Before The Pitt, Gerran Howell Was In A WWII Series With George Clooney And Kyle Chandler

Gerran Howell's time on the "Catch-22" battlefield may have prepared him for the high stakes of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Six years before his first appearance as Dennis Whitaker on "The Pitt," Howell portrayed a young soldier named Kid Sampson in "Catch-22," Hulu's miniseries based on Joseph Heller's sardonic World War II novel. The series follows Captain John Yossarian (Christopher Abbott), a U.S. Air Force bombardier who repeatedly attempts to escape combat and often clashes with the overly ambitious Colonel Cathcart (Kyle Chandler) and the temperamental Major Scheisskopf (George Clooney). Though Kid is a relatively minor character, he figures into one of the series' more tragic moments involving another military pilot's plane.

Howell was one of the first actors cast in "Catch-22"; he was reportedly chosen to play Kid by Clooney himself, who reacted positively to the Welsh actor's initial audition tape. Clooney directed two episodes of the miniseries, with cinematographer Ellen Kuras and filmmaker Grant Heslov each directing two of their own. "Catch-22" was released on Hulu in 2019 and garnered praise for Clooney's direction and its visuals, the latter of which earned the show a 2019 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Supporting Role.

The first time Gerran Howell worked with George Clooney, he left the actor something to remember him by. 

Howell joked in a 2026 interview on "The Today Show" that he'd been egged on to pull a prank while shooting "Catch-22." "We were working on an Air Force base in Italy, and we had bikes to get around everywhere ... we went to a supermarket and there were 'My Little Pony' bike accessories, and someone said, 'Wouldn't that be funny if you put some glittery streamers on George's bike one lunchtime?' ... So I did that." Howell recalled that although Clooney had torn the accessories off his bike the day after, he never commented about the prank. "So I am terrified," Howell quipped.

Despite the practical joke, Howell later heard that Clooney may have played a role in his casting on the acclaimed medical drama. "I haven't talked to [Noah Wyle] about it yet, but I've heard in interviews that there were words between them, and George recommended me," Howell told BBC Radio Wales after reflecting on his work with Clooney on the "Catch-22" set.

"It just goes to show, you know, keep everyone happy."