Noah Wyle reveals why 'The Pitt' is different from 'ER'

Noah Wyle recently got candid and drew a comparison between his characters in The Pitt and ER.

The 54-year-old American actor, famous for playing John Carter in ER, a medical drama that aired from 1994 to 2009, revealed why playing a Jewish doctor in The Pitt is altogether a different experience.

Wyle, who played Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a senior attending physician in The Pitt, said it was a new domain for him, referring to the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in the third episode of the second season.

He quipped, “This is all new territory for me,” and went on to share that his mother is Episcopalian and his father is Jewish; however, he does not calls himself “particularly religious.”

The Falling Skies star recalled that the executive producer of the show, John Wells, asked him about his family name, Rabinovich, as he wanted to use it for his character in The Pitt.

Wyle remembered how Wells said, “Why don’t we do that? Why don’t we call him Robby?”

“I was like, ‘A Jewish character?’ I’ve never played a Jewish character before. I’ve never owned that part of myself on-camera before,” the Emmy winner replied.

“It’s the complete antithesis of John Carter, who is such a WASP [White Anglo-Saxon Protestant] in so many ways.” Wells said, alluding to his character in The Pitt.

It is pertinent to mention that the sophomore season of The Pitt is currently streaming on HBO. New episodes will air every Thursday at 9 pm ET/PT until the finale on April 16, 2026.