Yahoo News Noah Wyle says ER exit was "horrible" and admits he "hated" one of his co-stars
Former ER star Noah Wyle has opened up about his time on the medical drama.
In a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the star – who played Dr John Carter between 1994 and 2009 – revealed that he found it "horrible" seeing the show move on without him after his exit.
Wyle also discussed struggling to work with co-star Goran Visnjic (who played Dr Luka Kovac), saying that there was a period where he "hated" him.
Wyle explained that the birth of his first child Owen in November 2002 led him to leave the show, although he would later return for a handful of episodes in the final season.
"I just thought, 'I can't be here for 80 hours a week and miss [being with Owen]'," he said, recalling his departure from the show. "And I quit. But I called it a divorce with visitation rights, because I didn't want to say goodbye obviously to the best job and experience I've ever had.
"I knew I'd be back at some point. I didn't come back at all the 13th and 14th seasons, and then I think I ended up doing six of the 15th and final season, which was so great. Talk about closure.
"To not be on that show and have that show be on TV was horrible. It was like watching somebody else raise your kids. But I was raising my own, and that was amazing. I don't have any regrets."
Wyle admitted that he was difficult to work with, explaining that he was "really hard" on his co-stars.
"When [Visnjic] came on to the show, I had a chip on my shoulder," he said. "I had a chip on my shoulder with anybody that came on that show.
"I've systematically gone to and apologised to everybody over the years about being the person that I was, which was – 'You better come to play. You better bring your A-game. This is pro ball, blah blah blah blah.'
"And it was not an easy environment to work in because we didn't suffer fools.
"We were really hard on people, and I was hard on people that were coming into the show like Erik Palladino (who played Dr Dave Malucci) or Michael Michele (Dr Cleo Finch). Everybody had to earn their keep, in my opinion, especially poor Kellie Martin (Dr Lucy Knight). I owe her a big apology."
Wyle then explained why he "hated" Visnjic at the time.
"Goran, I [gave him grief] when he first came on," he said. "And then I realised that he was a way better actor than I was. He performed Hamlet in Dubrovnik in front of thousands of European screaming fans. He was the real deal.
"I hated him because I always felt like I was losing a scene to him."
ER enjoyed a long and successful run of 331 episodes on air, in the process becoming the longest-running primetime medical drama in the US.
That record was broken recently, as Grey's Anatomy aired its 332nd episode in February 2019.
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