“We were obviously very sorry to let Dr. Mohan [Ganesh] go, but we have other characters that we’re going to be focusing on in the future,” Noah Wyle says of “The Pitt” character.
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LOS ANGELES – “The Pitt” star and executive producer Noah Wyle, along with the show’s creator, R. Scott Gemmill, are setting the record straight on the Season 2 exit of Supriya Ganesh, who plays senior resident Dr. Samira Mohan on the HBO medical drama.
Speaking at the PaleyFest celebration for “The Pitt” on Sunday, April 12 – an event from which Ganesh withdrew at the last minute – the duo maintain that Ganesh’s departure from “The Pitt” is all about the story surrounding the fictional Pittsburgh teaching hospital.
“Part of the nature of the business of a teaching hospital is that people come, they learn, and they leave,” Gemmill tells USA TODAY. “In order to try to be truthful to the process, we’re turning over our cast. It’s still a great launching pad for young actors. They do their time with us and then, God bless, they go on and do great things.”
Wyle, whose Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch has been tough on Mohan (and the other residents in the ER), says, “Medical students rotate out really quickly, sometimes after a matter of weeks.” Wyle promises that viewers will find out what happened to Dr. Mohan in Season 3, which will begin production over the summer.
“We were obviously very sorry to let Dr. Mohan go, but we have other characters that we’re going to be focusing on in the future,” says Wyle. “Supriya has been a huge part of our show. She’s an amazing actress. We’ve loved every second we’ve worked together. We’re going to miss her.”
The April 3 announcement that Ganesh would depart came from the show, along with news that Ayesha Harris, who plays night-shift resident Dr. Parker Ellis, had been promoted to a series regular for Season 3.
Ganesh has not commented on the departure through media representatives or on the actress’ Instagram page. Ganesh told followers on an April 10 Instagram Stories post that she “will not be at Paleyfest this Sunday.”
“I know some of you bought tickets to see me, and I hope you know this is not a decision I take lightly,” Ganesh added in the cryptic post. “Love you all.”
Ganesh wasn’t the only “The Pitt” cast member to miss the PaleyFest event. Sepideh Moafi, who stars as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, was scheduled to attend but was in New York City working on her upcoming off-Broadway show, “New Born.”
Ganesh attended “The Pitt” star Patrick Ball’s opening night on Broadway in “Becky Shaw!” with Moafi and Isa Briones (Dr. Trinity Santos) on April 6.
“Like half of our cast is on Broadway right now, which is pretty incredible,” says Wyle.
‘The Pitt’ Season 2, finale helps explain Dr. Mohan’s departure
No spoilers here! The whole of Season 2 has followed Mohan’s professional struggles in the ER and personal issues with her family, particularly her mother, which culminated in an Episode 10 panic attack. The finale features a telling scene between Robby and Mohan.
“Those two characters have had a very tempestuous relationship. Robby has gotten a lot of flak this year for riding Mohan pretty hard,” says Wyle. “But I always maintain that it’s because [Robby] knew she was a rock star, and that she was an ascendant talent that was only self-sabotaging her potential. And while he was probably wrong in his methodology, he wasn’t wrong in the intention to try and let her see herself the way that he sees her.”