How Casting directors found more than 300 characters for ‘The Pitt’

Filling the world of “The Pitt” was a big assignment for casting directors Cathy Sandrich Gelfond and Erica Berger. The couple, which has been working together this month for seven years, has experience with compiling impressive ensembles for shows such as “Mayor of Kingstown” and “Love & Death”. But HBO Max Medical Drama is its own beast. The show took place in the there from a Pittsburgh hospital and required a large ensemble cast of medical professionals and patients. Add to that the fact that the show takes place in real time, with 15 episodes about a working day of 15 hours and you are looking for actors who must be present in every scene, even if they don’t speak.

The pair casts more than 300 rolls out of the background actors. “If you say one script word, we were,” confirms Gelfond. Berger adds: “There were even people whose conditions did not allow them to speak, but there was action, so we also cast them out.”

Gelfond compares it with casting a play: “In the theater people are on stage a lot, even if they don’t necessarily talk. So the idea was to put together a kind of theater company that this world would inhabit. The set was a kind of casting director.”

It was also a big plus that the managers – maker, showrunner and executive producer R. Scott Gemmill, executive producer John Wells and executive producer and star Noah Wyle – were open to actors who were not yet famous faces.

“The team was just as enthusiastic as we about filling with new people we may not have seen before,” says Berger. “That is always incredibly exciting to do. It is also exciting for us, because it means that we will see many people we may not even know yet.”

Some of these new faces were Shabana Azeez, who plays Victoria Javadi, a 20-year-old medical student whose parents are also doctors in the hospital. “She lived in Australia and we had literally never seen her before,” says Gelfond. Likewise they were not familiar with Supriya Ganesh, who medical resident Dr. Samira Mohan portrays. “I didn’t know her until she walked into the door,” says Berger.

Another important discovery: Patrick Ball, that Dr. Frank Langdon plays, the right hand of Wyle’s senior that doctor Dr. Michael “Robby” has Robinavitch. The only earlier TV role of the actor was an episode of “Law & Order” from 2023.

Gelfond says that Langdon was one of the most difficult roles to fulfill; Ball was the last actor Cast.

“He was out of Yale for a few years and hadn’t done much,” she says. “That’s the great thing about audition; that’s why you do it. Because you can’t know everyone. I never like to say ‘discoveries’ because they have worked hard all those years. What is fun is in parts that make them shine.”

That also expanded to actors they have seen before, who they could bring in and venture in crucial roles. For Berger, one of the first people to think was Fiona Dourif, who was Dr. Cassie Mckay plays, a single mother with a mysterious single bracelet who refers to an earlier skirmish with the law.

“I had seen her over the years and in auditions in things and she is so unique and incredibly talented,” says Berger. “Meeting personally and hearing them talking about the character, I was so excited, as a small child at school who has the answer to a question. I was so happy that she got it.”

Wyle made it a point to be active during the audition process. “Noah was always in the room, for almost all auditions, and he was so friendly and great and respectful with the actors,” says Gelfond. There were still many chemistry lectures. Katherine Lanasa, who plays the pipeline nurse Dana Evans and shares a large report with WYLE, lives in Atlanta and originally an audition via Self-Tape before he zooms in with the team. “Noah was there, and they were all talking, but there was never a one-on-one read. They met at the table and had immediate chemistry.”

This was common for actors to play opposite each other, such as Mackenzie Astin and Rebecca Tilney, who share emotional scenes as brothers and sisters who are torn about the CPR of their dying father. “We really throw people individually and often their first time was their meeting on the set,” says Berger.

When Berger saw that one patient, minute, only Nepalese speaks, she didn’t know for sure where to start. Then they received the tape from Arun Storrs from Nepal and “she was great.”

One of the most spoken scenes includes a woman named Natalie who gives birth, played by Enuka Okuma. The scene is so graphic and realistic, many viewers wondered if a pregnant woman gave birth to the camera.

“No, we didn’t do that,” says Gelfond laughing. “That may have really put us over the edge!”

Instead, the effect was deducted with prostheses, puppet players and a deeply convincing version of Okuma.

After they have seen so many actors over the years, the two are simple in what they say they are looking. “Be honest,” says Gelfond about that audition. “You always see the truth.”

When they are self -hanging, they recommend that they do not hang too much in the technical side. “We must be able to see and hear you. An empty background is great, but that is not what it is about. It is about which parts of you are unique for this character and what you can bring about it.” Berger agrees: “A great achievement speaks for itself.”

They also want actors to keep in mind that even if they do not book a specific role, they will be remembered. “A good audition is never wasted,” says Gelfond. “There have been times when six projects are down, we remembered someone and brought them inside. You don’t forget the really good.”