Carol Hathaway

Carol Hathaway wasn't supposed to make it past the pilot. She took a drug overdose during the first two hours of the show and the prognosis didn't look good. In the original version of the pilot episode, Carol died, but after screening the episode for a test audience, the ending was changed when the audience reacted very negatively to her death. (As Mark told Morgenstern "she was...is very popular.") Then it became certain that ER was going to be picked up by NBC and the show's producers took a good look at the positive audience response to the Hathaway character. They also considered their own feelings about loosing a sensitive and talented actress and realized that Julianna was definatley not some one they could do without. Hathaway was discreetly resurrected and returned to work by the second episode.

Since Carol was never meant to live through the pilot her character was not as developed as some of the others. For Julianna, that made things more interesting. "As an actor," she said, "I've had quite a say in who Carol Hathaway is. In the pilot we mostly saw her passing through the hallways, and wondered is she may have had a thing with Dr. Ross - and then she comes through the doors on a gurney. I was able to fill in the blanks and create a life for outside of the writing and outside of the emergency room."

Hathaway's layers have been revealed to include a sense of humour and a powerfully felt indiviualism. "Hathaway is confident in some ways," note Julianna, "but she also has a weak side. I think she's trying to find a balance." In season one Hathaway almost got married to Tag, but lucky for Doug Ross, the wedding was cancelled when she said she didn't love him. Now Carol and Doug are engaged and she is happier now then she has ever been before.


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