# Noah Wyle

- **Show:** Good Hang with Amy Poehler
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2026
- **Source:** https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7811836508.mp3
- **Transcript:** https://podcasts.opennash.com/shows/good-hang/noah-wyle-d95786/
- **Provider:** OpenNash Podcasts (machine-generated)

## In brief

Noah Wyle argues that the best work comes from treating colleagues with kindness, generosity and a sense of family. He traces that approach from ER's George Clooney and director Rob Reiner to the way he built the cast and set culture of The Pitt, a one-day-per-episode medical drama.

The conversation moves between humor and sincerity. Amy Poehler and Shawn Hatosy joke about basketball picks, emus and awkward meetings with idols. Then it turns to Wyle's craft, his mother's nursing career, and his belief that meaningful work and family define what is enough.

## Key insights

1. **Wyle models The Pitt on ER's culture** He says George Clooney set a tone of working hard, playing hard and erasing the divide between cast and crew. Wyle deliberately rebuilt that company feel on The Pitt.
2. **Dropping the ER reboot freed The Pitt** After a planned ER reboot did not happen, the team was cut loose from the old characters and brand. That let them tell stories about current issues instead of checking in on old favorites.
3. **Wyle keeps emotional scenes alive for weeks** He compares a big upcoming scene to a fire he tends daily, so that on the shooting day it is a release rather than a fear. He knew in episode one that his character would break down in episode ten.
4. **Rob Reiner's welcome shaped Wyle's set manner** On A Few Good Men, Reiner greeted him warmly and made him feel competent within seconds. Wyle now welcomes every guest star the same way, believing kindness gets better performances.
5. **Fear in a script is a compass** Wyle says a role that scares him, like an action hero in Falling Skies, usually points to something in his own life he needs to confront. He treats those fears as guides to where he should go.

## Questions this episode answers

### What is The Pitt and how is it different from ER?

The Pitt is a medical drama Noah Wyle stars in and helped create. It plays out one day per episode, giving an immersive feel, and it was freed from ER's characters and brand after an ER reboot fell through.

### Why did Noah Wyle say his career in television was ironic?

He says he began wanting to do only theater and film. He ended up building his whole career in television, which he calls very rewarding because it creates a family and a long relationship with audiences.

### What did Wyle learn from Rob Reiner?

Wyle says Reiner welcomed him on his first day of A Few Good Men and made him feel confident in about eight seconds. Wyle has copied that welcome with every guest star since, believing kindness gets better work.

### How does Wyle prepare for a big emotional scene?

He says he treats it like a fire he keeps burning, thinking about it daily and adding small fuel. When the day arrives he can release it. He wanted a technique that needed only a coffee and a folding chair.

### What happened with the emus Wyle mentions?

Wyle says his emus became aggressive after having babies and tried to kick him while he fed them. He defended himself with a trash can lid, escaped, and later found someone to take them away.

## Facts

- **Noah Wyle** [0:18:09]: "he went to a a symposium on population explosion in 1959 at Caltech. And he came away thinking that water and land are gonna be the two most precious resources in California."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:18:09]: "he found this piece of property about an hour north of Fresno, in the exact geographical center of California."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:21:00]: "I went away to do this theater program that's sponsored by Northwestern University in the summer program, called the Cherub program"
- **Noah Wyle** [0:21:26]: "I worked for a man named Dimitri Dimitrov at the Bel Air Hotel."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:24:08]: "I signed with a wonderful agent, a woman named Eileen Feldman signed me basically with a list of plays on a back of an envelope that I had done in high school."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:24:32]: "she sent me the pilot's script for ER, which had been written as a feature script."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:25:22]: "I tested against one other actor, a gentleman named Rafael Sabat."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:25:40]: "I turned 22 while we made the pilot, so I was 21 when I was auditioning for it."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:28:46]: "even when I left after the end of the 11th season and left a few episodes in the balance, I called it a divorce with visitation rights."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:38:45]: "I remember thinking and telling John Wells, like, I don't know if I buy this, he goes. That's the point."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:42:29]: "We were gonna start down an ER reboot road that didn't come to pass."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:44:42]: "I got to the set early for my 1st day of work."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:48:28]: "We intentionally have patients that are seated into the environment that don't pop until five or six hours later."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:50:10]: "It's like an old Altman movie, where you just you gotta throw in, like you're going to summer camp."
- **Noah Wyle** [0:53:42]: "She was an operating room nurse for operating ten years, and room. then she was a chief orthopedic nurse at Kaiser in Hollywood."
- **Noah Wyle** [1:00:05]: "I remember the 1st time I read the pilot script for a show I did called Falling Skies."
- **Noah Wyle** [1:06:02]: "I carry with me the collected, uh, episodes of Columbo and Mash."
- **Noah Wyle** [1:09:56]: "when Giuliana Margulies was the host, I did a pre taped sketch with her, so I got to go out on stage and wave"
- **Amy Poehler** [0:13:40]: "A lot of people don't know that the pit and ER were not shot in Pittsburgh and in Chicago, but right on the lot in Los Angeles."
- **Shawn Hatosy** [0:05:56]: "I've been fortunate to work on three shows shot in LA."

## Transcript

**[0:00:00] Ad read:** This episode is brought to you by PayPal. Shine at gift giving this year by planning ahead. Shop your favorite online stores with PayPal this holiday, like Sephora for gift sets, Target for toys and electronics, and TikTok shop for fashion, apparel and gadgets. Check out with the flexibility to pay now or pay later and split your payments with Pay in four with no interest, no late fees. Shop now with PayPal Pay in four. Subject to approval. Learn more at paypal.

**[0:00:27] Ad read:** com slash pay in four. PayPal Inc. NMLS 910457. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Good Hang. Boy. We have one of my favorite actors on today from one of my favorite show parentheses shows, and that is Noah Wyle. Noah Wyle is joining us and we're gonna talk about so many fun things. We're gonna talk about, um, well, people falling asleep on set. We're gonna talk about

**[0:01:00] Amy Poehler:** what it was like playing basketball with George Clooney. We're gonna talk about a little show called ER that I've watched in its entirety three times through. We're gonna talk about The Pitt, a little show that's winning every Emmy, including, uh, that one thousand awards. Oh, and speaking of awards, we're gonna talk about the fact that Noah Wylie announced here for the very first time is People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. Yeah, baby, okay, we're gonna get into it.

**[0:01:29] Amy Poehler:** But before we do, we always try to talk to somebody who knows our guest or has a question for me to ask our guest. And we are talking to Shawn Hatosy, Yes, Dr. Jack Abbott. Um, uh, uh, the the nightcrawler himself, the the man from the night shift from the pit. And you know, Sean, he's an incredible actor, director. He, you know, you know him from Animal Kingdom, you know him from Southland. He's just our, our, our favorite crazy doctor who's, you know, who's bringing us along for the ride.

**[0:02:01] Amy Poehler:** So let's see if we can get Sean on the Zoom. Hey Sean, this episode of Good Hang is presented by PayPal. Brighten up the start to the festive season by getting ahead of the holiday rush. Shop your favorite online stores with PayPal this holiday, like Sephora for gift sets, Target for toys and electronics, and TikTok shop for fashion, apparel and gadgets. Check out with the flexibility to pay now or pay later and split your payments with Pay in four with no interest, no late fees.

**[0:02:35] Amy Poehler:** Shop now with PayPal Pay in four. Subject to approval. Learn more at paypal. com slash pay in four. PayPal Inc. NMLS 910457.

**[0:02:44] Speaker 6:** Get up, what are you saying? All I ever wanted was a really good hair Sean

**[0:02:56] Shawn Hatosy:** Amy, how are you?

**[0:02:58] Amy Poehler:** Sean, it is good to see you,

**[0:03:00] Shawn Hatosy:** It is good to see you.

**[0:03:02] Amy Poehler:** you know, we just officially met in person just recently,

**[0:03:06] Shawn Hatosy:** The pre Emmy party. And we were near the bar area and you did this thing, which I often do, which is I put my head down and walk away. And I was like, she doesn't want to talk to us. And then your friend looked up and and there was a moment of recognition. And my wife was like, He knows you, we're going to go talk to him right You're a wonderful now.

**[0:03:25] Amy Poehler:** wife, Kelly. I got to talk to you both and you're right. I mean, I, I get a little overwhelmed at parties.

**[0:03:32] Shawn Hatosy:** I understand, but we didn't give you that chance. We took you hostage for like 20 min and we threw up all over you. And thank you for indulging.

**[0:03:39] Amy Poehler:** Oh, I am right back at you. I'm very, very excited to talk to you today. I mean, Sean, I love your work and have for a very long time. And it's been awesome to watch what you do so naturally and so well. Coincide with this like huge hit show. Like, you know what it is to work in this business and to be on shows that are really, really good and that don't have this kind of momentum behind them.

**[0:04:08] Amy Poehler:** What's it like to be on a hit? You're on a hit, baby.

**[0:04:12] Shawn Hatosy:** you do so many shows and at the beginning you're like, this is gonna go forever. And then it, like, gets canceled after five episodes. So when you're starting a show, you just sort of kinda go, I don't, you know, it feels like we're doing good work. I'm not sure, I gotta say, with the pit, you know, um, with all of the elements in place. I I've worked with John Wells, who was the e executive producer on on other shows, and they didn't do as well.

**[0:04:35] Shawn Hatosy:** But it there's something about this that felt really solid. And obviously with Noah, and, um, you know, his contributions to this type of show. And then the fact that it's it's taking something that we're familiar with, but changing the concept by putting it in one day, it, it just it. It gave a a very like, immersive quality to it that just felt really, you know, exciting.

**[0:05:02] Amy Poehler:** uh, let's talk about John Wells for a second, like, what a giant of a producer. I've I've never had the chance to meet him. He has done so much TV, incredible work. How did you guys first meet?

**[0:05:14] Shawn Hatosy:** I was a guest star on ER. My manager brought it to me, said that you're gonna go audition for this. And I was like, I, I don't know if I wanna do. Like, I was doing a lot of movies at the time and she was like, No, you need to do this one because John is directing it, and when he directs, you know, it's a it's a big episode. So I, I read it, and it was, of course, you know, multiple personalities, very like, transformative characters,

**[0:05:35] Amy Poehler:** Very cool.

**[0:05:36] Shawn Hatosy:** and so it really was wonderful. And at the end of it, I looked at him and I was like, I really wanna keep working with you. If, if, if I'm so lucky. And and you know, then Southland came a couple years later, where it ended, and it just has worked out. You know, it's one thing to be able to write a show, but it's a it's a whole other thing to be able to produce a show and know how to put the people in place to make a quality show.

**[0:05:56] Shawn Hatosy:** He's very loyal, he's, you know, I've been fortunate to work on three shows shot in LA.

**[0:06:03] Amy Poehler:** I think people sometimes think that making television feels like like it's just like people dressed up in fancy, you know, clothes, going to Emmy parties and talking to each other. But it's a weird factory where you're just in there with, you know, the same people every day and you're grinding.

**[0:06:19] Shawn Hatosy:** And a show like The Pit is very much that because we're in one location, which feels like an office, right? The the lighting is the same. And um, yeah, I mean, but like, as you know, there's also an an an immense pressure. I watch your show, Uh, Parks and Rec, and it's funny every time. Like you guys are are presenting something that clearly works because it kept going and going. But at a certain point, you feel that that pressure to to deliver, which also creates a a special kind of environment when working together.

**[0:06:51] Shawn Hatosy:** If that makes sense,

**[0:06:52] Amy Poehler:** I'll tell you what works the nightcrawlers. ooh, Sean

**[0:06:57] Shawn Hatosy:** what, what, what?

**[0:06:58] Amy Poehler:** Okay, first of all, the the little pep talk, the Friday night lights pep talk that Dr. Abbott gives to the to the n to the night shift. Fantastic,

**[0:07:09] Shawn Hatosy:** it takes a certain kind of person to work a night or to choose to work nights. You know what it feels like to

**[0:07:15] Amy Poehler:** totally. I think that that's such an interesting and there and like it's. It's investigated more in season two, and I hope it continues to be. Which is what personality trait constitutes a night person and someone who wants to take a night shift. Like, you know, whatever the job is, I would just love to pitch that we take nightcrawlers and we just develop nightcrawlers as a separate show. Um, I'm gonna talk to Noah.

**[0:07:40] Shawn Hatosy:** all right, but I I didn't tell you to do that.

**[0:07:45] Amy Poehler:** Okay, so we're talking him today, and I mean, I'm gonna talk to him about all this stuff. Cause I I think I I'm really fascinated by how, like our people, our age, we're about the same age. I'm a little older, but like how we like to work now. Like, I love listening to people's systems of how they work, what works for them. You know, no matter what their job is, doesn't just have to be acting. But I think one of the nice things about being in your 50s is you start realizing, oh, this kind of version of work works for me.

**[0:08:12] Amy Poehler:** Or I do better when I'm around these types of people, like all that stuff. I think there's a little bit of wisdom that comes with that. But I feel like he's feels like a very serious guy and kind of private. Are either one of those things true?

**[0:08:25] Shawn Hatosy:** I, I, I mean, I. He is a serious guy, but he has a really good sense of humor about stuff. You know, he's like a big brother, you know, a much older big brother, yeah, much older, much, much older.

**[0:08:39] Amy Poehler:** much older. That's really nice to hear, cause that it the vibe on that show is like, there's just a lot of fraternal love between your characters. And look, we as viewers, we're just looking for, like, positive masculinity. We're just looking for examples of it, honestly, anywhere we can find it. And the way you guys play these very, you know, complicated and, um, uh, accomplished men who are taking care of each other, uh, sometimes in limited ways, but they're still trying.

**[0:09:16] Amy Poehler:** It's really, really moving to watch.

**[0:09:19] Shawn Hatosy:** yeah. The thing that excites me the most about the relationship and just sort of their their competence, competency when it comes to the medical. Like you, you just those are the guys you want if something is going wrong. Like, there's nothing that can come through on a gurney that they can't fix. Um, they have all the answers, like, right on the tip of their tongues, but, uh, when it comes to their mental health, you know, they just are are are idiots and they they just don't have the tools.

**[0:09:48] Shawn Hatosy:** And because of their position as leaders, as men who are supposed to be counted on, it's hard to raise your hand and say, Hey, I'm struggling, I, I need help, you know? And I think that the fact that we're tackling that and, um, in the way that we are is, uh, is incredibly positive.

**[0:10:08] Amy Poehler:** um, okay, so do you have? I ask all my, uh, my Zoom guests, if they can give me a question to ask my guest. Um, big or small, anything you might, uh, think Noah wants to talk about, or anything you wanna know about him.

**[0:10:21] Shawn Hatosy:** I was thinking about this and sort of what we were talking about. Like, he's such a masterful performer when it comes to acting, um, his ability to to bring out the medical jargon. I've I've seen it as an actor and also as a director. Hi, his, um, his access to vulnerability, his ability to, uh, play emotion, heavy emotion. And like the stamina that is required to do it over and over again, he never changes. Um, and the other thing I really think Noah is good at is listening.

**[0:10:56] Shawn Hatosy:** He's got these eyes that when he's, he has to convey some sort of story point just from listening, he does it brilliantly. Um, and so all that aside, it it, as somebody watching it, it just seems very easy to him. And I was curious, is there something he reads as an actor that he's scared of? Is there an insecurity? Is there I? Is there a s a a a something that he would read in a script?

**[0:11:33] Shawn Hatosy:** That he's like, Oh man, I'm afraid. I wonder if I, if I could do that. Cause we all, as actors, have deep insecurities, Oh my god, you know what I mean? And it's so I'm just curious, Um, what does he read and go? Fuck? I don't know if I can do that.

**[0:11:44] Amy Poehler:** that's a great question. Because he's had to do, he's, he's. He's gotten a lot of scripts over the years where he's had to do things. And they, you know, especially certainly on ER. It was like big physical comedy and big emotional moments, and like romantic moments, and like big breakdowns that, you know, are coming. And just like, what is the thing that you read on the page? Or, you know, you are in the room pitching that you're like, Oh, no, I'm gonna eventually have to do this.

**[0:12:10] Shawn Hatosy:** yeah. And then my 2nd question is he's putting together a basketball team, okay, he can use anybody from the pit or ER. ugh, He's the point guard, great. okay, he needs to. He needs to bring on four more players from the pit or ER. What is that team?

**[0:12:31] Amy Poehler:** oh, fantastic question.

**[0:12:34] Shawn Hatosy:** And I gotta say, don't tell him this, but if he doesn't pick me, we're gonna have to talk about that.

**[0:12:42] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, he'll sense that in the question. You might be hoping to be picked, but I will, I'll try not to deliver it that way.

**[0:12:48] Shawn Hatosy:** I think he's definitely gonna pick George Clooney, right? Cause he plays basketball still, doesn't he? I don't know,

**[0:12:55] Amy Poehler:** I don't, I think so. I mean,

**[0:12:57] Shawn Hatosy:** does he have time with all

**[0:12:58] Amy Poehler:** no kidding. the He probably has some guy play basketball for him at this point. He's not having, he's not playing his own basketball. He has a gentleman, an Italian gentleman, who plays for him. for sure, No way, but you're right. I mean, basketball was a big thing in ER. It was just like they were always shooting hoops. And you and you're a good basketball player, you like basketball.

**[0:13:18] Shawn Hatosy:** I played a lot of basketball and and like as a as a kid, high school, but I play tennis now, I play pickleball, so there's where they played basketball on the pit. I mean, on Er, that right next to the friends stage, there's a basketball court, but they've put pickleball there. So sometimes at lunch we'll go. Not Noah. He has never made it out there, but I'll drag some people out there and we'll play pickleball.

**[0:13:40] Amy Poehler:** A lot of people don't know that the pit and ER were not shot in Pittsburgh and in Chicago, but right on the lot in Los Angeles. Thank you so much for doing this. I I know Noah will be thrilled that we talked, and thank you so much for the time. And it was so great to meet you in person. I love your work. I can't wait thank for the next season and all the good stuff ahead, so I really thanks again.

**[0:14:01] Shawn Hatosy:** appreciate it. Thank you.

**[0:14:01] Amy Poehler:** Bye, Sean. Bye. whoopie This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Checking Allstate 1st could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking which group chat you're typing in before hitting send. Next thing, you know, you sent a scalding hot take about the restaurant to the group with the person who picked it. Yikes, Yeah, checking 1st is a good idea, so check Allstate 1st for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate.

**[0:14:28] Amy Poehler:** Potential savings vary. Subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate, North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. whoopie May I open this on Oh, please the air? do, please do. Yeah, Oh, wait, this is from your wife and daughter.

**[0:14:41] Noah Wyle:** yeah. They found these and they know that you have all this little stuff and they thought that my gosh, you would think this was cute.

**[0:14:46] Amy Poehler:** come on. 1st of all, a time.

**[0:14:50] Noah Wyle:** They called it eye joy just to look at these and get a little bit of pleasure.

**[0:14:54] Amy Poehler:** this is really nice. This is an anthropomorphic pretzel, the like the one I asked for, and same with a croissant with legs. And then this is, oh, it's broccoli. I. I had it upside. I thought it was an octopus, which It's versatile, broccoli. Um, listeners, um, uh, Noah just came with presents and, um, beautifully crafted presents. And I'm also gonna read the card on air.

**[0:15:21] Noah Wyle:** it won't be hard. My daughter's got the most incredible penmanship.

**[0:15:24] Amy Poehler:** How old is your daughter?

**[0:15:25] Noah Wyle:** She's eleven, this one is eleven. Come on, I actually don't know what it says.

**[0:15:30] Amy Poehler:** is there anything nicer than eleven year old girls? Dear Amy, my mom and I are big fans of your podcast and heard you collect fake food. Although this isn't realistic, we thought you might love it. Love Frances and Sarah. All I ever wanted was a good, good hang. And then she drew a picture. Come on,

**[0:15:52] Noah Wyle:** She used her cursive. Oh, she broke out the cursive for you too. She's really showing off. what a sweetie Wow,

**[0:15:57] Amy Poehler:** pie. Oh, girls are the best. That is so sweet. Frances, thank you, Frances, thank you, Sarah.

**[0:16:04] Noah Wyle:** she's gonna be so tickled Oh my that you liked it.

**[0:16:05] Amy Poehler:** god, thanks for bringing that. We'll put it on the shelf before we're done for continuity sake, though we gotta leave it off. Noah Wyle is here, Noah Wyle is here, and also Noah. I just want you to know, no pressure. But you were like one of the 1st people that I. When people were like, who do you want on your podcast? you were somebody that I've been. I've been trying to get you for a long time.

**[0:16:24] Noah Wyle:** I haven't been playing hard to get, I've just been working a lot.

**[0:16:26] Amy Poehler:** I know I've been watching your work.

**[0:16:29] Noah Wyle:** I'm really happy to be here and you've been very kind about my work through the years. Well, get So I'm really

**[0:16:34] Amy Poehler:** ready, buckle up. Um, I I heard from your people that you refused to come until you were voted sexiest man. You said, I will only be on this pod if I'm people's sexiest man alive. And I guess my 1st question is, Jonathan Bailey was last year.

**[0:16:54] Noah Wyle:** I need something legitimate to talk about.

**[0:16:55] Amy Poehler:** How is your administration gonna be different? What are you gonna do different than the Bailey administration?

**[0:17:00] Noah Wyle:** I'm really disappointed. What he's done on the international front and with immigration. So,

**[0:17:05] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, you're gonna start with the heavy uh, my administration stuff.

**[0:17:07] Noah Wyle:** is gonna really crack down on the borders of beauty. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you. I think that one goes to my mother and my father, but yep, thank you. But I can almost remember chronologically the ones that came out during my formative years.

**[0:17:24] Amy Poehler:** Well, don't you remember? I mean, People magazine was very big in my Huge, huge house. And it was, and you'd get it and you'd sit down, you'd be like, here we go,

**[0:17:31] Noah Wyle:** cover. Cover not a problem.

**[0:17:34] Amy Poehler:** cover to cover.

**[0:17:34] Noah Wyle:** Was it like that cumbersome time, or, you know, and this week, people

**[0:17:40] Amy Poehler:** people, you just breeze through this pie chart's it. good, come on, Yeah, um, but uh, but I, I have genuinely wanted you to be here for a very long time. Thank you for being here

**[0:17:48] Noah Wyle:** my pleasure entirely.

**[0:17:49] Amy Poehler:** and thank you for being here. On what is like 120 degree California It is warm day,

**[0:17:54] Noah Wyle:** out there. I was just in Burbank, where it was 108 in Burbank today. It felt like in in

**[0:18:00] Amy Poehler:** you know, fall. terms, yeah, But you, like, had a LA. experience growing up, and then kind of like a ranch horses, California experience growing I had a very up. atypical upbringing for a Yeah,

**[0:18:09] Noah Wyle:** city kid. Cause my grandfather, back in the late 50s, he was, um, um, a really brilliant guy. And he went to a a symposium on population explosion in 1959 at Caltech. And he came away thinking that water and land are gonna be the two most precious resources in California. So he went looking for both, and he found this piece of property about an hour north of Fresno, in the exact geographical center of California. North to southeast to west, in this little town outside of North Fork.

**[0:18:36] Noah Wyle:** And he bought this cattle ranch that's been in our family forever now. And we all grew up kind of playing Huck Finn there, you know, getting dirty and riding horses and hurting ourselves and each other. And, uh, so I had a kind of country upbringing and a city upbringing, I had both.

**[0:18:52] Amy Poehler:** oh, that's so cool. What a like, great place to be a kid and run around, and that's awesome.

**[0:18:56] Noah Wyle:** yeah, you don't realize how special it is until you compare your childhood to other people. And and you know, I was very fortunate.

**[0:19:01] Amy Poehler:** Do you have an animal that like a do you have, like a farm animal that you love?

**[0:19:05] Noah Wyle:** I've had pigs at my place, I think pigs are really great and full of character I've heard they're great and personality. pet. I mean, you Yeah, know, not, I I've had don't have emus, they are just. I've different,

**[0:19:15] Amy Poehler:** seen emus on TikTok and I'm, I don't want it, they're a little I don't want it.

**[0:19:18] Noah Wyle:** scary, and they don't. They're not very social.

**[0:19:20] Amy Poehler:** What happened?

**[0:19:20] Noah Wyle:** Well, I was trying to feed them and they got really aggressive after they had babies. And, uh, I had a three walled enclosure for them. And I had a trash can with their food in it. And they both came in. And they fight by kicking up their big taloned feet at, like velociraptors. And all I had to defend myself was the lid of the trash can. Oh my, So I was holding it like a shield

**[0:19:38] Amy Poehler:** you were like, Captain America,

**[0:19:39] Noah Wyle:** and not quite more like coward America. And I was, you know, crouched down, thinking about all the headlines. I would not want to read about how I was killed by an emu. So I kind of bum rushed them and got past them and thought, Uh, that's it, that's it, they're out of here.

**[0:19:54] Amy Poehler:** yeah, you were like, I'm getting you out EMUS of here.

**[0:19:56] Noah Wyle:** Uh. Their poop is extremely rich in nitrogen, so it makes great fertilizer for pot, and their feathers are what fly fishermen like to make flies out of. So Well, I found a pot smoking fly fisherman who came down and took him all away.

**[0:20:10] Amy Poehler:** he was like, Yeah, pot, did you have? When you were on the ranch as a kid? Little Noah, were you a funny kid? were you? did you? were you performing as a young I was a very person?

**[0:20:20] Noah Wyle:** moody kid, I was a very temperamental kid, and occasionally, one of those temperaments would be funny. Uh, and I figured out early that I could get attention by being a storyteller and a bit of a comedian, so I kinda latched onto that. But I was, you know, uh, always trying to find my tribe, always trying to find my rhythm, you know, always feeling a slightly step out of my class and my my group. Um, but um,

**[0:20:45] Amy Poehler:** But I, I'm, I'm. I'm, uh, surprised to hear you say that because I know you made some like big choices very young about what you wanted to do with your life. You decided, I'm not gonna go to college, I'm gonna be an actor,

**[0:20:57] Noah Wyle:** that's true.

**[0:20:58] Amy Poehler:** and that's a big swing for somebody Well, that was after who

**[0:21:00] Noah Wyle:** I found my tribe. I went away to do this theater program that's sponsored by Northwestern University in the summer program, called the Cherub program, kind of an all star program for theater kids from all over the country. And I went and was like, Oh, here you are, my people, let's, uh, let's play. And I came back, just committed that, uh, college mileage, you know, I want to start, I'm gonna get an apartment with my best friend and we're gonna hustle.

**[0:21:24] Amy Poehler:** Did you wait tables during that time?

**[0:21:26] Noah Wyle:** I did. I worked for a man named Dimitri Dimitrov at the Bel Air Hotel. Dimitri's now gone Wait a minute, on to become a rather famous wait a minute. I connector in this town. But when I was 17, he hired me to bus tables for him.

**[0:21:37] Amy Poehler:** is this the Dimitri that Yeah, this pleasure, I

**[0:21:39] Noah Wyle:** this pleasure, you know, sunset okay? People s tower and people should know he Sunset. And

**[0:21:43] Amy Poehler:** is very famous. Mulholland, Yeah, Dimitri is like a an incredible character.

**[0:21:49] Noah Wyle:** he's in my A and E biography, talking about how he molded me from a scruffy young street urchin into a rather accomplished busboy.

**[0:22:00] Amy Poehler:** he's kind of like, you don't make them like that anymore. Dimitri, like he was a mater, well, and I met him, he was a mater d, and he was like the epitome of what you would imagine fancy service would be.

**[0:22:11] Noah Wyle:** he drilled into us this wonderful phrase the nobility in humility that you're not subservient because you're serving. And if you wanna be an actor, think of this as putting on a show for these people. Give them the most incredible dining experience and play that part and pay attention to detail. And his work ethic was so intense that one night my job at the end of the shift was to make him an espresso with four sugars. While he counted all the money and tipped us out.

**[0:22:33] Noah Wyle:** And one night he was just sweating profusely. He'd been really aggressive all night, telling us to change ashtrays and get more bread. And it was because he was working with a burst appendix. And he, once he paid us out, he went to the emergency room and had it operated on and showed up the next night for the shift. So do you know how painful that is to work with a burst I do, because appendix?

**[0:22:53] Amy Poehler:** I've watched a lot of your medical shows. I do,

**[0:22:56] Noah Wyle:** um, well, he, he, he's a he's an absolute soldier when it comes to work. whoa, that's wild. And Yeah,

**[0:23:03] Amy Poehler:** did you like, do you feel like you were a good waiter? Cause I I think there is something about waiting tables and being in the service industry in in general. That when, especially when you're a young person, where you get very good, or you get practice anyway, at figuring out how to deal with a lot of different people fast.

**[0:23:19] Noah Wyle:** oh, absolutely, I think that's really true. In fact, I've recommended it to my kids. I say, you know, work and you'll. You'll understand why you won't wanna do it for the rest of your life really quickly. But you'll get this camaraderie, this bond with your fellow workers that you'll never forget. And it will battle test you for all sorts of different kinds of people.

**[0:23:38] Amy Poehler:** Yeah. The I. The idea that you have to very quickly make an impression is really,

**[0:23:43] Noah Wyle:** Well, you're so good at impressions.

**[0:23:44] Amy Poehler:** oh, thanks, why? thanks? No, I'm learning. Okay, I'm too excited. Let's take a drink of water. I did not know that you were auditioning at 20 twen 18, 19, 2021, like really young and auditioning. Did you ever do commercials during that time? Did You know, you ever?

**[0:24:08] Noah Wyle:** I was really cocky and I was really. I thought I only wanted to do theater and film, that was my whole thing when I started out. And, uh, I signed with a wonderful agent, a woman named Eileen Feldman signed me basically with a list of plays on a back of an envelope that I had done in high school. And on the recommendation of a casting director named Gretchen Rennell, who I had met at a party who was very kind to me.

**[0:24:32] Noah Wyle:** Um, and she said, Okay, if that's what you wanna do. And then eventually, when that didn't pan out, uh, she sent me the pilot's script for ER, which had been written as a feature script. And at that point, I was ready to do whatever.

**[0:24:45] Amy Poehler:** did you feel like you nailed it when you like? did you feel good about your audition?

**[0:24:48] Noah Wyle:** It's gonna date it. So specifically

**[0:24:50] Amy Poehler:** I love it. that I say this Let's talk about faxes and pagers.

**[0:24:52] Noah Wyle:** well. I had just gone through a rather tumultuous breakup, my 1st big love had broken my heart and I was trying to rebuild my life. And I was sort So of looking good for the audition, for clues. And though. I had gone back into therapy and I was reading the Celestine Prophecy. Do you remember that book? And so I was? I was so fur into this like idea of control dramas and recognizing what someone's trying to do to you and being neutral and all that shit.

**[0:25:14] Noah Wyle:** And so I remember sitting in the hallway, thinking about not letting the other actors that were auditioning around me's energy affect me and ugh, what I wanted to do. And,

**[0:25:21] Amy Poehler:** perfect, perfect.

**[0:25:22] Noah Wyle:** uh, I went in and it. The 1st one went very well and they called me back for the producers, and then, um, I tested against one other actor, a gentleman named Rafael Sabat. He was very talented and, you know, changed my life.

**[0:25:35] Amy Poehler:** yeah, I mean it that I. I just don't think I really understood how young you were when you were on that show.

**[0:25:40] Noah Wyle:** I turned 22 while we made the pilot, so I was 21 when I was auditioning for it. Yep, which is what my daughter's age, which is crazy.

**[0:25:48] Amy Poehler:** I know, and that age is such an interesting age because it is that middle feeling where you're just you're like, I'm not a kid anymore, I'm a I'm an adult. But you've ch, you're just just stepping into that. It's so, so tender that age. I had great Yeah,

**[0:26:07] Noah Wyle:** big brothers on that one, though. I had George, Tony and Eric, who were all ten years older than me, who had already been down those roads before. And um, I had a huge crush on Sherry, so it felt very comfortable to be part of that ensemble.

**[0:26:19] Amy Poehler:** I didn't know that. I can't, I can't wait. I'm sorry, but no, Everybody you're,

**[0:26:23] Noah Wyle:** had a crush on Sherry.

**[0:26:24] Amy Poehler:** you're gonna have to bear with me because I'm gonna ask you a lot of ER

**[0:26:29] Noah Wyle:** Okay, I'm ready.

**[0:26:29] Amy Poehler:** questions. Where do I start? I think you you share a similar love for television than I do, and I think there's something about television that is so personal. And we revisit these people and these shows and these characters, like, if we're lucky enough to get to do that over and over again. When I 1st watched ER, uh, like everyone else, I was, I had, you know, in the 90s, I was J had just graduated from college.

**[0:26:56] Amy Poehler:** Then cut to I'm watching ER at seven zero every night on TNT in reruns. When I'm like, ripping bongs and going to way, too, you know, with not a care in the world. But I'm 20, you know, whatever it is, 26. Oh, maybe maybe that's a little old to be doing that. But and then I watched it again when in my 30s, I rewatched it again during the pandemic. I have rewatched that series a lot, it is my com one of my comfort shows.

**[0:27:28] Amy Poehler:** My 1st question is, Have you rewatched it?

**[0:27:31] Noah Wyle:** Not in its entirety, not start to finish. I've caught episodes over the years and kind of, you know, caught up on it. Um,

**[0:27:37] Amy Poehler:** Do you watch it when you see it?

**[0:27:38] Noah Wyle:** when I 1st started dating my wife, Sarah, uh, she wanted to watch it from the beginning. And I had the DVDs, so I gave them to her. And every once in a while, I'd walk past and go, Oh, what are you up to? Oh yeah, oh, that's a good one. Or I have no rememory of this whatsoever. Who is that kid? Uh, so, uh, I'll go back to say that when I said I wanted to do only theater and film.

**[0:27:59] Noah Wyle:** It's so ironic that I've made my entire career in television and it's been the most rewarding career you could want. Because it is a family that you build up over a long period of time. There is a culture that's within the show that you're making, that's just as fun to be part of that. Nobody else really gets to know about, cause it's so insular to the just the environment of of the work. Um, and then this re relationship that you build up with audiences who are attending you in their moments of their life that are important, and you kind of are an anchoring point for that.

**[0:28:29] Noah Wyle:** It's really, uh. It's been astonishing to have people grow up with me and have me grow up with them and have these shared experiences and times. It's been wonderful.

**[0:28:38] Amy Poehler:** Well, I've said this. But the arc of John Truman Carter on that show is, I think, one of the best arcs ever on television. It There are many is,

**[0:28:46] Noah Wyle:** shows that run 15 years, so you can get a lot of lifespan in that timeframe. And they did, I mean, but they also had, uh, it was such a lovely bookend to have his 1st day of work be the pilot of the hospital. So it's the audience's exposure to the environment is coming through this character. And even when I left after the end of the 11th season and left a few episodes in the balance, I called it a divorce with visitation rights.

**[0:29:10] Noah Wyle:** Uh, John Wells was always adamant about me coming back and being part of the end. So that we could close the the chapter on that career. And that the 3rd year medical student becomes the chief attending was a lovely road to travel.

**[0:29:22] Amy Poehler:** So satisfying to watch that in re like, what felt like real time, even though. And, you know, spoiler alert if you haven't watched ER, fast forward now, but if you haven't. W literally, what's wrong with you? But um, the way talk about bookends. Dr. Green getting woken up, Come on, let's go, Dr. Green. And ending with with with John Carter saying, Dr. Green, are you coming to Dr. Green's

**[0:29:47] Noah Wyle:** boy, you made me cry.

**[0:29:49] Amy Poehler:** daughter? I mean, good Lord, that made, I mean, the circle of life, I know it's good no,

**[0:29:55] Noah Wyle:** stuff, it's good stuff. I know I get very s. Yeah, it's, it's beautiful.

**[0:30:00] Amy Poehler:** it's beautiful. And also what was so incredible about that show, and and honestly, what is incredible about shows that deal with people who have who do that kind of work, is there is this feeling of celebrating life like one must, one must, because it's all we have. And so I know I, I just anyway, that was so beautifully done. Um, and okay, but I haven't even There's a great seen it.

**[0:30:29] Noah Wyle:** Pittsburgh poet who wrote a poem called A Brief for the Defense. That has a line in there that I think about a lot. Do I love this poem, you know the poem? You must have the stubbornness to accept the gla, your gladness and the ruthless furnace of this the ruthless world.

**[0:30:41] Amy Poehler:** furnace of this world. I love this poem. I just sent it to a friend who's going through a hard time. Jack Gilbert Um, okay, 48 million people watched ER. It's such a hit, it's insane. I, I just wanna talk about what I believe was the most, for me anyway, the most important relationship on the show, which was you and Eric. LaSalle. Um, Dr. Carter and uh, and uh, Dr. Benton,

**[0:31:07] Noah Wyle:** Dr. Peter Benton.

**[0:31:07] Amy Poehler:** Peter, Peter Benton, who was the surgeon, who who was, uh, everything about that portrayal was ahead of its time. Uh, w. Eric's choices, your choices together, the writing of that character, the way that character changed, the way that Eric, I think, and all of you kind of fought for ways in which to make sure that that character stayed true to himself. Um, f, how would you describe that relationship, and what did you two talk about? To make sure to, like, maintain its integrity?

**[0:31:37] Amy Poehler:** It's such a beautiful It was very instinctual way. Yeah,

**[0:31:40] Noah Wyle:** and it wasn't very verbalized, you know, Eric and I just fell into a really great rhythm early on with each other. Where, because of the power imbalance being the exact opposite of what you would imagine it to be. Where the young white doctor is killing himself for the approval and approbation of the older black surgeon and holds his estimation as the highest level of validation. Um, a, and Eric got to play the sort of, you know, I always laugh.

**[0:32:08] Noah Wyle:** When I went to Japan on a tour, on a press tour once, they showed me, er in Japanese, and of course, they gave Eric the very deep like. And then they gave me the

**[0:32:21] Amy Poehler:** yeah, sure, status.

**[0:32:24] Noah Wyle:** and the journey was to have my voice deepened and to have his voice softened in my mind. Yeah. I mean, even Was, you know,

**[0:32:32] Amy Poehler:** watching it when I was a young person, I remember thinking, Wow, Dr. Benton is so he's like, so mean, he's so uptight, he's like, you know, he's so tough on Carter.

**[0:32:40] Noah Wyle:** I used to go to the Post Office and all the ladies would go. He's so mean to you, he's so mean to you.

**[0:32:45] Amy Poehler:** Just the physicality. When you watch the way you two walked, I mean, the way he was like striding constantly down the hallway, the way you were always behind him, over his shoulder, peering. Until eventually, you know, throughout the seasons, you just become literally on the same plane as him. The way you are constantly watching him is so is, uh, just what a relationship that was.

**[0:33:10] Noah Wyle:** He gave me a lot to play off of. And I, I've said many times how much respect I have for what he was doing. In a way without, I think, recognizing what he was doing consciously, but what he was representing at a time that where that wasn't being represented. And, you know, to us, occasionally, it seemed like Eric's being kinda stubborn, you know, he doesn't wanna be a team player and take this picture this way. And we didn't really understand what he was trying to represent, which was a different stripe of blackness, maleness, professionalism.

**[0:33:41] Noah Wyle:** And, uh, I have to give him a tremendous amount of credit and and have through the years for that. Um, but I didn't get it in the beginning and, uh, I really got it now.

**[0:33:51] Amy Poehler:** It was so beautifully done. Because his tension about being being successful, being right, being at at the right time, like e advancing is comes from a much different place than Carter's. And the the clash of that was so interesting to watch.

**[0:34:10] Noah Wyle:** Eric and I come from very different backgrounds, but we have a lot in common. And it was really interesting to sort of mine both of those arenas. How different we are and how much, you know, we end up liking each other despite our differences, maybe because of our differences.

**[0:34:24] Amy Poehler:** did you guys giggle a lot together, though, when you gigglers?

**[0:34:27] Noah Wyle:** Yeah, he has a very infectious laugh, and getting Eric to break is one of the great joys in life.

**[0:34:33] Amy Poehler:** It feels like like you kind of were a couple of goofballs at We were all goofballs, times.

**[0:34:37] Noah Wyle:** we were all the class clowns in our class, trying to get attention. So the idea that we would all be serious doctors, you know, is a finite concept before we all wanna start making fun of what we're doing. Especially when you've got George Clooney in the scene, you twins. know, um, it, it was people that, and he really set the tone. Let's work really hard, let's play really hard, let's take this work seriously, but not take ourselves seriously.

**[0:34:57] Noah Wyle:** yeah, I could tell Let's show up, be that. on time, be professional. Erase the division between cast and crew, between foreground and background, let's just see if we can make this feel like a company. And I've taken that exact ethos and recreated it with the pit. That is exa that is how that was baked into the intentionality of the pit. Is how can I recreate the environment of family, hard, good, relevant work, and, you know, a respectful, inclusive environment at the same time?

**[0:35:23] Amy Poehler:** Did you like his pranks, though? No, the answer's no. No, well, you know, Who likes the pranks? they're funny Are you a prank?

**[0:35:31] Noah Wyle:** stories to tell.

**[0:35:32] Amy Poehler:** Are you a prank guy?

**[0:35:34] Noah Wyle:** I've never. I'm not a big pranker. I knew No,

**[0:35:36] Amy Poehler:** it, I knew it. Who's a prank pranker? We don't have the time.

**[0:35:39] Noah Wyle:** I like, this is gonna s like I. When my son was small, I, he was super into trains. And when he would fall asleep, I'd run downstairs and create these elaborate train layouts for him. And then tell him like, the layout fairy must have come, Well, that's cute, and so he believed

**[0:35:52] Amy Poehler:** that's a good prank.

**[0:35:52] Noah Wyle:** in the layout fairy. Like I, I like magic making, and I like blowing people's minds that way.

**[0:35:57] Amy Poehler:** yeah yeah. I just wanna ask you about a couple moments on ER acting Oh, okay, back wise. Okay, to that. I'm gonna sorry, I talk to your silence know, I mean, I now. only watched it 5,000 times.

**[0:36:14] Noah Wyle:** Fair, I'm all ears.

**[0:36:15] Amy Poehler:** Um, okay. In addition to, uh, p. Dr. Peter Benton being someone that I, it took me a minute, just like the character of Carter, to realize, like, Oh, I'm talking about someone who's had a different experience than me. And and I'm learning about their experience through this character. Laura Innes, Carrie Weaver What a beautiful performance she gives. oh my goodness. I Hm,

**[0:36:36] Noah Wyle:** was at her audition. I sat in on maybe two or three auditions in

**[0:36:39] Amy Poehler:** oh my god.

**[0:36:39] Noah Wyle:** 15 years. And I just happened to be in the office when they were casting that role and I had a friend who was reading for it. So that's maybe why I was there, as sort of a an anchoring energy for my friend. But Laura walked in and walked out or limped out with the part. It was just it was, it was rev rev, like a revelation, what she did with that part.

**[0:36:59] Amy Poehler:** that is, and that is a part that again, when you mature, I think, uh, at least for me as a woman watching the show. When I was in my 50s, I was like, Uh, oh, I I mean, suddenly that character, who, honestly, frankly, sometimes has to be the one that's like, stop having fun, guys, we gotta get back to work. You realize the pressure that that character is under to keep that hospital going, which you you really take a hard look at in the pit.

**[0:37:27] Amy Poehler:** This idea of like, there's a whole other world, there's like the world, there's like the street level world of stuff, there's the bird's eye view of stuff. Then there's like this, this m management piece that is just keeping the lights on. It's she's so, so good in that. And when, and and in the scene, when y when Dr. Carter is, um, uh, a spoiler alert, um, when he has to go to rehab, when, uh, they call him out.

**[0:37:58] Amy Poehler:** S what? As I watched that scene, I don't even have a question. Such good acting. Noah, you're well, so good in that scene.

**[0:38:09] Noah Wyle:** I think I I got good on that show, I got, I mean, the luxury of getting that writing week after week and those directors week after week. And you're working with guest stars that are Academy Award winners and icons and legends, and you're getting to share the stage with them every week. I got better. So that when after year five, when George left, and after year eight, when Tony and Eric left, and I inherited some of the bigger, more meatier storylines, I was ready for them.

**[0:38:35] Noah Wyle:** Then, in a way that I wouldn't have been ready for them in those early seasons. So I, I credit longevity to, uh, preparing me for for the juicier stuff, but those were great. And to

**[0:38:45] Amy Poehler:** so good.

**[0:38:45] Noah Wyle:** give Carter the drug addiction, I remember thinking and telling John Wells, like, I don't know if I buy this, he goes. That's the point. Is that you're the most unexpected face for drug addiction, but the face of drug addiction is every face. And that's the point we wanna make.

**[0:38:58] Amy Poehler:** And lastly, I know you've worked with incredible people, but do you remember working with Adam Scott Yeah, well, not S1, episode really. Uh, it 20?

**[0:39:05] Noah Wyle:** was reminded me by Instagram, where

**[0:39:07] Amy Poehler:** So he told a very funny story about that. Do you remember it? So Adam was on a gurney and it was you and Ming Na doing your scene. And he, I think he's just supposed to lie there as the patient. And he realizes he forgot to put the the breathy thing in the tube, that he, he, he forgot. A prop, basically. And you guys have all all this jargon. And he's like, Oh, shit, and he's like, he kind of raises his hand, like, does it matter that I didn't have my thing on?

**[0:39:34] Amy Poehler:** And we're, everyone's like, Yes, dumbass, it matters.

**[0:39:37] Noah Wyle:** I'm gonna forgive Adam and Yeah, me put that all too. in our prop department.

**[0:39:42] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, it wasn't Adam's trap, was it?

**[0:39:44] Noah Wyle:** No, that would've been Rick But the Latteman's job.

**[0:39:46] Amy Poehler:** the, like, I know, you answers, Rick Yeah, I I know you Rick's the prop have

**[0:39:50] Noah Wyle:** master on the pit. Rick. He is Yeah, well, there's a lot of, same ER yeah, there's a few connective tissue people that really make it very lovely.

**[0:39:57] Amy Poehler:** a. A good prop master is no better feeling you. Uh, you, it is Well, you know, so important.

**[0:40:02] Noah Wyle:** I mean, I, it's from SNL and all I mean, it's the best.

**[0:40:06] Amy Poehler:** Well, I didn't wanna make comparisons, but I'm going to. I'm gonna compare SNL to ER, I'm gonna compare Parks and Rec to the Pit. I'm sorry, Do it but SNL was like a comedy emergency room. And um, I know we are not doing the kind of work that that, uh, emergency, uh, way room doctors are higher stakes with doing. We what you were doing, we we higher though, way higher stakes, way higher stakes. stakes. Not at all.

**[0:40:27] Amy Poehler:** Please know that I am not making that comparison. But what I notice is, you know, you just c. There's no time to panic, there's no one running around being like, What are we gonna do? how are we gonna fix this? We go on air in a minute. There's just, in fact, the more stressful things get, the quieter people get. And when you start to work with those kinds of people, you're you never wanna work with anybody else again.

**[0:40:51] Amy Poehler:** They're just the people you can depend on when the shit goes down.

**[0:40:56] Noah Wyle:** I'll give my father a lovely compliment. My dad is a brilliant man, but, um, in life, you know, uh, sort of comes off occasionally like an absent minded professor. But he's also a small plane pilot, and I've been with him in the plane when something isn't working. And that's when you wanna be in Steven Wiley's plane. Because he's got an engineer's mind who just says, problem, work the problem. And motion, fear, all those other things don't seem to kinda come into play.

**[0:41:23] Noah Wyle:** And it's a really I don't have that ability. I lead with emotion and empathy, so the 1st thing is like, Well, what does that feel like? As opposed to like, you know, what would be the right thing to do?

**[0:41:32] Amy Poehler:** and you don't have that, Noah.

**[0:41:34] Noah Wyle:** No, no, I can act it, though. Yeah, you sure Yeah, can. my wife will tell you she slammed her finger in a car door and Dr. Robbie was nowhere to be seen.

**[0:41:42] Amy Poehler:** And he just immediately started And he walks crying and we were like, to my Oh my god, phone book and what are we gonna do?

**[0:41:47] Noah Wyle:** she, you know, elevates and drives the dogs to Santa Barbara for like, 3 h, comes back, goes to urgent care. Meanwhile, I'm still boiling water and finding hot towels, you know,

**[0:41:55] Amy Poehler:** And you're like, I gotta, I need a moment, I gotta find my feelings, okay, but I wanna talk about the pit. Because, uh, here's my other, uh, uh, uh, you know, clumsy comparison. But 1st of all, congratulations on thank you, a wonderful show

**[0:42:08] Noah Wyle:** thank you.

**[0:42:09] Amy Poehler:** and a beautiful, well deserved and and satisfying rise. As you made it. Like, it feels like you got to make the show before the show became, do you know what I mean? Like, you got to make what you wanted, and then people noticed. That's not always the right, that's not always the timing that happens.

**[0:42:29] Noah Wyle:** it was, uh, it was a whole confluence of events, which I'm sure you're well aware of. That. We were gonna start down an ER reboot road that didn't come to pass. But we sort of set a table of expectation for a medical show from us. That we were then allowed to really fast track the development process through because of that vacuum that we had created from the near miss. And so this just happened so quickly that it seemed like there was a larger force behind it.

**[0:42:54] Noah Wyle:** And we just needed to stay on the surfboard and let it push us. Uh,

**[0:42:58] Amy Poehler:** what creatively came out of that? Like early stutter step that you're so happy it did.

**[0:43:03] Noah Wyle:** well, I'm sorry to say for all the ER fans. But once we uncoupled ourselves from that IP, it suddenly liberated the storytelling. It wasn't about who do we see again and what have they been up to, it's what are the issues of the day and how is the what's the most cogent way to to put them across? So it in a lot of ways, it kind of liberated the narrative, um, for us, and allowed us to reframe and kind of modernize it and not have to pay any homage to, um, to travel road.

**[0:43:31] Amy Poehler:** yeah. Because the, uh, why I I think about parks and rec when I think about the pit is. The show is about a place, and the place is this beating heart that everybody is gathered around. And the place is like, has its own system. And the people kind of almost like, come alive when they're in the place, and sometimes you kind of feel like they're like at rest, like computers when they're not in the place. And and the and.

**[0:43:58] Amy Poehler:** Other thing I'll say is that I feel like people really wanna watch people who are good at their jobs. 100 I Thank you do. me too. It's like competency porn, like people are like, Wow, look at those people, they care and they're good at their jobs. Like, sign me up, it's what we're desperate to see.

**[0:44:13] Noah Wyle:** How recently we re watched, Um, All the President's Men, and just watching Redford and and and um, and Dustin Hoffman, uh, embody Woodward and Bernstein. And seeing that Washington Post office. At the verisimilitude, the detail, the specificity of everything in it, and what everybody's doing is so good that you don't question anything, you're just along for the ride. That's that's, that's a movie making at its best.

**[0:44:36] Amy Poehler:** Oh, I meant to ask you, Noah, you had the chance to work with Rob Reiner. I did, How is that?

**[0:44:42] Noah Wyle:** Oh my goodness, it was a dream, it was an absolute dream. He was everything you would imagine and want him to be. Uh, I've told this story before, but I'm happy to share it as many times as I'm asked about it. I got to the set early for my 1st day of work. I

**[0:44:54] Amy Poehler:** and this is on a few saw a few good men.

**[0:44:55] Noah Wyle:** few good men. I saw Rob Reiner talking to Aaron Sorkin and I didn't wanna bother them, so I started to move away. And this big booming voice said, Noah, and I turn and Rob came at me like a big lumbering bear, and he picked me up. And he goes, Hey man, I'm so excited that you're here. We're gonna have so much fun today. And he turned to Eric and he goes, This guy's fantastic. Well, you saw the audition, he's great, it's gonna be great today, I'm so happy you're here.

**[0:45:17] Noah Wyle:** Listen, it's a little overcast, we're not gonna get to your stuff for a little bit. Go check out your room, go get some breakfast, this is gonna be great. And he walked away. And if he'd said, go kill that guy, I would've said, You got it, Rob, like, I was so excited, that I was so welcomed, that he made me feel comfortable and confident, competent, all in about 8 s. And I took that lesson on every set I've ever been on, and I got to tell him 20 years later when I auditioned for something I didn't get.

**[0:45:43] Noah Wyle:** Uh, listen, I just wanna thank you for this gift of set deportment that you gave to me. Because I've welcomed every guest star onto every set I've ever been on in the same way. And gotten their best work and gotten them to be relaxed and to feel comfortable in the same way that you made me feel, so that's my takeaway story from that. Is, you know, you can get such better work out of treating people with kindness and generosity than being austere or or sort of aloof.

**[0:46:11] Noah Wyle:** And making somebody wonder whether they belong and having their insecurities and imposter syndrome be the ruling emotion. You know,

**[0:46:18] Amy Poehler:** oh, what a great story, what a beautiful story with him. Um, you know, I do wanna just you're not asking me for feedback about the pit, but I'm gonna give you a little bit of feedback. Are you ready?

**[0:46:28] Noah Wyle:** I'm ready.

**[0:46:29] Amy Poehler:** If you're gonna show so much guts and blood, you're gonna go there, which you go there and it's incredible. Your makeup team is incredible. The stuff you do is bananas. I don't watch most of it, I cover my eyes, but I mean, I can't take care of eating spaghetti. No, you need I, the pit blinders, yeah, you're gonna sell glasses but if you're gonna

**[0:46:49] Noah Wyle:** then just like that.

**[0:46:50] Amy Poehler:** show that much, you gotta, yeah, well, every time you do that, you gotta get a little smooch. Someone's gonna do a little smooch,

**[0:46:56] Noah Wyle:** Oh, you think it's one for one?

**[0:46:57] Amy Poehler:** one for one, just some sassy smooch, just one meal not one for a day, just one. Maybe I another

**[0:47:02] Noah Wyle:** would discuss maybe a one to four ratio, but certainly not one to one. just a little No, no,

**[0:47:07] Amy Poehler:** smooch. Okay, uh, you're gonna show the guts, you gotta show some butts,

**[0:47:13] Noah Wyle:** oh, we do show butts.

**[0:47:16] Amy Poehler:** you do show butts, but, you know, in a romantic Oh no, we don't way,

**[0:47:19] Noah Wyle:** show those kind of butts. No, we don't do that.

**[0:47:21] Amy Poehler:** And then also, Robby riding without the motorcycle, without the helmet, incredible, such a great detail. W So great, so smart, such tension in the in the in the, uh, 2nd season because he's riding without it. And of course, he's, of course, he's not a good patient, you know, uh, all those things, and it tells us so much. It's so good. I want him to come back from that motorcycle trip, and I want it to have been good.

**[0:47:47] Noah Wyle:** I think you're gonna be okay, Thank God, I think you're gonna be okay. literally, I can't The fact that he

**[0:47:51] Amy Poehler:** take it anymore.

**[0:47:51] Noah Wyle:** comes back at all is a wonderful sign.

**[0:47:53] Amy Poehler:** Exactly right. But I need him to have gone a little, gone somewhere and had a

**[0:47:58] Noah Wyle:** Yeah, it's good.

**[0:47:59] Amy Poehler:** had some smooches somewhere. Oh, I, you know, Oh, maybe not smooches. Come on,

**[0:48:03] Noah Wyle:** I don't wanna give anything away.

**[0:48:04] Amy Poehler:** Have you ever fallen asleep or seen anybody fall asleep while they were in a gurney on the show,

**[0:48:09] Noah Wyle:** Oh, it happens all the time. Yeah, we'd actually tell, cause, you know, we'd tell our background, like, go party all night, take a 2nd job, come in. Just this is your job, just, you know, and you hear them snoring or farting or whatever. Every once in a while, it's, it's wonderful.

**[0:48:22] Amy Poehler:** It's pretty hard to lay down for many, many hours and not fall asleep. Yeah, no, it's Yeah, a great gig yeah, that's great.

**[0:48:28] Noah Wyle:** and it's great, you know, it's. It's not just our background. We intentionally have patients that are seated into the environment that don't pop until five or six hours later. There's a guy that I've been, I'm just working with this week who's been there since week one in a gurney for seven weeks. After week five, we let him turn over after week six. I think he sat up and now we're, he's awake and he's carrying the narrative for the next four episodes.

**[0:48:51] Amy Poehler:** that is so cool. And that is a part of the show that's like, just very fun, puzzle boxy. Is you're just wondering who's gonna be the main character? I in the in the in the next hour?

**[0:49:01] Noah Wyle:** and this is a show that audiences seem to like to pull from the back row. Like, I really like Mateo, or I really like Ahmad, the security guy. You know, people are really focused on the on the peripheral characters, which makes this feel like, okay, this. The narrative is working if you're getting invested in. In people that only sometimes have two or three lines per per episode,

**[0:49:21] Amy Poehler:** And you know, we talked very early on about this idea of, like, knowing when you met your people. Like at that, at that program in Northwestern, you love actors

**[0:49:30] Noah Wyle:** I do very much.

**[0:49:32] Amy Poehler:** and you, you've spoken about it, and I find it really, um, very, very moving. The way you feel, count yourself lucky to be among actors as a community, and I think the way you treat actors on the pit, you can tell you're love for them. You give people a lot of opportunity to score.

**[0:49:49] Noah Wyle:** I just want I th. During the strike, when I was walking around with a picket sign in my hand, I was walking a lot with Matt Weiner. And I was walking a lot with, um, I don't know. I had a lot of people that I was conversing with. And we were talking about work and what work should mean, and used to feel like, and what we'd want it to mean again. And I feel like that became the intentionality of what I wanted this to look and feel like.

**[0:50:10] Noah Wyle:** And I even wrote a letter that I sent to our casting director saying, You know, this is the look and feel of the show. It's like an old Altman movie, where you just you gotta throw in, like you're going to summer camp. We're doing kind of rep and TV and camp at the same time. Leave your ego behind, bring your creativity. You're never gonna work like this again. This is a really immersive experience, so if you're thirsty for something like that and you wanna buy into something and play hooky from your life 12 h a day, come join our pirate ship.

**[0:50:38] Noah Wyle:** And it was just like calling all pros, calling all pros, people just came and they show up to play. It is not hard for me to be focused at work because everybody's coming in there to give the best of themselves. And I find that so inspiring. That's what I love about actors is their courage. And they can be petulant, and they can be petty, and they can be gossipy, and they can be like cats that never wanna get on their mark or come to rehearsal.

**[0:51:02] Noah Wyle:** Once you get them there, they'll kill themselves for you. They really will.

**[0:51:05] Amy Poehler:** hm. You know, you speak really well about a lot of things that matter to you, and you also show up. Um, there's there, there. I could list a million things in which I've e. Even in the past year, I've seen you speak passionately about. Where is this f um feeling of like justice and advocacy? Where did, where did it come from? is it, is it, is, was it in your family of origin?

**[0:51:31] Noah Wyle:** I definitely think. I think I grew up in a family that that preached a version of social justice and was always conscious of inequality and our responsibility. Because we had opportunity, or, uh, um, you know, advantages, was to try to level the playing field and democratize it wherever possible. So, you know, we all grew up with this sense of civic mindedness, this sense of you have to participate in society. That, you know, there is a limit of enough for yourself and you can define what is enough.

**[0:52:03] Noah Wyle:** And that makes the, you know, define the difference between want and need. What do you really need versus what do you want? And I, I had this wonderful, huge career in my 20s, when I got all the big toys, the big house, you know, I got to see what my grandfather said was true. You can only be in one room at a time, and sometimes the bigger the space, the lonelier the space. So I've been on my own journey of defining what is enough and what makes me happy.

**[0:52:30] Noah Wyle:** And I've gotten to a place where it really is defined by meaningful work and meaningful family life. Anything other than that is give back. So I'm allowed to be philanthropic and feel magnanimous because my cup is full, which is a lovely thing to be able to say. And then being in a position with this show to, you know, have an opportunity to go to Washington, have doors open and have people listen to things that are important to me.

**[0:52:53] Noah Wyle:** Be, um, an advocate for Los Angeles based production. A couple other things have become very important to

**[0:52:59] Amy Poehler:** I love. me. I loved, uh, watching you and your mom go together.

**[0:53:02] Noah Wyle:** Oh, that was amazing.

**[0:53:03] Amy Poehler:** That's amazing.

**[0:53:03] Noah Wyle:** I mean, to me, that's not a a a act of charity. If you get this

**[0:53:07] Amy Poehler:** I mean, but a dream. Yeah, incredible opportunity totally

**[0:53:08] Noah Wyle:** to be with your mother and have your two careers dovetail together. I got to watch my mother, you know, uh, I don't wanna say my mother's age, but of advancing age. Walking with her fellow nurses and feeling relevant at her advanced age, which isn't always easy for women of advancing age. Sometimes you feel rather invisible, and for my mother to feel like like a bit of an icon, like an elder stateswoman. Who had put in the time and put in the years and was earning the respect of her colleagues was huge.

**[0:53:38] Noah Wyle:** It was wonderful to see.

**[0:53:40] Amy Poehler:** When you saw her being a nurse, she was an ICU nurse,

**[0:53:42] Noah Wyle:** She was an operating room nurse for operating ten years, and room. then she was a chief orthopedic nurse at Kaiser in Hollywood.

**[0:53:48] Amy Poehler:** When you, when you saw her at work, like, you know, I, I let, I, you know, I have two sons. I love hearing, uh, uh, t uh, from men my age, uh, like what they took away from seeing their mother work.

**[0:54:01] Noah Wyle:** Well, I, I've talked about this. I had my mother and I had a big moment after season one of The Pitt aired, and she watched episode twelve, where my character has this breakdown. And she came over to my house and she just said that it's triggered something for her. And she started having all these memories of all these cases that she didn't save, the patient. She starts listing a gang member who had been shot, that she was trying to help with.

**[0:54:22] Noah Wyle:** Two units of blood and a little kid that she put into a morgue drawer. And and I was like, Uh, I don't know these stories, I've never heard these stories, And I said, Where were all these? uh? and she goes, Oh, I don't know. I said, How old was that? how old was I when you put the kid in the drawer? She goes, Well, I think it actually your brother was that age, and that's why that one got to me.

**[0:54:41] Noah Wyle:** But then, in retrospect, what I remember is she made us dinner, she drove us to practice, she helped us with our homework. She didn't bring her work home unless she was bringing us gauze to be mummies on Halloween or surgical tubing so we could use them for our Star Wars figures, layouts or whatever. Like, I didn't learn about who my mother was professionally well, until 54 years old.

**[0:55:02] Amy Poehler:** honestly, a lot of kids don't learn who their like. A lot of times, we don't see our mothers as people for a very long time. Yeah, no, I, We just, I've given we just,

**[0:55:10] Noah Wyle:** her her flowers now, though.

**[0:55:11] Amy Poehler:** yeah, it's awesome to see. Well, we're going feminine to masculine now that's good, because I have to say on the pit, there's just a lot of incredible investigations into, like, men's friendships and relationships. And you don't see the often see the kind of complexity of that. And the relationship you have with Dr. Jack Abbott with Shawn Hatosy is really something. It's so good.

**[0:55:37] Noah Wyle:** and the same with Langdon, you know, Oh, I mean, Patrick to me, the

**[0:55:40] Amy Poehler:** Ball is so good.

**[0:55:41] Noah Wyle:** and to an extent, Whitaker as well. Like, uh, the mentor mentee, uh, you know, it's. It's really lovely to explore these things.

**[0:55:53] Amy Poehler:** yeah, well, we have this thing on the podcast, where Lovely we

**[0:55:56] Noah Wyle:** is not a really masculine adjective. lovely, It's,

**[0:56:00] Amy Poehler:** you know what? uh, it's really Okay, but but was, you know what, the guys are really cool.

**[0:56:04] Noah Wyle:** Yeah, the guys are cool.

**[0:56:05] Amy Poehler:** Um, so we we spoke to Sean Uh-oh, Hattabsee, Hattabsee.

**[0:56:10] Noah Wyle:** Okay, I was hoping you'd go with the other one, but okay, Okay, 1st of all, I was hoping you'd go. Cassidy.

**[0:56:20] Amy Poehler:** I know, Oh my god, I love

**[0:56:22] Noah Wyle:** I know him.

**[0:56:22] Amy Poehler:** Sean Cassidy.

**[0:56:23] Noah Wyle:** You wanna hear an embarrassing story? Okay,

**[0:56:26] Amy Poehler:** I love Sean Cassidy.

**[0:56:27] Noah Wyle:** I. There was a night where it was brokered, where we were gonna hang out and play pool.

**[0:56:31] Amy Poehler:** And for anybody under 55, Sean Cassidy was like, Uh, how he was kind of like, hairy

**[0:56:37] Noah Wyle:** He was like the Timothy styles. Chalamet of his time, except more TV than film and he cut albums too.

**[0:56:42] Amy Poehler:** yeah, he was. I knew him as a musician.

**[0:56:43] Noah Wyle:** Sure, of course. 1st, Um, did do run run, Yeah, yeah, of course, so we're gonna hang out, we're gonna play pool this night. And I tried too hard. Sometimes I come on too strong, sometimes I'm a little overly zealous in the questions I ask and the things that I'm

**[0:57:00] Amy Poehler:** I can see. interested in. And Yes,

**[0:57:01] Noah Wyle:** I turned him off completely. Never Sean, got a call back. Yeah, never got a call back.

**[0:57:08] Amy Poehler:** because you came on too strong.

**[0:57:09] Noah Wyle:** I believe that was what happened. In fact, that was, I don't wanna Sean embarrass Sean, but Colin, Sean I did get a review Colin. from the mutual friend. Who's like, you thought you came on a little strong.

**[0:57:21] Amy Poehler:** I mean, I'm sweating, thinking about I'm sweating it, because

**[0:57:23] Noah Wyle:** retelling the story. I know, because I Oh

**[0:57:25] Amy Poehler:** think about so many times when I audition for stuff. And it is take the feeling you have of being on a bad date and multiply it by ten. When you're like, Oh, fuck, this date sucks, I am, and you can hear your own voice and you're like, hm, hm, this Well, I is going

**[0:57:43] Noah Wyle:** didn't care. I thought it went bad. great. Went home and Of course, like, bragged to my wife. I'm like, We're like this now, baby. Like, I may go out on tour with him, you never know. And this then you started going. Maybe he didn't wanna talk about Hardy Boys for an hour, maybe he was, maybe why he was embarrassed.

**[0:57:56] Amy Poehler:** Sean, why would you not wanna talk about the Hardy Boys? That's his problem. All right, He mi- he missed out, he's kicking I got a million himself.

**[0:58:03] Noah Wyle:** of those stories, if that's what you want. You do. I do Oh yeah,

**[0:58:06] Amy Poehler:** feel like, Noah, you, I'm learning that you, you go in. hm, hm.

**[0:58:12] Noah Wyle:** hm, yeah. And sometimes I come out, but most of the time I don't.

**[0:58:15] Amy Poehler:** Yeah, I can tell, I can tell. If you're gonna be the sexiest man alive, you can't You're gonna do that,

**[0:58:21] Noah Wyle:** go with that.

**[0:58:23] Amy Poehler:** you gotta get out.

**[0:58:24] Noah Wyle:** I think Sean Connery and Denzel and the sexy you gotta leave men of yesteryear would look down upon my fuck.

**[0:58:30] Amy Poehler:** For all the work that they did, though,

**[0:58:32] Noah Wyle:** Oh my god, I'm not think about holding up. I how hard it was gotta, I gotta.

**[0:58:34] Amy Poehler:** for them.

**[0:58:35] Noah Wyle:** I'd, to be, I should've trained harder for this, really. I didn't realize that there was so much.

**[0:58:40] Amy Poehler:** Your sexy forefathers did not battle so that you there's no are. Get no, guidebook, no,

**[0:58:45] Noah Wyle:** there's no rule. okay, so Yeah,

**[0:58:47] Amy Poehler:** Sean, uh, oh, oh, and I was saying to Sean, we were talking about you talking well behind your back. And he's very, very in awe of your talent and what you can do, and and and a and all that you do. And I was just saying, like, what I love so much about his character on the pit. And what you guys have done is you've created this mystery, this nighttime mystery for the night shift. That is so fun because we're just projecting a lot on them.

**[0:59:13] Amy Poehler:** What kind of people they are, what did they like, you know, they kind of show up as the show is ending and you're like, what? Eh? Those little tastes are so well done.

**[0:59:23] Noah Wyle:** thank you.

**[0:59:25] Amy Poehler:** He had two questions for you. Okay, one is serious and one is fun. Is there anything that you read in a script that scares you that you have to do? Like, you know, when you see something come up and you think to yourself, Okay, this is gonna be hard or scary. Um, that it. It doesn't have to be necessarily in the pit, but like something that you know is coming. W What do you do when? what?

**[0:59:51] Amy Poehler:** what is that? and what do you do when you know it's coming?

**[0:59:53] Noah Wyle:** hm, well, um, I could kinda answer it two different ways, one, generally speaking, when I read a script, if I think, oh, I, I couldn't do that, like, what, or, uh,

**[1:00:03] Amy Poehler:** what? what could you not do?

**[1:00:05] Noah Wyle:** well, for example, I remember the 1st time I read the pilot script for a show I did called Falling Skies. Where it was like, Oh, this guy is a history teacher, I'm into that. Oh, wait, no, he's gonna kill aliens with a machine gun. Oh, wait, a 2nd, nobody's gonna wanna see me doing that. And so you start to think like, Nah, that's not me, I'm not an action hero. They're gonna wanna get, you know, that guy.

**[1:00:23] Noah Wyle:** And then you say, Well, what? What are you afraid of? what? what is it that you're resistant to? And you think, Do you think this history professor wants to be an action hero? And you start to make logical leaps within to sort of figure out how you would get there if you had to be. And then suddenly, that thing that is sort of scary is more of a of a mirror, saying, Look, you're post divorce, you don't know quite what the future holds for you as a single father.

**[1:00:49] Noah Wyle:** You're rebuilding your life, he's rebuilding his life. Maybe you're afraid of leadership, maybe you're afraid of fatherhood, maybe you're afraid of loss. Those are the three defining characteristics to this character, and maybe that's exactly where you need to go. So I've tend to look at those things as barometers for where I need to go rather than where I wanna go. And then when I'm in the job, if there's a challenging thing that's coming up, you know, I protect it like I'm like, I'm a caveman, trying to protect a kindled fire so it won't go out.

**[1:01:18] Noah Wyle:** I've just, I know it's coming, and I just keep blowing on it and adding little straw to it. Every day, thinking about it every day, you know, I can make it bigger. And then, okay, just just tamp it down until the day. So that on the day, it is a day of of release, it's a day of liberation, it's a graduation from having to tend that fire. And so it's not intimidating. I actually get excited when I go to work and I think this is gonna be so fun to see what comes out now that I can actually m make this an inferno, I you know,

**[1:01:46] Amy Poehler:** love that visual of that fire, of of keeping that going especially and letting.

**[1:01:49] Noah Wyle:** on this pit, you know, when you've gotta in episode one, know that you're gonna have a breakdown in episode ten. That's a long time to keep the fire lit. And that every day, you know, I'd be at breakfast with my kids and think, Is it there? Yeah, it's there. And I'd be, you know, shopping in the grocery store. Could you do it right now? Yeah, I could do it right now. And to me, that is the technique I've always wanted to have.

**[1:02:09] Noah Wyle:** I wanted to be able to have a technique that required a fresh coffee and a and a folding chair, and I could do it anywhere. fuck yeah, Noah, You know,

**[1:02:17] Amy Poehler:** that's so cool. well, You're really good at acting.

**[1:02:20] Noah Wyle:** well, uh, thank you, thank you.

**[1:02:22] Amy Poehler:** Well, that's gonna help you in this basketball team, because Shawn Hatosy. 2nd question 2nd question is

**[1:02:27] Noah Wyle:** here we go.

**[1:02:28] Amy Poehler:** You're the point guard of a basketball team Never and you have to played point guard in bring,

**[1:02:31] Noah Wyle:** my life.

**[1:02:31] Amy Poehler:** you've never played point guard. No, I'm too tall, Yeah, congrats, by the way, because literally in the world of actors, you're a giant.

**[1:02:38] Noah Wyle:** It's true, it's true.

**[1:02:39] Amy Poehler:** Actors are pretty tiny. How tall are you? Uh, 6'1, Hey, maybe, and um, hey, change 61 and change, 61 and change, so s you're 61 and change. So okay, you're right, maybe. Sh- uh, anyway, you're the point guard of the basketball team. on You have to

**[1:03:01] Noah Wyle:** Sean's team, I'm not playing point guard.

**[1:03:03] Amy Poehler:** okay, you're just on a basketball team and you have to bring four more players from ER and the pit. Who would you bring?

**[1:03:11] Noah Wyle:** Obviously, I'm gonna take Clooney. You don't grow up in Kentucky without growing up with a basketball in one hand, so he is a great ball player. And I played a lot of ball with him and he beat me a lot of games. Um, so I'm taking Clooney. I gotta pick how many more? three more,

**[1:03:25] Amy Poehler:** three more.

**[1:03:26] Noah Wyle:** uh, but Sean asking to play, is this like a? It was like a, This it was like a

**[1:03:30] Amy Poehler:** is, this is a great question.

**[1:03:33] Noah Wyle:** was he like, you know, tell him, Uh, I still got my heel, my wheels, you know?

**[1:03:36] Amy Poehler:** I mean, I'm, I don't know. What do you think?

**[1:03:40] Noah Wyle:** I don't think he's asking for a spot. I don't think I, I, I. He's a tennis player, he's a, he's a he did mention tennis player. that he plays tennis, I bet he did. but Uh,

**[1:03:49] Amy Poehler:** I mean, but I mean, I'm sure if you asked him to play, he'd be psyched.

**[1:03:53] Noah Wyle:** Luke Tanney's really big, he's on our night shift, Yeah, Luke plays, cruises. is great, I might bring in Luke for some size down low. great. Um, I,

**[1:04:01] Amy Poehler:** Who's your big guy?

**[1:04:02] Noah Wyle:** that's, that's the tricky part. Uh, I mean, you if I could

**[1:04:06] Amy Poehler:** do that.

**[1:04:06] Noah Wyle:** go all the way back to ER, I'd take a Ben Ruby. He plays Jerry the desk clerk.

**[1:04:09] Amy Poehler:** That's what I was gonna Jerry's a hell of say.

**[1:04:11] Noah Wyle:** a rebounder. He He. Actually, never, ever played with us ever. He would like He's like, 6'6, nag Champa incense and sit off to the side and watch us play. Um, but but he's he's, he's six, six, six, seven six. Yeah, he's

**[1:04:23] Amy Poehler:** or something.

**[1:04:24] Noah Wyle:** like six, eight, he's a good ballplayer. Um, and then who else am I gonna take? I gotta you've take one more,

**[1:04:29] Amy Poehler:** got one more.

**[1:04:30] Noah Wyle:** I'm gonna take young, scrappy Garen Howells. Probably never played the game before, but damn it, I'm gonna teach him, I'm gonna teach him.

**[1:04:37] Amy Poehler:** You're gonna have one person You remember that guy that you're teaching.

**[1:04:38] Noah Wyle:** in whose yours who makes the winning basket Oh my god, by throwing it underhand?

**[1:04:41] Amy Poehler:** just re-watch Hoosiers with my kid

**[1:04:43] Noah Wyle:** Yeah, the kid that makes the underhand free throw, that's gonna be Garen in and our town.

**[1:04:45] Amy Poehler:** Q. And you always need somebody that's like, gonna be like, give us the spirit. Okay, so Sean was not picked, that's okay, Sean. He didn't want to be picked anyway.

**[1:05:01] Noah Wyle:** It's just odd that he would use a basketball metaphor and wanna get picked.

**[1:05:12] Amy Poehler:** I love that, I love that. You got hung up on the fact that you weren't gonna be the point guard, which is so great.

**[1:05:17] Noah Wyle:** I'm just think, cause I'm immediately thinking, like, Wiley, No, no, no, you can't dribble up there, you know, Yeah, but get down I mean, low, get down low.

**[1:05:24] Amy Poehler:** it i, it is, it is, uh, like I, I. I al always loved the fact when I was watching you guys on ER that I could tell you all were shooters. Like, that's, but it just was a very satisfying thing We had to watch.

**[1:05:35] Noah Wyle:** a hoop right outside the sound stage, which my trailer was the backstop for, and we played all the time, we played every lunch. It was the bane of all the makeup artists existence, cause they had to constantly clean off the sweat. And like, you know, me, cool us off after lunch. But, you know, George was religious about it, and I could either listen to them play outside my trailer or join them.

**[1:05:55] Amy Poehler:** yeah, that's awesome. Is there a show that you've watched over and over again? Like, what is your Oh yeah, I, ER?

**[1:06:02] Noah Wyle:** I have this very bizarre habit in that. I travel with, like a jewel case of DVDs, and I pack a DVD player. Cause most places don't have Amazing. them anymore, and I carry with me the collected, uh, episodes of Columbo and Mash. And, uh, there's a few that I man, just I ca, I go to you've spoken all, you know,

**[1:06:21] Amy Poehler:** about Alan Alda. Can we speak? Uh, let's talk, Alan, I love, uh,

**[1:06:25] Noah Wyle:** you know?

**[1:06:25] Amy Poehler:** uh. Mash was really important to me, too, and very important to my parents. I had young parents and they would like Mash was a really big thing in my home when I was growing up. And and what, how important was it for you? What do you Well, love about?

**[1:06:35] Noah Wyle:** I, that relationship with television shows and actors on television shows is so ancient for me because I was the classic latchkey kid. You know, I was raised by a square babysitter. And, uh, you know, I watched so much television that my parents were concerned. What parents are concerned about video games or TikTok? My parents were concerned because I was, you know, playing hooky from school. So I could watch Big Valley and Bonanza and Emergency in the morning, and then The Love, American Shirley my and Happy Days and Love Boat, or Fantasy Island, or The White Shadow, or Hill Street Blues, or Mash.

**[1:07:06] Noah Wyle:** I mean, I just loved them all. And I don't know what it was about the two actors in particular, Henry Winkler and Alan Alda. Like, to me, I was like, Oh, I could do that, I could do that too. Like one, they both made acting seem accessible, and I loved both of their characters, and I knew they from other stuff, so I saw their their v versatility as well. But getting to meet and work with Alan was it's not always exciting to meet and work with your heroes, but he did not disappoint.

**[1:07:34] Noah Wyle:** And we've now been on a television show together, we did a play together, we did a movie together, and I've done his podcast, so we've been ugh, able to be in each other's company quite a bit.

**[1:07:46] Amy Poehler:** that's awesome. And you worked with Sally,

**[1:07:48] Noah Wyle:** Oh, she was the best

**[1:07:49] Amy Poehler:** who Sally Field, who is like our generation, she's just incredible.

**[1:07:52] Noah Wyle:** and got to reconnect with her. Doing an actors on actors interview, which I saw was so cool. that, so cool, I mean,

**[1:07:57] Amy Poehler:** so good.

**[1:07:57] Noah Wyle:** she is one of those people, you know, it's like Disneyland. I remember Disneyland at three, five, seven, eleven, fifteen. I remember Sally each stage of my life and development, whether it was a comedy, a drama, she was there.

**[1:08:09] Amy Poehler:** no, I. I talk about this a lot. But Norm, a Ray was one of those films where, I mean, I

**[1:08:14] Noah Wyle:** It's perfect.

**[1:08:14] Amy Poehler:** don't know if I watched it and thought I could do it, but I watched it thinking. I like, whatever she is doing is the thing I wanna keep watching forever. She was That's how I felt just,

**[1:08:23] Noah Wyle:** about Ron Liebman in that movie. He was never better. lovable. I mean, he was so good in that movie. Everybody is

**[1:08:28] Amy Poehler:** And then what are you watching to laugh?

**[1:08:30] Noah Wyle:** my wife and I call it palate cleansers. That if we watch something really intense, it's like we need a key and peel, we need a

**[1:08:35] Amy Poehler:** key and peel.

**[1:08:36] Noah Wyle:** yeah, yeah, key and peel.

**[1:08:38] Amy Poehler:** Let's watch a key and peel on the way out. What's your fave key and peel?

**[1:08:41] Noah Wyle:** Oh, my goodness, that's like, really You know what? I'm hard to pick. But like, there's one that they've been showing on Instagram a lot, where it's a bunch of, uh, gang members sitting around a table. And one of them is talking about how they've just lost a friend. And it was a friend he grew up with. And and they used to play care bears together. And they try to figure out which one, which kind of care bear they were.

**[1:09:01] Noah Wyle:** And Keegan is daring everybody else at the table to not laugh while my man shares his feelings.

**[1:09:06] Amy Poehler:** Manly tears. Manly tears, Okay, let's watch those guys, they're incredible. What geniuses they are. Genius. I know,

**[1:09:13] Speaker 5:** Okay, you know what? None of you look at them tears. And think that is funny, because it takes a big man to cry in front of his crew. Go ahead, Carvel,

**[1:09:26] Noah Wyle:** Go ahead, Carvel. oh my god, Noah, Um, I'm dying, I'm a I'm a sweaty

**[1:09:35] Amy Poehler:** oh my god. C mess, Are. Do you cry when you laugh?

**[1:09:37] Noah Wyle:** Yeah, I cry all the time, but this is a good, these are good tears.

**[1:09:41] Amy Poehler:** Oh my god, key and peel, come on and perform this live for Noah.

**[1:09:47] Noah Wyle:** I got to meet them at Comic Con once years and years ago. That was super cool. I was with my son, too, who thought that was instant street cred with do you ever Noah.

**[1:09:53] Amy Poehler:** think about, like, hosting SNL? Did you host SNL?

**[1:09:56] Noah Wyle:** I when Giuliana Margulies was the host, I did a pre taped sketch with her, so I got to go out on stage and wave, which was super cool. And DMX was the musical guest and I'm waving to everybody. I feel this like, Oh, and I turn and DMX, like, come on, man, like, I'm holding out my hand. And I was like, I'm so sorry,

**[1:10:11] Amy Poehler:** DMX? I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, DMX. Um, Mr. Mr. Mr. or Ms. Rex, Dex, I'm so sorry. Um, Well,

**[1:10:16] Noah Wyle:** I would love to, I would love would you would to, I would love to,

**[1:10:18] Amy Poehler:** be?

**[1:10:18] Noah Wyle:** and I recently met Lauren, you know? And, uh,

**[1:10:21] Amy Poehler:** You should do it.

**[1:10:22] Noah Wyle:** kind of put the bee in his bonnet, as they say.

**[1:10:25] Amy Poehler:** you would, they you. I I would love think you would it, I would love it.

**[1:10:27] Noah Wyle:** love it. I would live at the studio all week, I would just eat Don't it up. Okay,

**[1:10:31] Amy Poehler:** overthink it, don't live at the studio too much. You don't want a Sean Cassidy on your hands.

**[1:10:37] Noah Wyle:** that's a really good point. Or a Kevin Bacon. Oh, I've got so many. Yeah, yeah, yeah, great warning.

**[1:10:46] Amy Poehler:** Just go home at night and enjoy, take it and take a load off, don't work too hard.

**[1:10:52] Noah Wyle:** I got pizzas. No, don't be that guy.

**[1:10:59] Amy Poehler:** Oh my god, so many times I've been that guy, um, so many times, but you know what, you? I? I always wanna go down swinging. I think you're that way too. Like, no one's gonna accuse you of not caring.

**[1:11:11] Noah Wyle:** no, I will, I will try and try and try, and I think it would be amazing. It's, I mean, since I was a kid, I I could from. I mean, I watched the UH 1st cast in reruns, but my 1st cast was, you know, the Eddie Murphy yeah, exactly, we A and

**[1:11:24] Amy Poehler:** were the same age.

**[1:11:25] Noah Wyle:** S, Yeah. And it was just like, you know, I'd do every Joe Piscopo bit, I could do them all, Tim Kazerinski, I could do all his stuff. I met Eddie once when I was a kid you do, and I asked him for his autograph. And he and I said, I really like you on SNL. And he goes, What are you doing up that late? And I said, Uh, and I said, Can I have your autograph? He goes, fuck off, man,

**[1:11:49] Amy Poehler:** and now how old are you? like nine, No, you know? So I, what I always a story. sign an autograph whenever Oh

**[1:12:01] Noah Wyle:** a nine year old needs an my god, autograph from me, I sign that so fast. You wanna hear a great story? So I've told this story in my house, and last year, for my birthday, my daughter didn't know what to get me, so my I let my ten year old daughter printed up a picture of Eddie Murphy and then wrote on it, Dear Noah, you're a great kid, Eddie Murphy. oh my And she spelled god. Eddie E d d y, and I have it framed in my office.

**[1:12:24] Noah Wyle:** It's the greatest gift. And my ten year old thought, you know what? And then she came up with the story. She's like, Dad, you're never gonna believe who mom and I saw yesterday, Eddie Murphy. And we got what you've always wanted his autograph, and then they gave me the gift. Oh, Francis, Isn't that awesome? Yeah,

**[1:12:38] Amy Poehler:** Oh, you're the she's a doll.

**[1:12:40] Noah Wyle:** she's the best, she's the Oh my god, what best.

**[1:12:42] Amy Poehler:** a great. Uh, I love that story, and I also love Eddie's story too. I don't think I think we've turn, we've treat kids too nicely sometimes. Uh, you know, You used to be able to tell a kid to scram, at least

**[1:12:54] Noah Wyle:** you know, get away, scram kid, you bother scram, me, like, you you're get out know, W,

**[1:12:57] Amy Poehler:** of here. don't make me see And now, God kids. It, yeah, forbid, all right, let's end it on that note. Noah Wyle Everybody, thank scram you, thank you, kids. Noah, thank you for doing this, thank you so much, Noah. It was such a delight to talk to you and thank you for tolerating all of my fan questions. And, um, for the work that you do. And we we mentioned a movie when we were, uh, discussing some of the legends, and that movie is Norma Ray.

**[1:13:25] Amy Poehler:** If you have not seen Norma Ray, I I understand why, cause it's so hard to find on streaming. So, uh, if there's any people listening right now, uh, that like, I don't know, like Jerry Netflix or Dave Amazon, or whoever is owning those places. That can, like, flip a switch and get Norma Ray on streaming, please. Um, that film is so incredible. It's, uh, Sally Field plays like a southern mill worker who encourages her, um, factory to unionize, and it's so, so good.

**[1:13:57] Amy Poehler:** And also, you know, ties into a lot of what Noah was talking about. So, um, check out Norma Ray O on DVD, I guess, um, and um, remember those. And thank you, Sally Field, for that performance, and thank you everybody for listening and see you soon. Bye, you've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite.

**[1:14:25] Amy Poehler:** For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, Alea Zanaris, Bridget Gearlings, Paige Garbarini, Belle Roman and Drew Van Steenbergen. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.