“The Pitt” star was a 22-year-old waiter in Los Angeles when he landed the role that put him on the map.

Noah Wyle was ‘very late’ in auditioning for ER and got the job ‘at the last minute,’ producer John Wells recalls

"The Pitt" star was a 22-year-old waiter in Los Angeles when he landed the role that put him on the map.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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April 17, 2026 9:09 p.m. ET

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Noah Wyle on 'ER'. Credit:

Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

- *ER* producer John Wells remembered in a new interview that Noah Wyle almost missed out on his big role on the show.

- Wells recalled that Wyle came in 'very late' but wowed everyone with the way he kept changing up his approach.

- Wells is now an executive producer on HBO's 'The Pitt,' on which Wyle stars.

Noah Wyle was working with diners not patients — at least people pretending to be patients — just before he landed that life-changing role on *ER*.

Executive producer John Wells recalls that Wyle, who portrayed Dr. John Carter on the NBC medical drama that ran from 1994 to 2009, nearly missed out.

He "came in kind of later," when another actor had almost won the role.

"There was a wonderful actor, who goes unnamed, and has gone on to do very well," Wells said Thursday on the *A Lot More* podcast from Warner Bros. TV. "But we thought he was in the part, and [Wyle] came in very late."

Wells explained that Wyle had wowed the decision-makers.

Noah Wyle and John Wells in 2025.

Vivien Killilea/Getty

"Brought him back two or three times, and he was different every time and better every time, and had new ideas," Wells remembered. "And I said, 'Oh, there's somebody who's really an actor.' He ended up getting the job at the last minute. He was 22, I think at the time, and he was waiting tables in West Hollywood."

Wells served as the head writer, show runner and executive producer of *ER*. Wyle was a cast member for the first 11 seasons and appeared on several later episodes.

The casting appeared to have been as big of a win as the show was for all involved.

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He was Emmy-nominated five years in a row, from 1995 to 1999, for his work.

It wasn't until he reunited Wells on another TV favorite, HBO's *The Pitt*, that he won a statuette. Wyle was named Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2025 for his portrayal of Dr. Robby Ravinovitch. (He also won as a producer when the show was named Outstanding Drama Series in its freshman season.)

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Wells is an executive producer who has also directed a few episodes of the series that captures the chaos that goes on inside a medical ward.

"That relationship has now gone on for my entire professional career, basically, and his," Well said. "I mean, it's a little scary because I used to look at [the] monitor and see a 22-year-old looking back at me. I look in the monitor now and I see a very handsome 54-year-old man."

The last episode of the show's second season dropped Thursday. The series has already been renewed for a third.

Watch Wells' full conversation above.

- Medical Dramas

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Medical”