{"id":1000064,"date":"2026-08-14T10:34:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1000064\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:34:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:34:27","slug":"these-pitt-emmy-nominees-show-unglamorous-side-of-l-a-actors-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1000064\/","title":{"rendered":"These ‘Pitt’ Emmy nominees show unglamorous side of L.A. actors’ lives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the doors to the emergency room in \u201cThe Pitt\u201d<\/a> swing open and a new patient arrives, we, like the doctors, are on high alert, wondering what the acclaimed medical drama is about to throw at us. <\/p>\n

We know two things: The actors will be superb. And it\u2019s best not to become too attached to the characters they\u2019re playing. <\/p>\n

Five of those actors earned Emmy nominations<\/a> for Season 2<\/a> guest turns on \u201cThe Pitt\u201d last month, a long-overdue return to the time when the guest categories regularly rewarded working actors doing exemplary work<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Even better: Two of the five \u201cPitt\u201d nominees self-submitted their performances after HBO Max, looking to streamline its submissions in the guest categories, did not put them forward. <\/p>\n

If you watched the second season of the show, you could probably name the actors who made the Emmys\u2019 guest list: Tina Ivlev, heartbreaking as the sexual assault survivor; Brittany Allen, poignant as the dying mom; Tal Anderson, combative and funny as Dr. King\u2019s neurodivergent sister, who craves independence from her protective sibling; Ernest Harden Jr., devastating as the doomed Louie; and Jeff Kober, who, playing Dr. Robby\u2019s motorcycle mechanic, has some of the most affecting scenes in the season. <\/p>\n

HBO Max entered Ivlev, Harden and Anderson, leaving Allen and Kober to pony up the $225 to submit themselves, joining the ranks of 84 entrants for guest actor and 51 for guest actress. (To be eligible to compete in guest, actors must appear in less than 50% of a show\u2019s eligible episodes.) Eight other actors appearing on \u201cThe Pitt\u201d also self-submitted. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe three actors that HBO put forward delivered beautiful, human work that resonated deeply with audiences, and they were in a tough position having so many actors who had all delivered great performances,\u201d Allen told me over a call from her Pasadena home. <\/p>\n

\u201cThough at first there was a moment of disappointment, I quickly moved on from that,\u201d Allen continues. \u201cI didn\u2019t take it personally because as an actor, you get good at not taking things personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kober, calling from the Valley, signs off on that sentiment. He won a daytime Emmy in 2022 for \u201cGeneral Hospital\u201d after he submitted himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cI guess that\u2019s how the Emmys work for me,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cI don\u2019t know any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is precedent for self-submission success at the Emmys. Three \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d cast members \u2014 Gwendoline Christie, Alfie Allen and Carice van Houten \u2014 entered themselves in 2019 and were nominated. Kelly Jenrette did the same in 2018 for \u201cThe Handmaid\u2019s Tale\u201d and earned a nod.<\/p>\n

For Allen, it came down to believing in herself and the work she did on \u201cThe Pitt.\u201d As her seven-episode arc aired, strangers often stopped her at her local Trader Joe\u2019s and at the park with her 3-year-old son to tell her how moved they were by her performance and her character Roxie\u2019s decision to accept that her life was coming to an end and say goodbye. <\/p>\n

But, good as it was and seen as it was, that work didn\u2019t translate into landing an agent. Having recently turned 40, Allen figured she had nothing to lose, having reached an age where she wasn\u2019t \u201cas worried about being perceived as the quiet little girl who doesn\u2019t ruffle any feathers.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a challenging industry, that approach has resonated deeply with her peers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had similar moments in the past where I\u2019ve had a memorable role on a high-profile show and I\u2019ve thought, \u2018Maybe this will make it a little easier moving forward\u2019 and it hasn\u2019t,\u201d Allen says. \u201cSo if ever there was a time to go, \u2018I\u2019m going to try to put my name out there in a way that might make me a little more bankable,\u2019 this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kober, 72, has had ups and downs over the course of his 40-year acting career and like Duke, the grounded mentor he played on \u201cThe Pitt,\u201d he possesses a calm acuity when talking about the profession. <\/p>\n

\u201cActing is the most profoundly spiritual career a person could have because you don\u2019t get into it unless you need approval, and then when you get that approval, you find it doesn\u2019t do a thing for you,\u201d Kober says. \u201cThen you\u2019ve got to find a way to do something with this thing you love that isn\u2019t about getting approval. It\u2019s only when you\u2019re not working for that when you know the work matters.\u201d <\/p>\n

With his shoulder-length hair, goatee and go-with-the-flow manner, Kober gives off distinct vibes of another Jeff \u2014 Jeff \u201cThe Dude\u201d Lebowski. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard that comparison made,\u201d Kober says, smiling. <\/p>\n

Both Kober and Allen express deep appreciation for \u201cThe Pitt\u201d as a workplace where actors can come in and do the kind of work that they aspire to do, work that resonates with audiences and reminds them why they entered the profession in the first place. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love being on set,\u201d Allen says, \u201cso going to Warner Bros. every morning as the sun rose and watching that miniature city come to life and having the privilege of working in an environment that is so ripe for accessing truth and play and shared humanity was a gift. When Roxie came along, I saw it as the epitome of what I want to offer as an actor and as a person in this life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of her character\u2019s fate, Allen will not be returning to \u201cThe Pitt.\u201d The fate of Duke, diagnosed with a life-threatening ascending aortic aneurysm, is ambiguous. Dr. Robby encourages him to follow up with further tests, which Duke agrees to do if Robby promises to return from his sabbatical and let him take his Triumph Bonneville for a ride. <\/p>\n

So … Duke\u2019s coming back, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cOne would think,\u201d Kober says, hopeful. But then, he jokes that maybe there will be a line next season where someone in the ER says, \u201cDid you hear about Duke? What a shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr he could come back in Season 4, who knows,\u201d Kober adds, noting he has heard nothing from the show\u2019s producers. \u201cOne thing I\u2019ve learned over the years as an actor is the importance of letting go. That\u2019s the life of an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the doors to the emergency room in \u201cThe Pitt\u201d swing open and a new patient arrives, we,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1000065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[18046,13358,1582,276,1629,400479,400477,10758,487,400478,400476,2961,2252,224,5337,38720,5950,4370,17823,400480],"class_list":["post-1000064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-actor","tag-allen","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-duke","tag-emmy-nominee","tag-exemplary-work","tag-guest","tag-hbo-max","tag-jeff-kober","tag-kober","tag-la","tag-life","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-pitt","tag-season","tag-show","tag-thing","tag-tina-ivlev"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117093418352909219","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1000065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}