Noah Wyle Is At Home In 'The Pitt'
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Who is Noah Wyle and what is 'The Pit' about?
This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies. Our guest today, Noah Wiley, is an executive producer, writer, and star of the new Mac series, The Pit, which gives viewers an inside look at the chaos and drama of a big city hospital emergency room.
Wendell Stone, 52, Chief Rigger from Pit Fest. Isolated trauma to the left chest when a speaker tower came down on him. Looks like multiple rib fractures. Pulse 110, BP 130 over 85, decent stats at 96, 50th bent in the field. Got it? How we doing, Mr. Stone? Mr. Stone's my dad. It's just Stone.
The pit has drawn critical praise for its engaging storylines, intelligent dialogue, and well-drawn characters. And it's gained a following of real-life emergency room doctors who praise the accuracy of the show's depiction of medical conditions and treatments. Noah Wiley is a veteran of stage, screen, and television who's no stranger to lab coats and hospital scrubs. He played a medical student and then a physician on the hit NBC TV series ER for most of its 15 seasons, where he earned nominations for three Golden Globe and five Primetime Emmy Awards. He starred in the TNT series Falling Skies and The Librarians and has appeared in many movies. He's also been active in the organization's Human Rights Watch and Doctors of the World.
The Pit is now wrapping up its 15-episode run and has been renewed for a second season – Noah Wiley, welcome to Fresh Air.
Thank you so much for having me.
You know, I mentioned in the introduction that your character, maybe I didn't, he's the senior attending physician in this emergency room. And, you know, in addition to treating patients, you're really running this big organization, and it's a teaching hospital. So while you're an experienced pro, there are all these others who are less experienced, residents in training and medical students, on their first day, I believe, in their rotation as this thing begins. So there's a lot going on here. Tell us just a little bit more about your character, Dr. Robbie.
I play Dr. Michael Rabinovich, who is several decades into his medical career and probably should have retired a couple of years ago. But like many practitioners, post-COVID felt pressed into service and out of the increasing need. And because he's really good at what he does and he really cares about the people he works with, he's kept working. And it's taken a toll on him. He's seen a lot and done a lot. He's been able to compartmentalize a lot of that. And today we are embedded with him for his entire shift on the day that he's no longer able to do that.
Right. And things – he runs into some rough seas. You know, he's surrounded by these young medical students. And I don't think I recognize any of the actors in this, but they are just so terrific.
The casting process was laborious. We were looking for people with theater backgrounds, people who were really adept at memorizing lots and lots of dialogue, very good with props, who could do all sorts of things while doing a procedure and walking backwards. And we had to cast the show internationally. We found actors in Australia. We found them in England. We found them on the East Coast, West Coast. But we found tremendous performers. So while you haven't seen them before, I knew early on that I was going to be a Trojan horse that was going to introduce all this young talent to your living room.
How does Noah Wyle describe his character Dr. Robbie Rabinovich?
And they're great. Well, let's listen to a scene and get a little bit of a flavor of the show. This scene is typical of many where a new patient is being wheeled in by paramedics from an ambulance. And we hear them barking out critical facts as they're rolling them in. And then you hear this one, two, three as the team coordinates lifting the patient from the ambulance stretcher to a hospital gurney. And then the team gets to work. Let's listen.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Noah Wyle and what is 'The Pit' about?
0:16–3:39
2
What makes 'The Pit' medically authentic and how was it produced?
3:39
3
How does Noah Wyle describe his character Dr. Robbie Rabinovich?
2:16–4:05
4
What challenges did the cast face during casting and rehearsals?
4:05–4:53
5
How does the show portray intense medical scenes and technical jargon?
4:53–10:29
6
What inspired the creation of 'The Pit' during the COVID pandemic?
10:29–11:53
7
How does Noah Wyle reflect on returning to medical drama after ER?
11:53–17:00
8
How are emotional and ethical challenges depicted in the show?
17:00–50:15
Speakers
11 identifiedMore from Fresh Air
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