Noah Wyle and Sally Field on ‘The Pitt’ Exhaustion, CGI Co-Stars and Their ‘ER’ History: It Was a ‘Big Gamble’ Once for an Oscar Winner to Do TV
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- Noah Wyle stars in and co-creates 'The Pitt,' portraying Dr. Robby Robinavitch’s seasonlong existential crisis, which culminates in a suicide admission, earning him an Emmy for best actor in a drama.
- Sally Field plays Tova, a grieving aquarium janitor who bonds with a CGI octopus named Marcellus in the TV movie 'Remarkably Bright Creatures,' a role inspired by her own emotional connection to a pet during the pandemic.
- Wyle and Field reunite for a 'Variety and CNN’ Actors on Actors' conversation, reflecting on the physical and emotional toll of their recent work, with Field calling Wyle’s performance 'jaw-droppingly good' and exhausting to watch.
- Sally Field discusses her groundbreaking 2000s 'ER' arc as a bipolar mother, noting it was a 'big gamble' for an Oscar winner to do TV at the time, when movie stars rarely crossed over to television.
- Noah Wyle highlights the grueling production of 'The Pitt,' where the cast’s real exhaustion is reflected onscreen as makeup and grooming are reduced over the season to match the characters’ fatigue.
- Field reveals she committed to 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' after reading only a few unpublished chapters, drawn not by the character but by the unique human-octopus relationship, which resonated with her post-pandemic experience adopting a Cavapoo.
Why it matters: Television’s shift from secondary medium to prestige platform is embodied by Field and Wyle—once a network TV breakout and an Oscar winner hesitant to join it—now both embracing demanding, emotionally raw roles that reflect the artistic legitimacy TV now holds, changing how actors engage with the medium long-term.
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