The Pitt director Damian Marcano talks to The Contending about directing two of the most talked-about episodes of Season 1.
If you were on X the night of March 27, 2025, it was a complete The Pitt takeover. Everyone was buzzing about Episode 13’s “7 p.m.” and Noah Wyle’s affecting performance following the loss of Jake’s (Taj Speights) girlfriend, Leah (Sloan Mannino).
Even “7 p.m.” director Damian Marcano couldn’t avoid it.
“I started hearing some kind things from people just saying, hey, I really love 13,” says Marcano. “I stay out of the news. That’s just part of being a Rasta man. And, yeah, I think I would have had to have been under a rock if I didn’t know that people enjoyed 13.”
Crazily enough, Episode 13 was scheduled to be shot half in 2024, half in 2025 due to the holiday hiatus.
“Going into our break, we all felt good and we all knew what we were doing. And I asked Noah and Taj for a rehearsal over the break and maybe a refresher once we come back at the top of the year. I didn’t know if people were going to gain 15 pounds,” he says with a laugh about maintaining continuity.
Then the Los Angeles wildfires happened.
“There were so many emotions built up into just even trying to complete the end of this.”
But also during that time, a family situation inspired a directorial note.
“My direction for that scene was, Noah, when you’re pleading with him, [. . .] Taj, you don’t care. You literally don’t care. Give him your ass to kiss because you have not matured yet to a point where you can understand where he’s coming from. And then for Noah Wyle, I said, understand how much it sucks to be the dad that sticks around.”
Watch my whole conversation with Marcano in the video below, where we also discuss Episode 10’s “4 p.m.” and Dr. Langdon’s (Patrick Ball) big reveal.
