#type:interview

Scans of the 2021 Emmy Magazine spotlight (self-scanned/owned; please credit back if used or reposted)

While The Pitt has never shied away from prosthetics when it comes to blown-off hands or an extremely vivid vaginal birth, there’s nothing fake about Howard Knox, the 472-pound patient wheeled into the ER in season two, episode eight. Played with compassion and charm by ER veteran Craig Ricci Shaynak, Howard has walked a long path to his current weight. Based in part on Shaynak’s real life, Howard’s plight involves a car accident, some burns, a few surgeries, and years of general isolation, all of which add up to a complicated and sympathetic story when he arrives at the ER with a fever and abdominal pain.

The actor on Duke and Robby's "love story," working with Noah Wyle, and whether he'll be back next season.

Noah Wyle and Sally Field first worked together on “ER,” when Wyle was among that show’s breakout stars and Field was already an established legend. Now, they’re reuniting to discuss emotionally charged work they’ve done in the past season. On “The Pitt,” for which Wyle won the Emmy for best actor in a drama last season, protagonist Dr. “Robby” Robinavitch had a seasonlong existential crisis, culminating in his admitting to thinking about suicide. In the TV movie “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” Field’s Tova, an aquarium janitor who is herself grieving, finds a new lease on life thanks to her bond with an octopus called Marcellus.

Since launching at the start of 2025, “The Pitt” has emerged as more than just a hyperrealistic depiction of an embattled American emergency department. Using its hospital setting as a social microcosm, HBO Max’s Emmy-winning juggernaut has explored various systemic issues — including the misogyny that women of color face in the workplace.

Ms. Briones spent much of the past year in Los Angeles shooting Season 2 of “The Pitt,” HBO Max’s hit medical drama, but now she’s enjoying a change of pace: playing a pop star in the musical “Just in Time” on Broadway. She is one of several “Pitt” stars taking to the stage. “It’s just such a joyous night at the theater,” she said. “You leave with the biggest smile on your face.” Ms. Briones spent a Sunday with The New York Times as she got ready for a performance.

For a character who pops up in only a few episodes of The Pitt, fourth-year resident Crus Henderson makes a strong impression. Even more than the other chill night-shift doctors, Crus is cool as a cucumber, breezing through patient interactions with a reassuring smile. To many viewers, he’s also arriving as a familiar face: Luke Tennie has had a main role on Shrinking as Sean, a patient who moves in with his therapist, Jimmy (co-creator Jason Segel), since season one. He also recently showed up for a recurring role on Abbott Elementary as Dom, a new teacher whose experience of ADHD recently led to a misunderstanding in a memorable B-plot. All three series happen to shoot on the same lot in Los Angeles — and to Tennie, each part offered something different. Above all, though, he’s dedicated to versatility in supporting roles. “As somebody who’s part of a procedural, you have to know the story is the main character,” Tennie says of his approach to The Pitt. “I was an offensive lineman in high school, I’m a tea

Katherine LaNasa says that her charge nurse character, Dana Evans, on “The Pitt” would never use the word “triggering,” but the Emmy winner can’t help but reach for it when trying to grapple with the end of Season 2’s 13th hour on the clock.