“I Just Want To Keep Saying Yes To Things That Scare Me A Bit”: As One Of The Pitt’s Frontline Heroes, Gerran Howell Is Going Big For Season 2

Gravitating to the plot’s centre as Dennis Whitaker on the HBO medical drama’s sophomore season, the Welsh actor talks his newfound appreciation for healthcare workers and his natural ability to play anxious characters.

Playing the role of a medical worker comes with myriad challenges. Along with the abundance of jargon you’ve got to wrap your head around and the ungodly amounts of body horror make-up, there’s a requirement for meticulousness. And although Gerran Howell’s character of Dennis Whitaker – a 1st Year Resident Doctor – in The Pitt isn’t your typical fictional healthcare hero, he’s become somewhat of a fan-favourite. Standing steps away from the stereotypically polished characters on hospital dramas, Whitaker is logical, not traditionally lovable and most definitely real. 

The standout performance comes following a childhood titular role in CBBC’s Young Dracula and a 2017 appearance in Sam Mendes’s Oscar-winning 1917. Now with the second instalment of the Emmy-winning The Pitt, Howell’s big break looks all but secured. And with a record-setting post-season viewership following the first offering’s debut – with 18 million global viewers per episode – all eyes are, quite literally, on the Welshman. 

In conversation with Man About Town, Howell speaks on his thoughts on the Huckleberry nickname, the pros of shooting in real time and how well (or badly) he’d fare as a doctor. 

Hey Gerran, congratulations on the success of The Pitt! What was your first reaction when you familiarised yourself with the role of Dennis Whitaker?

Thank you! Bit mad, innit? Honestly, all I had to go on was “earnest farm boy,” and I just thought, “Yeah, I can do something with that”. But I became very attached to him very quickly. What grabbed me was that he wasn’t your typical medical drama character. I wouldn’t call him cool or composed; he’s just this kid who’s trying to keep his head above water and hoping nobody notices. Playing a character who’s clearly bricking it and out of his depth comes quite naturally to me. Take from that what you will.

What about the show drew you to join the cast?

Outside of [BBC’s] Casualty, I was pretty clueless about medical dramas. So when I first got a sniff of the audition, my head went straight to Dr Drake Ramoray and quickies in supply closets (no shade). I thought, there’s absolutely no chance. But the script sorted that out pretty quickly. It was nothing like what I expected. The dedication to medicine was obvious, but it felt really raw and messy in a good way. 

Noah [Wyle] also sent out this mission statement during casting that was basically, ‘This is intense, it’s like theatre, and if you can lock in with a family, this is the place for you.’ And I just thought, ‘Yeah, alright, I’m sold – sounds like a challenge.’ And that’s not even mentioning R Scott Gemmill and John Wells. If anyone’s going to know what they’re doing with a medical drama, it’s those two. I’m in.

Dennis is often the character who struggles the most with the emotional toll of the job. Do you think that’s why healthcare workers have built such a connection with him?

I think so. Going into The Pitt, he’s a bit of an open wound – bless him. I guess there’s something cathartic for healthcare workers watching that comical first shift from hell. Either they’re going ‘I’ve been there’ or ‘Well, at least I’ve never had a shift that bad.’ But I think the real connection is that Dennis struggles with where to draw the line emotionally with patients early on. How much of yourself do you give? Dennis is very much still walking that line, and I think people recognise themselves in that – especially those earlier in their careers, still working out how to care without letting it eat them alive or just becoming emotionally barren.

What did you think of his nickname “Huckleberry” when you first heard it?

I love it. Obviously, it’s a bit backhanded, but [Trinity] Santos kind of nails it. He’s got that wide-eyed farm boy energy for sure. But I think for me, at least, nicknames can make you feel like you belong a little bit, or at least like you’re seen. So for someone like Dennis, who’s trying to find his feet, that means something to him. By Season 2, he’s fully embraced it and is a bit protective of it.

How has being in the show changed your perception of healthcare workers and just the day-to-day reality of hospitals in general?

Massively. I mean, I always had respect for them without having much real-world experience with hospitals (touch wood), but it’s easy to say that, isn’t it? You don’t really know what you’re respecting until you see it up close. And being part of this show has given me that in a way I wasn’t expecting.

Both our consultants and people I’ve spoken to have opened my eyes to a lot of it – the politics, the admin, the abuse they cop from patients and families, the fact they go home carrying all of it and then come back the next day and do it again. Nobody talks about that side of it enough. And I think The Pitt actually does, which is probably why people in that world have latched onto it. 

I’m in awe of them. I’ve got no right to complain about a long day on set ever again.

The Pitt is shot in real time – how does that format change the way you approach your performance?

It’s a nice change. When you’re shooting out of order, you’re in a bit of a state of going, ‘Right, where am I emotionally? What’s happened, what hasn’t?’ With real-time filming, you can just live it a bit more. If something hits Dennis hard twenty minutes in, emotionally or physically, I don’t have to scrounge around to dig that feeling back up on a different day. It’s fresher. And because we’re not relying on cuts to piece it all together, there’s this energy on set that just carries you. The chaos is happening around you, and you really find yourself feeding off it. Everyone’s in it together, which helps massively.

We don’t get all the scripts in advance either, so things just land on you naturally, which I love. Like I had no idea Dennis was going to be the one to find Robby at his lowest during the tail end of Season 1. If I’d known that was coming, I probably would have overthought the hell out of it. But because I didn’t, it just happened. By that point, Dennis had already been through the wringer, so when he walks in and sees Robby on the floor, it’s not some big emotional moment for him. He just gets him up. That’s it. And all the stuff from the day is what gave him the ability to do that. It makes for less time in your head, which for me is definitely a good thing.

If you had to make a career change to being a doctor, how do you think you’d do?

Abysmal. Obviously. There’s some medical jargon floating around in my head now that I’m praying comes up in a pub quiz someday because that’s about the only place I’d be able to put it to good use outside of set. I’m not wired for it. I’ll leave that to the professionals. What they do every single day is genuinely extraordinary and I have so much more appreciation for it now than I did before The Pitt.

From playing Vladimir Dracula to Dennis Whitaker to Simon Evans, what kind of role are you hoping to play next?

Without being too vague, I’m just hungry to keep being pushed and challenged, in whatever format that comes in. Film is the big one for me, it’s what made me want to be an actor in the first place. Horror is something I properly love but haven’t really gotten to do yet, which is mad when you think about how much fake blood I’ve been in close proximity to, or even drank, over the years. So yeah, maybe that’s overdue.

Of course, I have directors who I’m obsessed with, but all I can really hope for is to be part of something with a strong vision that I can show up and contribute to. And just keep doing stuff that surprises me. That’s all you can ask for really.

No grand plan, though. I just want to keep saying yes to things that scare me a bit – that’s usually when good things happen.