elkins


	Noah Wyle, who plays med student Carter on TV's "ER" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright, 1995 by MICHAEL ELKIN. All rights reserved. These columns originally appeared in the Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia. Media clients may direct inquiries regarding republication rights to elkin@netaxs.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Noah Wyle, who plays med student Carter on TV's "ER" HOLLYWOOD · Dr. John Carter belongs to Hollywood's HMO: the caring but somewhat klutzy doc is one of the Handsome Male Objects on NBC-TV's runaway hit, "ER." But there is substance beneath the scrubs of the actor who plays the med student on the number one rated NBC-TV show. "ER" airs Thursday nights at 10 on (check locally). With all the attention headed his way, Wyle hasn't gone Hollywood. Didn't have to -- he was born there. Raised in a Reform Jewish home,Wyle has always maintained links to his heritage, even when he attended a nearby boarding school as a youngster that he describes as "WASPY." "It's not like I was the only Jew there," he says. "I never felt like an outsider. But then again, my sister had attended the school before me, so she set the standard." "ER" is setting the standards for hour-long dramas these days, with its dramatic jagged mix of tragedy and humor. The show's success is no accident, says Wyle, citing what he sees as its excellent writing and its acting focusing on "empowered doctors who are working really hard and are, oftentimes, very tired." There's nothing tired about the drama itself. In fact, Wyle seems energized just talking about it, notably his character's relationship with the brooding Dr. Peter Benton (actor Eriq LaSalle). "Over the summer, Eriq and I talked a lot about how we could sort of keep the relationship fresh but play on different notes than we played in the first season," he says. There's "less of a drill sergeant/private relationship and more of a begrudging friendship, where through Carter's persistance and annoyance, he actually becomes endearing to Benton." There's somewhat of a "Laurel and Hardy aspect" to the friendship, he says. Wyle injects some of his own humor and personality into the part. "There are quite a few similarities between John Carter and me," says the actor."I think we're both extremely hard-working, extremely self-critical, pay great attention to detail and tend to beat ourselves up a lot over what I consider to be foolish mistakes or mistakes of just forgetfullness." One thing Wyle won't forget was his boarding school days -- for better or worse. At Bar Mitzvah age, he was sent off to school in Ojai, Cal., which "upon retrospect, I enjoyed very much." Not that the school's administrators enjoyed his stint there. "I was a little bit at loggerheads with the administration," says Wyle. Conceding he's not as good at math and science as his TV alter ego, Wyle also admits that there isn't a wheelchair that's been built that could have gotten him through the Thacher School's doors fast enough upon graduation. "I blew the 100 percent college admittance rate for the centennial class [1989] of my high school," he says, "because I was the only one that didn't go. "They weren't happy with me. So I left, taking my diploma like a baton on the run. And I didn't really look back until ÔER,' when they started sending me a lot of the alumni news letters and alumni fund things." Hollywood became his university; there, Wyle made the grade studying under acting teacher Larry Moss. Wyle nabbed plenty of projects, including the NBC miniseries "Blind Faith" and the movie adaptation of the Broadway hit "A Few Good Men." Casting directors offered him roles in TV movies such as "Guinevere of Camelot" -- he was Lancelot to Sheryl Lee's Guinevere -- and the feature "Swing Kids." "Swing Kids" struck out with critics but it did offer Wyle a way to play a totally different character: The Jewish actor portrayed a leader of the Hitler Youth. These days, Noah is flooded with fan mail for his role as the caring Carter. "Yeh, most of them from viewers in the prepubescent range," he says with a smile. Certainly, Wyle's wiles work on the older crowd too -- at least they do on the show. For a role model, Wyle has only to turn to his extended family for some heartfelt advice: The actor is the godson of Mandy Patinkin, the former singing heart surgeon of "Chicago Hope." Wyle loves working the TV hospital shift, but you'd have to strap him to a gurney to get him to a real ER. "As a kid, I hated doctors and needles," he says, which probably didn't make his mom -- an orthopedic nurse -- too happy. Wyle makes no bones about the way he felt. "I used to hate visiting her in the hospital where she worked. It was so sterile," he grimaces. Now that he makes house calls every Thursday night, Wyle is getting used to what it means to play a doctor on TV."I find that we have to spend a lot less time technically rehearsing both the trauma scenes and those long gurney shots with the rapid-fire dialogue, because you see the same words pop up time and time again and you sort of get a sense of what you're doing." Will Wyle be doing any product endorsements? No, he says, but he thinks he knows what would be a perfect tie-in for the show. Giving credit to co-star George Clooney for the concept, Wyle offers this perfect pediatric product: A Lower G.I. Joe Doll, he says, impishly. ¥ ¥ ¥ Visit Michael Elkin's "On the Scene" home page on the World Wide Web. To access, type http://www.netaxs.com/~elkin. Got a question about a celeb? E-mail elkin@netaxs.com