NEED TO KNOW
Noah Wyle has officially reentered heartthrob status — and his kids are amused by it.
While speaking with PEOPLE at the Gotham TV Awards on Monday, June 2, The Pitt star, 53, reacted to being a crush to an entirely new generation. Wyle shares that his three children are the ones who informed him of his new status and adds that they haven’t exactly treated him any differently.
“These all exists in cyberspace, this stuff,” he says, referring to his new heartthrob status. When asked if his children were embarrassed by the fact that their friends may have a crush on their dad, Wyle admits that if they are, they haven’t told him anything.
“If they are, they haven’t told me they’re embarrassed. I think they’re just amused,” he tells PEOPLE. “I think they’re more amused because they know how much it embarrasses me, and how out of touch I feel to it all. So, I think that’s mostly what they get out of it.”
The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!
Arturo Holmes/WireImage
The ER alum is a father of three, sharing daughter Auden, 19, and son Owen, 22, with ex-wife Tracy Warbin and daughter Frances, 9, with wife Sara Wells. Since becoming a parent, his selection process for new acting roles has evolved.
“My tastes changed radically after my son was born,” Wyle said of Owen, who was born in November 2002. “After I was a father, I suddenly was very conscious of the things that my kids would be watching their father do or say.”
He added, “It curbed some of my impulses to reach for characters that are way more on the friend. You know, I’d rather play good guys.”
After starring in multiple medical dramas throughout his career, the ER alum admits he has to remind himself of his actual profession. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Wyle talked with Stephen Colbert about his long history acting in the medical genre. When the late-night host, 60, asked Wyle if he ever forgets that he isn’t a real doctor, the actor admitted that he sometimes does and misdiagnoses his children.
“The things that immediately occurred to me when you asked me that question is all the times I’ve misdiagnosed my children,” Wyle responded. “Oh it’s a compound fracture? Maybe cold water is not going to work.”
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!
While Wyle was starring as Dr. John Carter on the hit NBC medical drama for 12 seasons, he told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that his kids have yet to binge-watch the series.
“Neither one of my older kids have watched,” the actor shared. “They’ve watched more Grey’s Anatomy than they have ER. It’s a point of contention.”
“However, the older they get and the more they seem interested in this business, the more I kind of want to hold that up as something that they might want to engage in. But you know, they’re watching The Pitt,” Wyle continued, referring to the Max original drama that sees him returning to the world of medical dramas as senior attending physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.
