George Clooney and Noah Wyle Reunite at Movies for Grownups Ceremony

​​Pulses were sent racing on Saturday when ER’s Dr. Doug Ross and Dr. John Carter, a.k.a. George Clooney and Noah Wyle, respectively, reunited onstage at Movies for Grownups Awards With AARP ceremony. The two actors, who famously starred together on the ’90s NBC hit medical drama, were both in attendance to receive awards. ‘When you work closely with someone and know them for over 30 years, you get to know their tricks,” said Wyle, 54, as he presented the award for best actor in a movie to Clooney, 64. “With his performance in Jay Kelly, George has completed another successful journey of artistic reinvention, creating yet another unforgettable character.”

​Clooney accepted the award with his usual sense of humor: “I have to say, you know, Movies For Grownups just means, you know, old people. And I realize now that the only way I was going to win anything is that Timothy Chalamet is too goddamn young. So put that in your pipe, Timothy.”

​After the awards presentation, the two actors joked around for the photographer in the AARP winners portrait area. Wyle, who was just a young ingenue when ER premiered in 1994, spoke of the full circle moment he’s currently experiencing as actor and executive producer of his HBO Max series The Pitt — also a medical drama — which took home the AARP award for best TV drama series and also named him best actor in a TV drama series. “Hopes, dreams. Didn’t always believe; often had attendant doubts, but I’m incredibly gratified to be here now,” Wyle said. 

Wyle accepts best TV actor for "The Pitt" from Clooney.

Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AARP

​Wyle compared the gap in successes to becoming a father for a third time: “The only thing I can sort of equate it to is I had two children with my first wife and then had my third child, my daughter, 10 years ago. Little longer in the tooth than I had the first two,” he said. “And being a parent with a little wisdom and maturity, getting to do this sort of the same thing again, but from a totally different perspective, more grounded, a little bit less anxiety, a little bit more appreciative, a little bit more presence has been a real gift.”

​Wyle, who also took home a Golden Globe Award for his work on The Pitt on Sunday, stars as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch — and this time he’s scrubbing in as a seasoned professional. “I feel very similarly about this experience, that it’s given me a chance to sort of do it again, but be a little bit more focused and present through it, recognizing that it’s finite, fleeting, and special.”