‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Adds Victor Rivas Rivers as Hospital’s CEO

Meredith Jacobs September 12, 2025, 3:16 pm

The Pitt‘s first season was a hit not only with critics but also with fans. From the first episode, it has been so good — Noah Wyle was born to play a doctor and is absolutely outstanding as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, and the ensemble cast is strong — so it was great to see it renewed in-season after the seventh episode.

The medical drama takes place in real time, with each episode of a season covering an hour of a shift. Season 1 covered the day of Pittfest, with the victims of a shooting at the musical festival brought into the hospital. Season 2 will take place over the Fourth of July.

The Pitt Season 2 production is well underway — we even already have the first teaser! — and a number of new cast members have been revealed, including a new guest star on Friday, September 12. Read on for everything we know so far about Season 2, from the cast to a premiere date, and more.

Has production started on The Pitt Season 2?

Yes! HBO Max announced on Monday, June 16, that production has started. The Pitt shoots on the historic Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, with exteriors shot on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. See the first photo from Season 2 below, of Noah Wyle (Robby) and Ken Kirby (Shen, of course with his iced coffee).

Noah Wyle as Robby and Ken Kirby as Shen behind the scenes of 'The Pitt' Season 2

Warrick Page / Max

Who’s in The Pitt Season 2 cast?

Along with the teaser, the August 21 news reveals the Season 2 cast. Joining Wyle — who will be directing an episode — are Patrick Ball (Dr. Langdon), Katherine LaNasa (Dana Evans), Supriya Ganesh (Dr. Mohan), Fiona Dourif (Dr. McKay), Taylor Dearden (Dr. King), Isa Briones (Dr. Santos), Gerran Howell (Whitaker), Shabana Azeez (Javadi), and Sepideh Moafi (Dr. Al-Hashimi). Moafi’s new character is an attending physician in emergency medicine.

Shawn Hatosy (Abbot), Ken Kirby (Shen), and Ayesha Harris (Ellis) were among those who recurred in Season 1, and various photos (like the one released for the start of production above), social media posts, and news have confirmed all will be back in some capacity. Hatosy will also be stepping behind the camera to direct, Deadline reports. (He previously directed on Animal Kingdom, which he talks about in our Scene Study.)

“I’m so excited to capture this show from the other side of the lens. The Pitt is an absolute dream for a director. I feel like a chef who gets to work in the best kitchen, with all the best ingredients – incredible writing, great actors, such strong characters with very distinct points of view; all in an immersive, adrenaline-pumped, beautifully choreographed world,” Hatosy said in a statement to the outlet. “Having experienced it all through Abbot’s eyes, I think that’s going to really enhance my perspective as a director, and what a joy to be able to do it with a group of people with whom I already have such a deep bond.”

Not returning from Season 1 is Tracy Ifeachor as Dr. Heather Collins in the upcoming second season, per TV Line. Collins was last seen in Episode 11 of the first season. On July 9, Ifeachor posted on Instagram, “What a blessing to be a part of this first and foundational season of #ThePitt on @hbomax . It was an absolute privilege to play Dr. Heather Collins in such a groundbreaking season and piece.”

HBO Max has announced that Charles Baker, Irene Choi, Laëtitia Hollard, and Lucas Iverson will recur. Official character descriptions have yet to be announced.

And on July 29, Deadline reported that Lawrence Robinson will recur as “Brian Hancock, a sweet, charming, and kind-hearted patient who turns a soccer injury into a possible meet-cute with one of the doctors.”

Victor Rivas Rivers is set to guest as Trent Norris, the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Deadline reports. We have to admit: We can’t wait to see how he and Robby clash.

The Pitt is produced by John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where JWP is under an overall deal. R. Scott Gemmill created the series and serves as an executive producer alongside John Wells, Noah Wyle, Michael Hissrich, JWP’s Erin Jontow, and Simran Baidwan.

Noah Wyle Dissects Dr. Robby's Breakdown on 'The Pitt'

How did The Pitt Season 1 finale end?

Robby, after failing to save his stepson Jake’s girlfriend when she was shot at Pittfest, had the breakdown the season had been building to in Episode 13. Then, in the finale, Abbot found him on the roof — Wyle told TV Insider that he made sure to stand closer to the edge than the other doctor had in the premiere — and talked him down. The finale ended with Robby, Abbot, and other members of the hospital staff gathered for a post-shift beer in the park across the street before Robby headed home.

Meanwhile, Robby told Langdon if he wanted to continue to work at the hospital after the discovery of his drug addiction, he had to go to rehab, and Dana was ready to be done after getting punched in the face by an impatient patient.

What is The Pitt Season 2 about?

The Pitt is described as “a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” Each episode covers an hour of Robby’s 15-hour shift in Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital’s emergency room.

An exact description for Season 2 has yet to be released, but executive producers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells told TV Insider after the finale that it would cover the Fourth of July weekend — and that shift would likely be Langdon’s first back after rehab.

With that time jump, “we’ll get to see some new med students, maybe a new nursing student,” Gemmill shared. “We played a fairly straight shift last year, but a lot of times, people come in halfway through a shift and things like that. So even if you don’t see everyone right off the top, they may show up eventually, but they may have the day off.”

Noah Wyle shared a few more details when TV Insider spoke with him about his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama (one of 13 The Pitt received for 2025). Robby is now “is a guy that can no longer look at himself in the mirror and admit that he doesn’t have a problem, but doctors don’t always make the best patients and how he goes about trying to get himself healthy, it’s a big part of what we’re trying to grapple with this season,” he revealed.

He also shared, “I think I’ve already smiled more in the first four episodes that we’ve shot than I smiled in the first 14 episodes that we shot last year. Whether that smile is a mask or genuine will be up for interpretation, but I’m employing one.”

Plus, get ready to see Robby “grappling with another big life decision. And there are going to be peaks and valleys in the season that really exemplify that,” Wyle previewed.

What we do know is that Robby is not happy to be working the same shift as Langdon. “He was hoping that their shifts wouldn’t overlap, and then they do,” Wyle said. “Robby can be petty, and forgiveness is sometimes harder for some than others. And yeah, betrayal is a big deal. Like anybody that has walls up, if they let their wall down for you and you are one of the few that get to share an intimacy, and then that turns into any kind of betrayal, the wall goes up twice as high as it was before, and that’s what we’re going to play with probably.”

When will The Pitt Season 2 premiere?

HBO Max confirmed that Season 2 will premiere in January 2026. That’s one year after Season 1 debuted. An exact date has yet to be announced.

Is there a Pitt Season 2 trailer?

The first teaser was released on August 21. The prodigal son returns to the hospital, and while the video is cut to show a glimpse of Robby walking into the ED after that line, it’s clearly about Langdon, back for his first shift after rehab. Watch it above to get a look at some of the patients, new characters, and much more.

Plus, check out photos from the season here.