‘The Pitt’: Gerran Howell Reveals What Whitaker Expected From Robby in Conversation About Amy

Count Whitaker (Gerran Howell) among those worried about Robby (Noah Wyle) in The Pitt Season 2, especially after Episode 9, which was released on March 5.

As Robby’s “goodbye parade,” as Shawn Hatosy (who directed the episode) called it in our Post-Op: The Pitt Aftershow this week, begins ahead of his sabbatical, he asks Whitaker to house-sit for him. It’s part of Robby talking to Whitaker about figuring out proper boundaries with the widow of the burn victim from Season 1; he’s been helping her out on her farm a little too much. But the biggest takeaway from the scene comes at the end, when Robby remarks that if he doesn’t come back, Whitaker will have a swinging bachelor pad. Uh-oh?

Below, Gerran Howell takes us inside that scene and what Whitaker didn’t get that he was expecting to from Robby in it.

You said that if Whitaker’s going to open up to anyone, it’s Robby. Then there’s that great conversation in this episode and Robby brings up Amy and talks about having boundaries. Is there anyone else at work that Whitaker would listen to about Amy? I do get the sense that Whitaker could step back when it comes to her after that conversation.

Gerran Howell: I think in a way, Whitaker was expecting Robby to be the one to maybe tell him if the situation is correct or not, or is kind of inappropriate. And I think it really surprises him actually, when Dr. Robby just kind of says, “Be careful of boundaries,” but I think he was almost expecting a real dressing down and to be told off. So, in a way, it feels weird. I think Whitaker feels a bit weirded out that it’s like, “Here’s the keys to my apartment,” rather than “You can’t do [that].” I think he was expecting something bit more direct, but that is kind of a signifier to Whitaker that something’s going on with Robby here. It is kind of off. There’s kind a manicness to that scene. I think he was almost reaching out for some advice, some hard advice from Robby, and didn’t get it. So, he’s still kind of in a bit of a limbo there.

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Speaking of that, I was going to bring up Robby’s line about how, if he doesn’t come back, Whitaker will have a swinging bachelor pad. We’ve seen reasons to be concerned about Robby so far season. So, this is when Whitaker’s starting to notice that something else is going on? 

Yeah, something is definitely going on in Whitaker’s mind. Dr. Robby isn’t the most approachable character. He kind of gives wisdom in this, I don’t know, in a very strange way, but obviously, what happened with Season 1 between them, they’ve kind of seen each other at really low points, both of them. So, I think Whitaker feels, maybe Dr. Robby kind of distancing himself from me emotionally? I think he’s very much there for him professionally, but I think there’s a worry that Whitaker being the witness to that breakdown, am I now going to be sort of pushed away? But then I’m getting the keys to the apartment and it’s like, oh, so he does care about me and he does trust me. So, I think that all adds to the confusion. There’s something going on here that isn’t right.

Whitaker tries not to make a big deal out of getting his doctor badge, being called doctor, but he has earned it. We’ve seen how far he’s come from Season 1’s shift. So, why not let it be recognized? It should be. It feels good, right, for him?

Yeah, to be a doctor, I think he’s found belonging now, and that is an official signifier of, I belong here, I deserve to be here. And he’s also getting paid, which is also another big part of that. But yeah, I think he’s very slowly settling into that role and just kind of being able to accept that he has a place here and he’s competent enough to do this job, but it’s a slow process. I don’t think you earn titles like that lightly. So, Whitaker is still being very tentative and he’s got a bit of defense there. He doesn’t want to quite believe it until he can.

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Talk about filming that scene with Noah and Shawn directing it.
Shawn, very similar to Noah [who directed Season 2 Episode 6], he’s an actor who’s been with us for a very long time, so he just kind of falls into that role very, very comfortably and we all feel very comfortable very quickly. And he dedicates a lot of time to his character and he’s so in the scripts now, and he’s watching edits, so he’s so involved in it now that you can really put your trust in him, especially for scenes like that between me and Noah. He encourages playing around and seeing where the scene could go.

I think we tried that scene a couple of ways in the reading of it. I think it was more with the badge. I think with that scene, there were different ways we could play it and it was being a very tender moment and a very considered moment from Robby really taking the time. And I think when we got to it, the kind of manic pace of it actually kind of really lent to just the weirdness of it in the end. So, we played with that and I think found a good medium there.

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