Shawn Hatosy left his mark on The Pitt before an episode had even aired, thanks to being featured in the trailer.

His character, Abbot, had only appeared in the first episode, handing things over to Robby (Noah Wyle) as his shift ended. But then Abbot returned to pitch in for the incoming mass casualty in Episode 12, easily helping take command alongside Robby (especially as he began going through it with his stepson’s girlfriend, a patient he couldn’t save) and showing us so much about who he is in brief moments, like donating blood as he continued to treat the wounded.

Hatosy will be back in Season 2 — and will also be stepping behind the camera to direct. Below, Hatosy opens up about his Emmy nomination (for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama, one of 13 the show received), Abbot’s Season 1 arc, and more. (Plus, watch him break down the rooftop scene in the finale here.)

Congratulations on the Emmy nomination. Talk about your reaction, how that’s changed as you’ve been sitting with it, and what it means to you.

Shawn Hatosy: Well, it’s overwhelming. It means a lot to me to feel the support from people that do this for a living. But more importantly, I’m thrilled that the show is being recognized. I think it’s an important show. I think it has important things to say for health workers, and I also think it’s a show that is done efficiently in Los Angeles, which is a rarity these days. And so it’s good for the business, and I love this business. So I hope that this model of television making continues, and I hope that The Pitt leads to others making decisions on shows like this.

What was your initial take on Abbot when you first learned anything about him, and how much of that ended up being true of the character?

My initial take, well, just knowing his history as a combat medic, I was very sure that he, in the face of chaos, should not be reactive and just calm and measured just because there’s probably not a lot that he hasn’t seen. So that kind of was the spine of how I built him from the beginning. And then as we get into it and learn a little bit more about his hidden traumas, I feel like the rooftop scenes bookend The Pitt, Episode 1, Episode 15, and when we meet Abbot, he’s clearly dealing with a very rough day, trying to save this veteran, and he was unsuccessful. It takes a toll on him, an emotional toll, and it kind of brings in big question, I don’t know why I keep doing this.

And then as this day unfolds and we see this mass casualty event and how it affects our core characters, this ensemble and in particular Dr. Robby, how he’s suffering, and they get up there on that final rooftop scene, and Abbot is able to articulate the question he posed in that first episode, which is I don’t know why I keep coming back here. And the answer is because this is what we do. There’s not a lot of people that can do it. It’s not an easy job, but somebody has to, and we’re the chosen ones. In a way, Abbot comes out of this as a pretty, I mean, at least in Season 1, fully formed character. Whereas Dr. Robby is wrestling with things that he has not resolved, one being Adamson’s death and this being the anniversary of that. And then now going forward, how this mass casualty event incident is going to shape him going forward.

Was there a specific moment that you either read in a script or during filming that made you instantly connect to Abbot or realize, “Yes, I know exactly who this is”?

Yeah, for me it’s the blood donation, which thankfully occurs in Episode 12, which is my second episode, Abbot’s second episode. And that happens while they’re doing a complicated procedure. They’re trying to save somebody, and you see that he’s O-neg, and he’s donating while performing, which is not unusual for military medics. So yeah, you just immediately, how can you not respect him?

It feels like we learned so much about who Abbot is as a doctor before we even see him practicing medicine onscreen, from the conversation with Robby in the premiere, then hearing what he was doing for the teen who wanted an abortion. But then we really get to see him thrive when he shows up for that mass casualty, which I’d argue was exactly what he needed after the shift he’d had that had led him to the roof at the beginning of the series. What do you think made that the right way to reintroduce Abbot?

Well, one thing about the way the writers have carved him out is his presence is still felt, even though he’s not there for those 11 episodes or 10, whatever it is, and it’s just a relief. It’s such a relief for Robby in that moment to have somebody there who he respects and looks at as an equal. And for me, because I didn’t get all of the medical training that the other cast members received, that was terrifying. Just getting up in front of the cast and the crew, kind of really my first day in the scrubs, having to lead them, and I’m supposed to be very calm and measured, but inside, I’m crippled with anxiety about hoping to get it right because actors are vulnerable. And so I’m glad it came off the way that it did because, like I said, he’s somebody who in the face of chaos is very calm.

And you’re right, it just sort of furthers the theme of him becoming a full character. He’s sitting at home or wherever in a van, I don’t know, wherever he is, he’s listening to this police scanner when he should probably be sleeping or playing golf or something. But he’s not a guy that’s comfortable not doing stuff. And so the adrenaline, the chaos is what he’s looking for. And I think as we go further and dig deeper, we will learn more about his hidden trauma and what he needs to maybe explore.

Yeah, I was going to bring up the police scanner, because it’s also a relief for him that there’s something that he needs to go into the hospital for.

Totally. He’s so needed. It does answer that question. I don’t know why I keep coming back here.

John Johnson / Max

So, now looking at Season 2, we know you’re in it. I have read that it will explore Abbot’s personal life. What can you say about any discussions that you have had about Season 2?

I learned it with you yesterday, whenever that article came out. I knew that that was an avenue in his backstory and a painful one, and I made the decision to wear the ring because I think in the backstory, it mentioned that he lost his wife within two years. And so that seemed pretty recent. And I thought, he’s not there, he hasn’t let go yet. So I know what you know, and reading it and now knowing that it’s something that we’re going to explore, I’m so excited to get into it.

Have you had any discussions when it came to his personal life, though? Because Season 1 was about him as an army vet and then the reveal of his leg in the finale. So were the discussions about him so far more about that than about his personal life?

Yeah, there weren’t a lot of discussions. There was an email with a couple of pages and the wife and the prosthetic leg; they were in there, and there were other things in there, but I can’t share them with you, Meredith.

So with the 10-month time jump, which relationships do you think will have changed the most for Abbot in that time?

I can only guess. I don’t know. I didn’t get an opportunity to work with a lot of the people in the cast very briefly with Dana [Katherine LaNasa], kind of like a couple of exchanges with Langdon [Patrick Ball]. Obviously, Dr. Mohan [Supriya Ganesh] is somebody who he has a relationship with and he respects, and so I’m hoping to get a chance to meet Whitaker [Gerran Howell] and Dr. Mel [Taylor Dearden] and Javadi [Shabana Azeez], everybody. I think everybody is so good at what they do. They all have very distinct character point of views. And Abbot only enhances that.

You know the fans have latched onto Abbot and Mohan.

I do. I’m aware, I’m aware I’ve helped stoke the flames of that.

It’s also because due to the format of the show, any personal information we get about the characters is so little. You never know what could be happening offscreen with two characters.

Yeah. I read something again in an interview with [R.] Scott [Gemmill] talking about, or maybe it was John [Wells], we’re not a show that’s going to go into these things while we’re there for that day, but there’s probably a lot of relationship growing and falling apart that’s happening in those 10 months that we’re going to catch up to.

How do you think Abbot and Robby’s relationship is going because of everything that Robby is going through and Abbot’s Season 1 journey?

I’m not sure. I’m not sure, but I think their bond is formed. I don’t think that’s going to change, and the amount of respect that they have for each other as colleagues.

You’re directing the ninth episode. You’ve directed Animal Kingdom and Rescue: HI-Surf, which are chaotic but not at The Pitt‘s level, especially as you get further into the season, which we saw during the first. And you’re directing the ninth episode, which will be deeper into Season 2 —

You’re scaring me.

What are you looking forward to directing on The Pitt?

Well, it’s different than other shows, and just one big difference is on Animal Kingdom or Rescue: HI-Surf, your prep week is, there’s many things that you have to tackle, but one of them is locations. You’re out in a van trying to pick out places to dig up a body in the case of Animal Kingdom or do a rescue in the case of HI-Surf. And The Pitt is essentially one location. Sometimes we have some exteriors, but very few. So in many ways it’s like a stage play, and I have an extensive history in theater and I love it. And so to me, that’s the most exciting part to kind of help orchestrate this in sync unit, and just having the experience of playing Abbot and touching the things and saying the words, it gives me a little bit of a leg up and a trust amongst the ensemble that offers a fresh perspective.

We also saw towards the end of Season 1 different locations in the hospital: the different zones during the mass casualty, upstairs, where Whitaker was living in the finale. Are there any parts of the hospital that you’re hoping to introduce when you direct?

That’s a good question. I haven’t really thought about that. It is interesting. I didn’t even know there was an upstairs that was empty until Episode 15. So we learn these things as we go. But yeah, I mean, it is just Nina [Ruscio], our production designer. It is such a fantastic set. It does feel like the real thing. So for me as a director, it’s like being a chef, working in the best kitchen, working with the best writers, with the best cast. I can’t answer that because I don’t know. I don’t what’s out there. I don’t know what rooms we haven’t explored, but whatever they give me, I’ll be ready.

What are your hopes for Season 2?

Again, I think one of the biggest hopes I have is that I get to have some scenes with some of the players that I haven’t gotten to collaborate with. And then for me, I think I like the show a lot. I was offered that big chunk, and watching it with everybody else, I became the biggest Pitt fan. And so I heard the fans talk about the possibility of a night shift [spinoff]. And that world does seem kind of exciting to me. I feel like there’s a lot to uncover. It takes a certain kind of person to decide to work at night because a lot of them get to choose their shifts. So I would like to get in — and as we know, Dr. Abbot’s therapist says that he finds comfort in the darkness. So if he’s one of the leaders of the night shift, I’d be curious to see what the relationships are and the other characters that are choosing to be there with him.

I feel like scenes with Abbot, Shen [Ken Kirby], and Ellis [Ayesha Harris] would just be hilarious.

That’d be hilarious. That’s a dynamic team.

The Pitt, Season 2, January 2026, HBO Max