‘The Pitt’ Star Noah Wyle Admits He Faced Severe Money Struggles After ‘ER’ and Became ‘Profoundly Depressed’

"The Pitt" star Noah Wyle has opened up about the brutal career roller coaster that led him to a starring role in the HBO Max hit—and a return to the top of the TV charts, more than 15 years after his first major series, "ER," came to an end.

Wyle, 54, has once again become one of the most talked-about TV stars in recent years—although he faces tough competition from "Heated Rivalry" actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams—thanks to the phenomenal success of the hit medical drama.

For many, the actor's return to a TV series focused around an action-packed emergency room was wholly natural, helping to fill the gap that many felt was left when the last episode of "ER" aired in 2009.

But while his "ER" co-star and close friend, George Clooney, went on to achieve what seemed like immediate success in the wake of the show's end, leaping from one major movie to the next, Wyle faced a much tougher battle, one that led to some severe financial difficulties.

Wyle, who has for many years chosen to live on a sprawling ranch in Santa Ynez, CA, away from the bright lights of Hollywood, opened up about his struggles in an interview with the New York Times, telling the outlet that things became so "bleak," as the publication put it, he even considered selling his baseball-card collection to raise some extra cash.

While Wyle had appeared in several projects in the wake of "ER," nothing he did seemed to mirror the success of that first major hit—and he soon found that interest in his career began to wane.

The actor, who has three children—a son, Owen, 23, and daughter, Auden, 20, with ex-wife Tracy, and a daughter, Frances, with his second wife, Sara—recalled a moment several years ago when, in the face of mounting bills, he pulled out his impressive collection of baseball cards and arranged them all in a display book so that an expert could assess their value.

It was an emotional experience for Wyle, who is described by the Times as an obsessive Los Angeles Dodgers fan and an "avid collector" of everything from vintage suitcases to books and records, as well as movie memorabilia.

Property records show that Wyle also broached the idea of selling his longtime home in Santa Ynez, a sprawling 80-acre estate that he moved to as "ER" was coming to an end.

According to Realtor.com® data, the property was put on the market for just under $6.5 million in March 2020; however, the listing was withdrawn in June of that same year.

It's unclear whether the actor made the decision to list the home as a result of the financial struggles he was facing around that same time.

Wyle had purchased the property—which is made up of two parcels—during his final years filming "ER," explaining to Cowboys & Indians magazine in 2019 that he wanted his children to have a more rural upbringing, without being too far from Los Angeles.

"I needed to be geographically close to Los Angeles just for practical purposes, but I didn’t want to raise my kids in Los Angeles," he explained. "I was raised in Los Angeles. I’m an Angeleno, and I just wanted something a little bit more rural and smaller and slower than city life for my kids.

"Two hours was about as far as I could drive after work on a Friday night when I was doing 'ER' and not fall asleep at the wheel."

The actor noted that the family had embraced an abundance of wildlife on the ranch, including adding multiple animals to their broods, from pigs and chickens to horses, dogs, and cats.

Before moving out to the ranch, Wyle and his family had been living in a property in Los Feliz, which he offloaded in 2004, having listed the property for $3.8 million.

Speaking to the Times, Wyle did not specify when his financial struggles became so serious, but he credits the COVID-19 pandemic with helping him to find new purpose in his life, in part because, instead of being unable to find work that really mattered, he was forced to stop working altogether.

While this may not have helped his finances, it did prompt a resurgence in his popularity—as medical professionals began turning to Wyle and his "ER" co-stars for a kind of comfort.

Just as the most severe impacts from the pandemic were beginning to abate, Hollywood was rocked by another major upset in the form of the writers' and actors' strikes, which effectively shut down the industry for several months.

Despite feeling "profoundly depressed" at the time, Wyle told the Times that this period gave him a renewed sense of purpose, giving him a reason to get out of the house and take part in something important.

Through it all, the actor said he wished for just one thing: "Please put me in the company of first-class artists with good hearts and good minds doing meaningful work."

As it turns out, that wish would be fulfilled with "The Pitt," which Wyle began working on in 2021, alongside writer and producer R. Scott Gemmill, and showrunner John Wells, both of whom he had collaborated with on "ER."

The concept for the series began as a sequel to "ER," which would follow Wyle's character, John Carter, through the COVID-19 pandemic—although that idea was later cast aside in favor of a show focusing on a new lead doctor, Dr. Robby, who works at a fictional Pittsburgh hospital.

Wyle admits that they premiered the show with no real idea of how it would perform—only to discover that lightning really can strike twice, with droves of viewers flocking to binge the entire first series, which documents a single day in the emergency room, hour-by-hour.

HBO Max renewed the show for a second season before the first installment of episodes had finished airing, with the latest episodes debuting on Jan. 8—less than four months after "The Pitt" pulled off a trio of major wins at the 2025 Emmy Awards.

"The Pitt" took home three of the biggest trophies of the night: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, which was won by Wyle, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for his co-star, Katherine LaNasa.

Speaking to Variety at the premiere of the second season of "The Pitt," Wyle admitted that he was stunned by the response to the show, telling the outlet on the red carpet: "I didn't think lighting would strike twice like this in my life, 30 years apart... it's the greatest gift."

When asked if he had a message for his younger self, he was quick to share: "Don’t worry so much, it’s gonna work out okay. Don’t sell your baseball collection."