Noah Wyle and Sally Field sat down for Variety and CNN’s Actors on Actors series on June 12, reconnecting more than three decades after they first worked together on ER — the NBC medical drama that made Wyle a household name and, at the time, represented a notable career gamble for Field, a two-time Academy Award winner making one of her earliest returns to television. The conversation arrives as Wyle navigates Emmy season for a second consecutive year with The Pitt, the Max drama that won Outstanding Drama Series in 2025 and sent Wyle home with the lead actor trophy. Full details are in Variety’s complete Actors on Actors interview with Noah Wyle and Sally Field.
How Field and Wyle First Crossed Paths on ER
Field appeared in multiple episodes of ER as the mother of Maura Tierney’s character — a woman living with bipolar disorder. For Field, then already a film icon following her Oscar-winning roles in Norma Rae (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984), the decision to return to television was a considered one. “It was a big gamble,” Field said in the interview. She prepared extensively, speaking with doctors and patients at UCLA to render the role authentically. The work did not go unnoticed: Field’s guest turn earned her the Emmy for guest actress in a drama series, a category ER had also swept with acting wins for Julianna Margulies and Ray Liotta across its 15-season run.
The Pitt Season 2 and the Emotional Weight of Dr. Robby’s Crisis
In the second season of The Pitt, Wyle’s character Dr. “Robby” Robinavitch moved through a season-long existential crisis, ultimately confronting suicidal ideation in one of the drama’s most emotionally demanding arcs. Wyle, who also directed Season 2 Episode 206 (“12 P.M.”) and serves as executive producer and writer on the series, told Field that heavy emotional scenes do not read as hardship to him. “Those aren’t hard days. Those are great days,” he said, describing the relief of externalizing deeply held feeling through performance. Field responded with characteristic candor: “It’s so jaw-droppingly good…I know what it takes for that emotionality all the time. It takes a piece of your soul.”
Sally Field’s Recent Work and Six Decades in Entertainment
Field arrived at the conversation with a new project of her own: the TV movie Remarkably Bright Creatures, in which she plays Tova, an aquarium janitor who forms an unlikely bond with a CGI octopus named Marcellus while processing grief. Field, who began her career in television in 1964 — she is now in her seventh decade in the industry — emphasized that medium has never defined her approach. “I’m an actor, period,” she said. She acknowledged, however, that network television’s production demands reveal themselves physically: “By episode 12, you can see it in the makeup and styling — the exhaustion starts showing through.”
The Pitt’s Full 2026 Emmy Push
The Pitt has submitted Wyle for both lead drama actor and director (for Episode 206), making him one of the rare performers in Emmy history to chase acting and directing nominations simultaneously. The show’s broader submission slate is extensive: ten performers are entered in supporting drama, four in guest drama, five directors, two writers, and craft categories spanning sound, cinematography, costumes, and hairstyling. A companion interview series, Inside The Pitt, is submitted for Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction. The complete breakdown is in Deadline’s full report on The Pitt’s 2026 Emmy submissions. The show won five Emmys from 15 nominations in 2025, including Outstanding Drama Series — placing it in rare company entering a second season with that prior recognition.
Emmy season 2026 is generating major news on multiple fronts. The Television Academy today removed Jon Hamm from the Emmy guest drama actor race for The Morning Show after an Apple TV submission error — full details in Eastern Herald’s report on Jon Hamm’s Emmy disqualification from The Morning Show. On the music side, Eastern Herald’s full 2026 BET Awards nominations coverage has the complete field ahead of the June 28 Peacock Theater ceremony hosted by Druski.
