NEED TO KNOW
Shabana Azeez has a PSA for her The Pitt castmates.
Speaking to E! on the red carpet at the 77th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, the 28-year-old actress begged her costars to leave her out of the mix when it comes to their poker nights.
“Stop inviting me to the poker nights,” she said, direct to camera. “I don’t want to lose money to my boss. I have no interest in that, obviously.”
Azeez, who plays medical student Victoria Javadi, called her castmates “sharks” at the card game, pointing out Katherine LaNasa (emergency room charge nurse Dana Evans) and Fiona Dourif (Dr. Cassie McKay, a resident) as being some of the fiercest competitors.
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“I don’t need to get robbed and go to work the next day with the same people, no,” she added. “You can’t gamble with the producers. It’s dangerous.”
LaNasa, 58, shared more details about cast poker nights during her red carpet interview with E!, revealing that she hosts them at her house.
“It’s a $40 buy-in,” she joked. “Nobody’s gonna lose their mortgage money.”
Elsewhere during her interview, Azeez reflected on The Pitt’s breakout first season and shared how filming on season 2 is going.
“Season 1 was a real incubator. Nobody knew who we were, nobody knew about the show, nobody cared. So it was just really chill,” she said. “It’s really changed now.”
“I’m very grateful to be here and grateful to experience it with a show like The Pitt with this much social impact,” she added.
Azeez also credited Noah Wyle, who not only stars on the show as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, an attending, but is also writing, directing and executive producing it as well, for being “a beast.”
“I feel like I don’t shut up about how much he’s taught me, because he really took me under his wing in a really wonderful way in season 1,” she gushed, adding that she has been shadowing him on her off days as he directs in the second season.
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The Pitt earned 13 Emmy nominations for its debut season, including a nod in the coveted Outstanding Drama Series category. Wyle, 54, is up for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series while LaNasa is up for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Shawn Hatosy is already a winner for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Dr. Jack Abbot, an attending.
Season 2 of The Pitt premieres Jan. 8, 2026 on HBO Max.
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See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 77th annual Primetime Emmy Awards as they’re broadcasting live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
