A Hollywood native, Noah Wyle (pronounced WY-lee) became interested in acting as a high school student; he acted in and directed a production of Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit". Eschewing college, he studied acting with Larry Moss and worked as a busboy to support himself. Wyle scored his first professional role with a one-line part in the 1990 NBC miniseries "Blind Faith". The following year, he made his feature debut as the doomed son in a dysfunctional family in "Crooked Hearts", alongside Jennifer Jason Leigh and Peter Berg. In Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men" (1992), the actor recreated his L.A. stage role as a marine driver who testifies at a court martial, while in Thomas Carter's "Swing Kids" (1993), he was a leader of the Hitler Youth. Wyle was also part of the ensemble including Rick Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney and Lucy Deakins in the 60s high school drama "There Goes My Baby" (filmed in 1992; released in 1994). Before landing his star-making role on "ER", Wyle was cast as Sir Lancelot opposite Sheryl Lee's "Guinevere" (Lifetime, 1994), a feminist retelling of the Arthurian legend. While fellow "ER" cast members Anthony Edwards, George Clooney and Eriq La Salle have pursued high profile TV and film projects, Wyle has chosen to return to the stage (in the L.A. production of the AIDS-themed "The 24th Day" with Peter Berg) or to play supporting roles in independent features, like "The Myth of Fingerprints" (1997), alongside Roy Scheider and Blythe Danner.

After appearing in a few notable TV movie projects, including a George Clooney-produced remake of "Fail Safe" and essaying Apple computer guru Steve Jobs in the cable pic "The Pirates of Silicon Valley," Wylie slowly expanded his wings beyond his by-then-familiar role as a TV fixture-as one of the few remaining original "ER" cast members, his rookie Dr. Carter was now a seasoned veteran and the ostensible star of the show-and appeared in small but noticeable parts in a handful of movies, including "Donnie Darko" (2001), "Enough" (2002) and "White Oleander" (2002).