LOS ANGELES _ Noah Wyle has played heavy emotional moments over the years, whether in a hospital for "ER" or facing down an alien in "Falling Skies." None of the work he has done was as emotionally draining and stayed with him as long as his role in the eight-episode CBS series "The Red Line."
The series, set to debut Sunday, follows three Chicago families as they journey toward healing after a tragedy connects them. That event is the death of Daniel Calder's (Wyle) husband, who is mistakenly shot by a police officer (Noel Fisher). Daniel has to deal with his own grief while comforting their grieving adopted daughter, Jira Calder-Brennan (Aliyah Royale).
"Emotionally, I never turned it off," Wyle says. "It was just one of those things that moved me. It was one of those things where I cried at the table read. I cried at the rehearsal. I cried in every shot. The well never ran dry on this one because it felt really important to me in a way that I have never really experienced before. I decided if I was going to keep doing this for a living, I had to be willing to put myself out there."
Wyle wanted to take on the role because he wanted to be pushed as an actor. During filming, Wyle stayed away from the peace and love he would have found with his own family, opting to live by himself in a hotel. The hotel where he stayed was the target of protests over labor issues. Being awakened by chants for justice was a perfect way for Wyle to get ready for the job.
"The Red Line" looks at the social, racial and economic factors that exist in a city like Chicago and the fallout that happens when it looks like justice has not been served again. The shooting not only creates a divide in the Calder home, but sends ripples through the city's political system.
Wyle's been involved with television shows where he would see a run of four or five great scripts. He had never been involved with a project where all eight scripts were top quality until "The Red Line," co-created by Caitlin Parrish ("Supergirl") and Erica Weiss. The pair started working on a play 10 years ago called "A Twist of Water" that was set in Chicago with the main characters of Daniel Calder and Jira Calder-Brennan dealing with the death of his husband and her father.
"When we decided to turn this play into 'The Red Line,' we were asking ourselves, 'How could we take these characters that we loved and the city that forged them and their story of perseverance and loss and turn that into a relevant and necessary conversation in television today?'" says Parrish.
"And the conclusion we reached is that there are two Americas living side by side and many different privileges and justices experienced depending on which America happens to be yours. If there's a way to bridge the divide between them, maybe these characters were a good way to find that answer."
Wyle praises the pair for creating a story that doesn't take obvious turns. When he had doubts, the co-creators always were there to assure him while this was a different role, all he had to do was trust them that the end product would be worth the emotional toll.
Trusting the team behind the project fits with the approach to acting Wyle uses these days. The Los Angeles native was only 22 when he landed the role on "ER," making him one of the youngest members of the cast. A quarter of a century later, he generally finds himself to be one of the more veteran members on a project.
"I was just telling someone the other day about how if you wanted to have a long career in anything, you have to really figure out how to work with young people," Wyle says. "You can't be the guy who comes to work saying 'You kids don't appreciate (expletive). Back in my day, we did it like this.
"That's an easy temptation when you are dealing with people who are learning their craft for the first time. This show speaks directly to that both in front and behind the camera. It ended up being a learning experience all the way down the line."
