How George Clooney Saved Julianna Margulies’ ER Character

Julianna Margulies may not have had such a long tenure ER if it wasn’t George Clooney.

Margulies, 58, revealed how a near-failed audition led to her reading for the role of Carol Hathaway, which she played for six seasons on the soap from 1994 to 2000, during Friday, November 8. episode by The Kelly Clarkson Show.

The actress began her story by remembering that she had three auditions scheduled that day, so she arrived early ER reading – a habit she picked up after growing up with a “hippy, crazy, awesome mom who was always late.”

“There (were) probably 50 people in the waiting room and they were two hours behind and I was angry,” she told the host Kelly Clarkson. “I was like, ‘I’m going to be late for my other auditions, this is not okay. Forget it. ”

Around the two-hour mark, Margulies said she “walked out” when a casting director asked her to read for a recurring role.

“But I was so angry that I did it very rudely – a little bit of New York anger. And I knew I had failed,” she continued. “And I walked out of the audition and the casting director said, ‘Wait a minute. You’re not right for the role.’ And I was like, ‘You think?’ And he said, “But maybe you’re right about head nurse Carol Hathaway, but she dies in the pilot. But could you come and read for that?’ So I went back in and read for Hathaway, with a lot of attitude. And I got the part.”

Margulies noted that in the original script, Carol died of a drug overdose. Her death proved to be one of the most emotional moments of the pilot, as it was seen “through the eyes of George Clooney” because Carol was an “old flame” of the pilot. Doug Ross, the character he went on to portray five seasons.

“So suddenly her death seemed very important to the audience watching,” Margulies noted, explaining that when the episode was shown to a test audience, the audience responded collectively with, “No!” She added: “Because they love George Clooney so much – who doesn’t?”

In addition to Clooney, 63, who helped her secure her iconic role, ER actress Sherry Stringfieldthat Dr. Susan Lewis also had a hand in Margulies closing her role.

Susan happened to be in the operating room when Carol was brought in on a stretcher, and had her clipboard over her mouth as she said, “She’s brain dead” – meaning onlookers couldn’t lip read her words.

“So they just mixed up different lines saying, ‘She’ll be fine,’ or whatever. And they brought me back to life,” Margulies said.

After Margulies’ departure ER in 2000 she played the leading role The good woman and appeared Dietland, The hot zone, Billions And The Morning Show opposite Reese Witherspoon And Jennifer Aniston. Her most recent acting credit is in 2024 Millers in marriage.

Clooney, in turn, has starred in a host of blockbuster and award-winning films, including the Ocean trilogy, Burning after reading, The descendants, The men staring at goats And Good night and good luck. He has also won two Oscars.

As for his next big project, Clooney will be making his Broadway debut Good night and good luck in the spring of 2025.

“Just me emailed him and said, ‘I’m so proud of you. You don’t have to do this,” Margulies said People last month. “It’s scary, you know, to be on Broadway. And in the world we live in now, everyone is a judge, and you have to shut all that out and do your job. And so I’m very proud of him because he chose a difficult path. It’s not easy work and I’m really impressed that he’s doing it.”