EXCLUSIVE: Newly minted Emmy Award nominee Shawn Hatosy is returning to HBO Max’s The Pitt as Dr. Jack Abbot for Season 2 in a recurring role, but fans will also benefit from his behind-the-lens skills when the hit medical drama returns.
Hatosy will direct an episode of Season 2, marking his return to directing following his work on TNT’s Animal Kingdom, in which he also starred.
From creator R. Scott Gemmill and producer John Wells, The Pitt chronicles the urgent challenges U.S. frontline healthcare professionals face through the lens of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency department. Offering a real-time format, the series traces, hour by hour, the medical cases and personal crises physicians and nurses must navigate as they reckon with an overabundance of patients and a lack of resources.
“I’m so excited to capture this show from the other side of the lens. The Pitt is an absolute dream for a director. I feel like a chef who gets to work in the best kitchen, with all the best ingredients – incredible writing, great actors, such strong characters with very distinct points of view; all in an immersive, adrenaline-pumped, beautifully choreographed world,” shared Hatosy.
“Having experienced it all through Abbot’s eyes, I think that’s going to really enhance my perspective as a director, and what a joy to be able to do it with a group of people with whom I already have such a deep bond,” he added.
The Pitt cast is led by Noah Wyle, who also executive produces and writes. Katherine LaNasa, Taylor Dearden, Patrick Ball, Isa Briones, Fiona Dourif, Supriya Ganesh, Shabana Azeez, and Gerran Howell round out the ensemble cast. New Season 2 additions include Sepideh Moafi as a series regular, and Charles Baker, Irene Choi, Laëtitia Hollard, Lucas Iverson, and Lawrence Robinson in recurring roles.
John Wells Productions produces the series in association with Warner Bros. Television, where JWP is under an overall deal. Gemmill created The Pitt and executive produces the series alongside Wells, Noah Wyle, Michael Hissrich, JWP’s Erin Jontow, and Simran Baidwan.
Hatosy received his first Emmy nomination in July for his work on The Pitt as Dr. Jack Abbot, the combat veteran and attending physician in emergency medicine at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, the setting of the series, which scored a total of 13 Emmy nods for its freshman season.
The Pitt is the fifth series collaboration between Hatosy and producer Wells, after ER, Southland, Animal Kingdom and Rescue HI-Surf. Season 1 of The Pitt took place across one day, while Season 2 is set 10 months after the events of the first finale on Fourth of July weekend. It was revealed in the Season 1 finale that Abbot is an amputee with a prosthetic leg. Still, no background information was revealed, leaving it for viewers and Hatosy to wonder about.
During his time playing the mentally unstable and violent family man, Andrew “Pope” Cody, in Animal Kingdom, he directed four Season 3 episodes. Hatosy is represented by Paradigm and Trademark Talent.
