This Thanksgiving season, The Pitt cast is expressing gratitude for health care workers.
While actors like Noah Wyle, Supriya Ganesh and Shabana Azeez play doctors on TV, they know firsthand just how hard — and important — the job of hospital workers is.
“During the pandemic, we saw this unbelievable rise of appreciation for frontline workers and the risks that they take,” Wyle, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly at The Rape Treatment Center and Stuart House at UCLA Health’s annual brunch in October. “Everybody went out and banged on pots and pans and cheered [for] them coming up their subway stops. And then that became almost a carnival and a show of appreciation. Then it died down.”
What didn’t stop, according to Wyle, was doctors, nurses and support staff going to work every day and doing “the exact same job that they’ve been doing before people banged on pots and after they’d stopped banging on pots.”
In celebration of Thanksgiving week, we asked some members of The Pitt cast to share what impresses them about health care workers. With every answer, the actors couldn’t hide their gratitude for the work they do each and every day.
Katherine LaNasa
Katherine Lanasa Warrick Page / HBO MAX/ Courtesy Everett Collection
“I have to say that I had cancer recently, and the nurses that took the time to just give them themselves — and they really didn’t have to — to just say those little words of encouragement, to bring a warm blanket, things like that, I just really honor them and feel so grateful,” LaNasa, who plays charge nurse Dana Evans, told Us. “In my experience, I did not feel victimized by my cancer experience. I felt lucky to have medical care, to have caring people attending to me, to live in a country where I have cancer detection screening, things like that, and just to really be held by the health care system that we have, which is hanging on by a thread, which is why we need to support places like the Stuart House and The Rape Treatment Center.”
Supriya Ganesha
Supriya Ganesha Warrick Page/MAX
“I admire health care workers for their compassion, empathy and selflessness, especially in a system that’s increasingly deprioritizing their needs,” Ganesha, who plays Dr. Samira Mohan, told Us. “There are very few professions that are truly in such service to others, and I commend them for everything they choose to face just to make a positive difference in someone’s life. Thank you for everything you do!”
Shabana Azeez
Shabana Azeez Warrick Page / HBO MAX/ Courtesy Everett Collection
“Dedicating your life to saving lives is such a brave thing to do. Every single health care worker is a hero,” Azeez, who plays Dr. Victoria Javadi, explained to Us. “I’m grateful for the strength they have to experience so much death and suffering on a daily basis and respond with empathy and kindness. They make so many sacrifices and give us so much. I hope that we as a society can give them the love and gratitude they deserve.”
Noah Wyle
Noah Wyle Warrick Page / HBO MAX/ Courtesy Everett Collection
Just because the coronavirus pandemic passed doesn’t mean the job of a health care worker has gotten easier, according to Wyle.
“If anything, their jobs have gotten harder. People are coming in sicker, higher acuity. They’re coming in angrier. They’re having to wait longer because of boarding crises, nursing shortages, supply chain issues,” Wyle, who plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, shared with Us. “The toll that it takes on the staff is immense. That’s why you see the highest incidence of alcoholism, drug addiction, divorce, suicide — not just among the medical specialty, but among any profession in frontline workers. So doing a show that shines a light a little bit and hopefully raises empathy and compassion for people that are in those jobs who are only there to pick up our broken pieces, seems like the right thing to do.”
The Pitt is streaming now on HBO Max with season 2 set to premiere in early 2026.
