How ER Creator Michael Crichton Quietly Saved Noah Wyle’s Audition

Noah Wyle is currently known for playing Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavich in the reigning king of TV’s medical dramas, HBO Max’s “The Pitt.” Yet, he might never have gotten where he is if it wasn’t for the fact that he spent the better part of a decade as Dr. John Carter on the seminal NBC hospital show, “ER.” His career-making role as the earnest young County General medical student-turned-doctor, for that matter, might never have happened either if Wyle hadn’t received some surprising help on the way.

Normally, auditions are for the actors to convince the people making the show that they have what it takes to bring a character to life, but that wasn’t strictly the case for Wyle’s “ER” tryout. In a Television Academy article about “ER,” Wyle revealed that the tables were briefly turned during his audition when he received some sneaky help from the show’s creator, Michael Crichton. Wyle auditioned for the drama alongside Raphael Sparge (“Murder in the First,” “Once Upon A Time”) and became thoroughly unnerved when he saw Sparge staying cool and collected with tai chi exercises. Crichton happened to pop by, and after assessing the situation, he stepped in to tell Wyle a story to calm the young actor down.

“He just said, ‘You know, I was recently reading about this woman who lived in Tibet 400 years ago,'” Wyle said of his surprise meeting with Crichton. “‘And she was a potter. And what’s interesting about her is — and nobody knows if it was something indigenous to the clay in the region where she worked, or if it’s something specific in her kilning process, or if it was a specific glaze that she employed — but many of her works are not only indestructible, but still in practical use today.'” An interesting story, to be sure — but how did it help Wyle land his career-launching role?

After sharing his pottery-themed tale, Michael Crichton simply left the utterly bewildered Noah Wyle to his own devices. However, after his initial confusion, Wyle soon figured out why the acclaimed author had launched into this seemingly random story.

“I then realized that he’d just done the greatest service to me,” Wyle said, describing his moment of understanding. “He walked in, and he saw an actor who knew how to relax doing tai chi and an actor who was really not centered. And he said to himself, ‘I’ll take this kid out of his head for him. I’ll take him on a little trip to Tibet and introduce him to somebody who used to make pots.'”

Of course, it would be wrong to attribute all of Wyle’s exceptional success to this exact interaction at this precise moment in time, but Crichton’s kind action certainly stuck with the actor. And judging by the fact that Wyle landed the role of John Carter after two auditions and went on to be an integral part of the “ER” cast – not to mention the fact that he’s continuing to write medical drama history as the lead in HBO’s record-setting show, “The Pitt” – the potter story certainly didn’t hurt.