Wyle portrayed Dr. John Carter on 13 seasons of “ER,” and currently plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on “The Pitt.”

Noah Wyle says the *ER *cast wouldn’t have made it through *The Pitt *boot camp: ‘You would have gotten six class clowns’

Wyle portrayed Dr. John Carter on 13 seasons of "ER," and currently plays Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch on "The Pitt."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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January 4, 2026 11:22 p.m. ET

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Noah Wyle in 'The Pitt'. Credit:

Warrick Page/MAX

Noah Wyle's character on *ER*, John Carter, is one of the most beloved doctors in TV history. But is he any match for *The Pitt* 's Dr. Robby? Wyle has his doubts.

In a new, career-spanning conversation on *CBS Sunday Morning*, the Emmy-decorated star of the new HBO hit recounted the grueling boot camp that *The Pitt *cast underwent before commencing production.

"This is a fairly young ensemble, and certainly none of us have ever been doctors before, and we all had to start at a pretty high level of proficiency," Wyle explained. "It was really important that we [come] in a few weeks before we started shooting, learn how to put on your gloves, learn how to say the words, learn how to hold the instruments, learn how to move and think like a doctor, talk to doctors, go to the hospital."

"I will say that, you know, if this had been the *ER* cast, and we'd [been] asked to do three weeks of boot camp, you would have gotten six class clowns screwing around, not listening, playing with the gloves, [making] them into balloons, doing all sorts of crazy stuff," he joked.

The cast of 'ER'. NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

The *ER *core cast also included George Clooney, Juliana Margulies, Eriq La Salle, Anthony Edwards, and Laura Innes.

In contrast, *The Pitt*'s young cast members "were not class clowns. These were first students. They were top students" who "picked this stuff up so fast that, as the old veteran who thought, 'I've got such an advantage,' I was like, 'Oh, wow. Hey, I've got to pick it up a little bit. These guys are really adept.'"

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Wyle, who just picked up a Critics Choice Award on Sunday for his role as Dr. Robby, and the rest of his *Pitt *compatriots' hard work was evident even before the advent of awards season, as the series became a critical darling and garnered one of the streamers' biggest audiences of the year. Twenty-six years after his last nomination for *ER* — Wyle was nominated five times and never won — he finally took home an award for his performance as Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch.

The Pitt was renewed for a second season last February, which is slated for premiere on Jan. 8.

Wyle recently teased what fans may come to anticipate in the new season, which picks up in the aftermath of the explosive season 1 finale: "Fireworks, alcohol-related accidents, bad judgments, celebrations gone awry," he told * *in December. The action in season 2 takes place on the Fourth of July.

"It's a whole host of cases. And like on any Fourth of July, they start being one type of case, and over the course of the day, you get a higher acuity of cases coming in as people get more inebriated or take bigger chances or start dealing with more pyrotechnics," he said.****

You can watch Wyle's full interview on *CBS Sunday Morning *above.

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Source: “EW Medical”