don't know how long they're going to be with you,
07:52whether they're leaving or they're, you know,
07:53they might not, they might be dying, you know what I mean?
07:58So, yeah, in that moment, it's just another,
08:01just a reminder, like, Louie's been a fixture for us
08:04and kind of just a resident, we joke with him,
08:06but it's like, oh yeah, he had, you know,
08:09he had a family and it just kind of deepens that, um,
08:14that loss, you know, but it's important,
08:16it's important to know that and, you know,
08:19that these are people so you don't become cold and detached.
08:23So I think Robbie's, you know, just very gently reminding us all that,
08:29you know, these are people with histories
08:31and we should just respect that more than, more than anything.
08:34Talk to Noah about directing the episode.
08:36He told, gave me behind the scenes in the process
08:38from his point of view.
08:39Yeah.
08:40What is it like to like, not only be working with him as an actor,
08:42but now as a director?
08:43Did you pick up anything new from him?
08:45He does it very seamlessly.
08:47I mean, I think that's all I can, I can say about it.
08:50I, I think he, you know, he must have so much confidence
08:54because the show is, he's so ingrained in the show
08:56and kind of every aspect of it.
08:59So he just arrives with a lot of kind of prep
09:03and, and information already there.
09:05So he can just fall into it very well.
09:08He knows all of our characters sort of journeys.
09:12And I don't know really, he's got, he's doing a lot of this.
09:16Maybe not that, maybe not that.
09:18But I know he's doing a lot of like, like with the cameras,
09:21with Jojo, our amazing DOP, he was doing a lot of that.
09:23I was like, oh, wow.
09:24He's really kind of, it's just another string to his bow,
09:28but he's, he kills it.
09:30But he's an actor's director as well, you know, for sure.
09:35And he makes us feel very comfortable.
09:39Yeah.
09:39So what more do you, what more do you want?
09:41I know that you and Issa have talked about the,
09:42the glow ups this season,
09:44how the roommates have influenced each other's looks
09:46and the fandom has latched onto that.
09:48Yeah.
09:49Um, would you like to see a similar glow up for the next season?
09:51Can you see where you want to take Whitaker's look next?
09:55Physically?
09:55Yeah.
09:56Different haircut, different swagger.
09:58Buzz cut.
09:59I'm thinking, just a buzz cut.
10:01Yeah, no, I have no idea.
10:03This was kind of like a,
10:04yeah, it was kind of a signifier of like,
10:07you know, I think Santos has kind of
10:11propped him up quite a lot in that time.
10:13And I think Issa said it.
10:15I think she's probably taken him to some gay bars.
10:18I think she, I've kind of been the wingman potentially.
10:24So it's like, come on, step up your game.
10:25I first spoke to you about the show like last spring over Zoom
10:28and it was building momentum,
10:29but it wasn't quite the hit it is now.
10:32What has it been like on this journey in the last, like,
10:34literal year to see this, this show grow and blossom into a cultural phenomenon
10:39and such a strong fandom?
10:41Uh, yeah.
10:41What more can you, can you want really for people to,
10:45to like it and talk about it and for something to gain so much momentum?
10:50I mean, yeah, it's, it's incredible.
10:52We're, we're working, especially with the awards and stuff like that.
10:55It was really interesting because we were, we're working during a lot of that.
11:00So, you know, we're kind of working up until seven on Friday and it's like,
11:05oh, we're doing the awards now and we get whisked away to those and then we win them.
11:10The love for the show has been incredible and like, it feels organic.
11:15It feels kind of, it feels word of mouth.
11:17The fact it's released on a weekly basis,
11:19I think has been like a really brave way to do it.
11:23And it's kind of worked and you know, the medical community always seem to be our biggest sort of fans.
11:31So for them to, you know, have the spotlight on them and, and be able to be seen in the
11:37show,
11:38that is kind of, that I think has hit us all the most like, you know, like emotion, emotionally at
11:44least.
11:44So yeah, we're very thankful for it.
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