Never let it be said that The Pitt‘s Shawn Hatosy does anything by accident. Case in point: during a scene towards the end of the Season 1 finale, the actor’s alter ego, military medic turned ER doctor Dr. Jack Abbot, congregates with some of his fellow colleagues outside of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. The crew — which includes Noah Wyle‘s Dr. Robby Robinavitch — is coming off a grueling 15-hour shift that included a mass casualty shooting and is desperately in need of some beer-fueled R&R. One of the party tosses a brewskie can Abbot’s way, but the good doctor fails to catch it and it hits the ground, earning raspberries from the rest of the revelers.
Asked whether that was an intentional missed catch or a day-of flub that made it into the final cut, Hatosy tells Gold Derby that he didn’t go off-script. “I can’t believe you’d even ask that question to a man of my athletic ability,” the actor says in mock-outrage with a big grin on his face. “I’m going to walk out of this interview!”
Mea culpa, Dr. Abbot. Now we know to blame Pitt creator and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, who wrote the season finale, for that dropped catch. But Hatosy does share two unintentional miscues that occurred during that moment. “There was a scripted line where Abbot told Robby, ‘Now you see why I didn’t go into surgery,'” he recalls. “But it didn’t make it into the final cut. They left me hanging and now I have to deal with this backlash and insults about my fielding abilities.”
Hatosy, Katherine LaNasa, and Wyle at the HBO Max Emmy Nominee Celebration (Photo by David Jon/Getty Images for HBO Max)
Hatosy was also the unwitting victim of an accidental switcheroo involving the contents of his beer can. “The props department had a number of them on set that were filled with water, but the one that I opened had to be real,” he explains, adding that the plan was to do a “cowboy switch” where the can he opened would be swapped out for a tall drink of water. But instead of H2O, Hatosy — who says he gave up alcohol 15 years ago — tasted hops. “I took a sip, and I was like ‘This is fun,'” he says, chuckling.
“Fun” is one of the words that Hatosy would almost certainly use to describe his journey on The Pitt — along with “exhausting” and “exhilarating.” The actor didn’t have a lot of prep time before arriving on the Los Angeles set, but he couldn’t turn down the offer to reunite with executive producer John Wells, the TV legend who has regularly employed Hatosy since he appeared in a guest spot on a 2006 episode of ER. And their current reunion scored Hatosy his first-ever Emmy nomination; he’s a Best Drama Guest Actor candidate alongside actors like Giancarlo Esposito in The Boys and Scot Glenn in The White Lotus.
In an insightful conversation, Hatosy talked about The Pitt’s demanding surgical sequences, the relationship between Robby and Abbot and what to look for in Season 2, which arrives on HBO Max in January.
Gold Derby: I love that you played a patient on ER almost 20 years before joining The Pitt as a doctor. What do remember about that earlier experience?
Shawn Hatosy: The character I played on ER had multiple personalities, so it was a complex part. There were three very distinct people to play in that role, which was challenging. It was also my first time working with John and he was directing, so I remember feeling like I needed to take big risks. John was really patient with me and let me try stuff and also let me fail. That experience left a mark on me and I knew that I wanted to work with him again. It was also great because ER was in its 13th season at that point and it was a cultural phenomenon that was also this well-oiled machine. All of the cast and crew knew how to move together because they had been doing it for so long.
Having been a patient on a medical drama, what’s it like to be on the side of the stethoscope now?
It’s also very scary! [Laughs] Mainly because of the language and lingo in the medical scenes, as well as the procedures. It’s just being able to say the lines and do the action; you also have to hit the right spot on the body and if you get it wrong, the medical advisors will tell you. For me, the dialogue is the hardest thing. Some actors — like Noah — are really good at it, but for me it’s a challenge.
Do you feel a closer bond with the guest actors who play Pitt patients thanks to your ER experience?
For sure, but the difference is that if you were a patient on ER, you’d be on for one episode that would shoot in five or six days. On The Pitt, you’re often part of the ensemble and that’s the beauty of the show. If you’re an important patient, you’re there for the run of the season. It’s fascinating to watch those actors, because they work so hard at creating their own little scenes that play out across multiple episodes. And for me as well, the experience on The Pitt is different because even though Abbot is a guest star he has this multiple-episode journey.
Hatosy and Wyle in a scene from The Pitt (HBO Max)Warrick Page/Max
Let’s talk about that journey. In the season finale — the episode you submitted for Emmy consideration — Abbot is performing pelvic surgery on a patient named Hector. Walk me through that scene.
The actor [Emanuel Loarca] had a really intense stomach prosthetic. He was a trooper, man! You always feel a little vulnerable when you’re in a hospital robe, but we power through it. Us actors are used to getting naked in front of the camera, so to speak, and you just try to do your best and trust the director.
One thing we do every time that we have a surgical scene is rehearse with the medical advisors; they’ll bring us in and put the scene on its feet, showing us how it would be done if they were in the operating room. Oftentimes when we’re filming, we’ll do a master shot as opposed to close-ups or insert shots like we did with that surgery. We spent a good portion of an hour working through the different things I had to do with my hands.
One thing I noticed while rewatching the episode is how closely Abbot monitors Robby after realizing that his colleague is hitting a wall. It’s a subtle and effective performance choice on your part.
Yeah, Robby’s behavior isn’t typical and Abbot sees that as it plays out. He’s also been in situations like that when he was in combat and recognizes that kind of fatigue. The interesting thing about the way we shoot is that we film in order pretty much. The day we shot the roof scene with Abbot and Robby in the premiere was only my second day on set back in August. Then we shot the finale roof scene in January or February, so I knew it was coming and could chart out how the characters would get to that moment. That ending is a reversal of how the show begins, and it’s very unexpected for the audience.
Abbot has a great line in the finale where he tells Robby: “My therapist thinks I find comfort in the darkness.” How did that impact your understanding of the character and how will it shape your performance going forward?
It’s the spine of what helped me shape him. He’s so calm in the face of disaster, and that’s from his experience in the military. He has this training that kicks in where he knows how to handle things. Health care workers don’t get enough credit for what they do, which is so damn hard. They’re constantly battling funding issues, as well as not having enough staff or getting enough sleep. They’re dealing with awful circumstances while they’re just trying to save lives. It takes a special person to commit their life to that.
What would you like to see happen with Abbot in Season 2?
Like so many viewers, I became a fan of the show over the course of its first season. I was in the season premiere and then disappeared for 11 episodes. By the time I came back, I was watching the show along with everyone else in the country! So these characters have become my friends — I have my favorites that I’ve become protective of. For me as an actor, I would love to chance to work with some of them this season.
And then I’m also looking forward to see what Abbot looks like in that setting when there’s not a mass casualty event. That’s really all we saw of him this season, and it was really great to see how good he is at his job. But it would be fun to see what he’s like when he’s working more regular cases. There’s also a whole cast of characters who work on the night shift that we’ve only seen a glimpse of, and it would be great to see what kinds of cases they experience overnight. Just spending time with this group of misfits who choose to work at night. I’d love to know what they talk about! [Laughs]