10 ER Actors We'd Love To See Guest Star On The Pitt

Noah Wyle may be the most obvious link between "ER" and "The Pitt," but he's hardly the only familiar face to make the trip from County General to Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.

"The Pitt" has already welcomed more than a dozen actors who previously appeared on "ER," including series regulars Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy, recurring players Michael Hyatt and Tracy Vilar, and Season 2 addition Mary McCormack. And considering the two medical dramas also share key creatives — including executive producers John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill — there's no reason for that tradition to stop now.

But rather than simply call for an "ER" reunion, we're thinking bigger. From former County General mainstays to memorable guest stars who passed through its emergency room, we've singled out 10 "ER" alumni we'd love to see scrub in for entirely new roles on "The Pitt."

More than 25 years later, Lucy Knight's death remains one of the most devastating moments on "ER." But a Kellie Martin appearance on "The Pitt" would offer an opportunity for a long-overdue reunion with Noah Wyle. In a 2018 Entertainment Weekly oral history, Wyle acknowledged that he wasn't always welcoming once Martin joined the cast in Season 5. But for her part, Martin remembered their working relationship as rewarding, recalling that she had fun working with Wyle, who "challenged me a lot." It'd be fascinating to see how that dynamic translates to two entirely new characters.

If we're reuniting Noah Wyle with Kellie Martin, why not bring back the man responsible for putting both Carter and Lucy in grave danger? David Krumholtz played Paul Sobriki, the schizophrenic patient who stabbed both characters in the unforgettable Season 6 two-parter "Be Still My Heart" and "All in the Family." Krumholtz later recalled working with Wyle to make the attack feel frighteningly real without dwelling on graphic violence. And when TVLine spoke to Wyle on the storyline's 25th anniversary, he still had "almost total recall" of filming the sequence. More than two decades later, perhaps it's time for Krumholtz and Wyle to share the screen again... under considerably different circumstances.

For 10 seasons, Maura Tierney played Abby Lockhart, who became one of Carter's closest friends — and, for a time, his girlfriend. Their Season 9 relationship never quite worked, but for some "ER" fans, Abby remained the one who got away. Even Noah Wyle seemed to harbor some playful resentment over the outcome years later: When asked why Carter and Abby didn't work out, he joked to The Hollywood Reporter in 2019, "Luka's what ruined it." Either way, Tierney and Wyle shared an easy chemistry that made their friendship just as compelling as their romance. With Tierney's talents still on full display in more recent projects including "The Affair" and "Law & Order," a reunion with Wyle on "The Pitt" would be a welcome one.

Long before Carter became a seasoned physician, he learned the ropes from Dr. Peter Benton. Eriq La Salle played the demanding surgeon who took Carter under his wing, forging arguably the most formative relationship of Carter's career. And Benton continued looking out for his former mentee long after Carter left surgery behind — from forcing him to confront his addiction in Season 6 to overseeing his kidney transplant when the two reunited in Season 15. So, how's this for inspired casting? Should "The Pitt" ever revisit Robby's pre-pandemic years, recast La Salle as his late mentor, Dr. Montgomery Adamson, who has previously appeared only in photographs and non-speaking flashbacks. Who better to shape another doctor played by Noah Wyle?

Kem Likasu may not have been every "ER" fan's favorite match for Carter, but there was no denying the chemistry between Thandiwe Newton and Noah Wyle. Introduced in Season 10, Kem quickly became one of the most significant relationships of his life. Their romance endured unimaginable heartbreak, long stretches apart and, eventually, an estrangement that even their series finale reunion couldn't fully resolve. Yet Newton and Wyle remained captivating together even when Kem and Carter were at their most strained. Putting them opposite each other again, freed from all that baggage and playing two entirely new characters, could make for an intriguing "Pitt" reunion.

Sally Field made an unforgettable entrance on "ER" in Season 7 as Maggie, Abby's estranged mother, whose struggle with bipolar disorder quickly pulled Carter into the Wyczenski family orbit. Carter was instrumental in Maggie's initial arc, accompanying Abby on a trip to Oklahoma to bring her mother home. Field won an Emmy for her performance and would return to County several times over the years. More recently, she added another Emmy to her mantle and reunited with Wyle for Variety's "Actors on Actors," where she professed her love for "The Pitt." So, why not make their next reunion a scripted one?

Mary McDonnell appeared throughout Season 8 of "ER" as Eleanor, Carter's emotionally distant mother, whose relationship with her son was complicated by the childhood death of his brother Bobby. That makes McDonnell an intriguing choice to play another Noah Wyle character's mother. We know that Robby's mom abandoned him when he was a child, but "The Pitt" has otherwise revealed little about her or where their relationship stands today (if it exists at all). Bringing McDonnell aboard as Robby's estranged mom would be an inspired bit of casting — and give her and Wyle a chance to explore an entirely different, potentially even thornier dynamic.

Ming-Na Wen first appeared on "ER" in Season 1 as medical student Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen, putting her character on a parallel track with Carter from nearly the very beginning. The two started out as competitive classmates before eventually becoming colleagues and friends, with Wen returning as a series regular in Season 6 and sticking around through Season 11. That gives Wen and Noah Wyle a shared history stretching across two distinct eras of "ER." And after years spent tackling everything from "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." to the Star Wars universe, perhaps it's time for Wen to trade the action for another hospital shift.

Before "Shameless," William H. Macy had a recurring role on "ER" as Dr. David Morgenstern, appearing throughout the show's first four seasons and returning once more in Season 15. It was Morgenstern who first instructed Mark Greene to "set the tone," words Greene would later pass along to Carter upon his own exit from County. Macy subsequently reunited with executive producer John Wells on the long-running Showtime dramedy. And if there's one thing we know about Wells, it's that he loves bringing former collaborators back into the fold. Surely there's room at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center for Macy, too.

Long before he scrubbed in as Dr. Eric Foreman on "House," Omar Epps spent part of Season 3 of "ER" as surgical intern Dennis Gant. Gant befriended Carter as the two struggled under the immense pressure of their residencies, but his story ended tragically after he was struck by an L train, in what was strongly suggested to have been a suicide. Epps has since logged plenty more hours in a white coat, but seeing him enter "The Pitt" would carry extra weight for longtime "ER" viewers — particularly if his new character crossed paths with Wyle's Robby.