One Of ER's Most Important Guest Stars Knew About A Massive Death Before The Main Cast Did

David Krumholtz, who guest-starred as a mentally ill patient named Paul Sobriki on NBC's "ER," knew that Kellie Martin's Lucy Knight would die in Season 6 because the reveal was part of his audition process — his character was the one to kill Lucy. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Krumholtz said that his audition took place several weeks before filming, so he found out about Lucy's tragic fate before Martin did.

The shock factor was key to that entire storyline; a totally unexpected twist that deeply upset fans as well as most of the stars of the show. "I just remember being struck by how much it just felt like a very small, tight-knit family and a really small set, and that made it sort of all the more tragic that we were filming the storyline about one of them being killed off," Krumholtz recalled. Martin shared her feelings about Lucy's death at the time, explaining, "I was happy, and honored, yet at the same time a little bit wondering what I had done to deserve such a big demise." She continued, "But, I think if you have to leave a show, especially a show like 'ER,' that's the way to go."

The cast was caught by surprise because they only found out what would happen to Lucy when they first received the script. Naturally, they went to Martin immediately, asking with hope if Lucy would be fine in the end, only to learn the somber answer: "Nope, turns out nope. Not going to be all right,” Martin said.

Carter (Noah Wyle) actually survived the stabbing by Sobriki, unlike Lucy, and he was haunted by the trauma for quite a while afterward. Once he pulled through a life-threatening operation, he was left with excruciating back pain, for which he was prescribed strong painkillers. He subsequently became addicted to the pills, going so far that the ER staff organized an intervention. After denying that he had a drug problem, quitting, and punching his mentor, Dr. Benton (Eriq La Salle), Carter eventually gave in and went to rehab.

Noah Wyle has spoken several times about how Lucy's death defined his character's trajectory on the show, as well as his own behavior at the time. In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor explained, "We were really hard on people, and I was hard on people that were coming into the show like Erik Palladino or Michael Michele. Everybody had to earn their keep, in my opinion, especially poor Kellie Martin. I owe her a big apology." Which he apparently made, claiming that over the years he reached out to some of his former co-stars to apologize for his cocky attitude. Hopefully, he won't make the same mistakes if his hit medical drama "The Pitt," is on the air for a long time, too.