Noah Wyle recently opened up about the differences between his iconic role as Dr. John Carter on ER and his latest character in The Pitt. The 54-year-old actor, known for ER (1994–2009), shared why playing a Jewish doctor in The Pitt was a completely new experience for him.
Wyle portrays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a senior attending physician in The Pitt, which explores the aftermath of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in its second season. “This is all new territory for me,” Wyle admitted, noting that while his mother is Episcopalian and his father is Jewish, he does not consider himself “particularly religious.”
The Emmy-winning actor recalled that executive producer John Wells suggested adapting Wyle’s real last name, Rabinovich, for his character. Wyle remembered Wells asking, “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,’” Wyle said. He added that the role was “the complete antithesis of John Carter, who is such a WASP [White Anglo-Saxon Protestant] in so many ways.”
Season two of The Pitt is currently streaming on HBO, with new episodes airing every Thursday at 9 pm ET/PT. The season finale is scheduled for April 16, 2026.