The Pitt’s Sepideh Moafi has responded to fan-fueled rumors that she and star Noah Wyle are feuding.
Moafi, 40, joined season two of the widely acclaimed HBO medical drama. She plays Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, a new attending physician who plays Wyle’s character’s interim replacement ahead of his sabbatical. Dr. Al-Hashimi and Wyle’s Dr. Robby Robinavitch had conflicts throughout the season, resulting in an emotional climax in the season finale, Episode 15.
But some fans of The Pitt, now notorious for passionate social media debates and demands, suggested that the on-screen beef between the two characters reflected a real-life rift.
Moafi shut these allegations down in an interview with Variety.
“We’re really great colleagues,” she said of Wyle, 54. “Noah and I have always had a great working relationship, which is why it actually felt safe to do the darker, dirtier work in episode 15, particularly because, between setups, we were shooting the s--t and laughing.”
“So that’s completely false that there’s a personal sort of beef or rivalry between us, at least not that I’m aware of,” Moafi added. “You can check with Noah, but I don’t know about this.”
In the season finale, Al-Hashimi confides in Robby that she experiences seizures after having a case of viral meningitis as a child. Robby then urges her to disclose this.
The actress broke down her character’s health history and what led her to finally confess her condition to Robby.
“She hasn’t had a seizure in more than a year, and then she has two, and so she’s trying to process what’s happening to her,” she told the Today show. “Then, when she finally has a moment, within a span of an hour and a half or so, she finally gets her ducks in a row and comes to the person that she, in that moment, trusts or wants to trust, wants to build a closeness and connection with: Dr. Robby.”
“She’s tried to appeal to Dr. Robby through medicine from a personal angle, and now she’s trying to appeal to him and his heart through her wound, because she sees his wound, too. So it’s an opportunity to get closer and have connection, maybe from all the pain and PTSD that we’ve both had,” Moafi continued. “It backfires. Pretty badly.”
Moafi will be returning for Season 3 of the Emmy-winning show. The show has already seen a fair share of casting shake-ups, with actress Supriya Ganesh, who played Dr. Samira Mohan, making a surprise exit after the second season.
