Noah Wyle and The Pitt cast sit down for a Get to Know Q&A to share their Season 1 reactions, favorite curse words, memorable fan interactions, and more.
Do you agree that larries only care about Louis if/when he talks about harry? I read this comment…
No, No and more NO. I don't mean to go off on you, random anon, but this really needs to be said.
The whole fucking point about being a Larrie is that you care about both MEN. NOT ONE OR THE FUCKING OTHER. YOU WANT THEM BOTH TO BE HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL. YOU CARE THAT THEY BOTH DO WELL, NOT JUST ONE OR BECAUSE THEY TALK ABOUT THE OTHER.
Larries are happy to see when one talks about the other, because there were so many fucking years when that wasn't a thing. I may have only started actively participating in fandom over the last few years, but I've been here since 2012, when they were first allowed to talk about one another. I lived through the separated interviews of Narry and Zouiam. I watched as Louis and Harry were treated terribly by the media, Louis being seen as this just party boy or as "the one with the girlfriend". I watched as Harry was seen as a manwhore or sex demon at 19. Then as they went into their solo careers I watched them both talk about Niall, Zayn (though sparingly), and Liam with only Louis getting to randomly mention his pride in Harry's work.
So its not about choosing one over the other or caring about them only when they speak about the other. Its about being fucking happy that they can interact in the media at all, when we spent the last 8ish years with barely even that.
Hi! I just got into F1 and learnt about Jules :( There’s not really that many interviews that i could find about him but he seemed very soft-spoken and gentle. I was wondering if you knew what he was like with fans and how good he was back then? Would you say he was the Leclerc/Russel/Norris of his time?
Your impression is correct - Jules was very caring and careful in his interviews. His behaviour with fans was also caring, to an extent considered unusual back then.
Two of the stories that were gathered together in the book of support for Jules, was typical of him from what I can tell.
Story #1: There was a signing session in Spain (it was not clear if this was 2013 or 2014), where all the drivers were in the pitlane and ropes were being used to make sure fans didn't get mixed into the wrong queues or queue-jump (signing sessions in series that are less disciplined about queue management can get chaotic).
The general idea is that the drivers are supposed to stay on one side of the rope, and only sign things for fans that go to them (to avoid getting mobbed - people worried about this, even in the early 2010s when fan engagement was relatively low compared to the 2000s and 2020s).
Jules apparently did not get the memo. At some point, he ducked under one of the ropes and started signing things right there in the fan area. The fan who witnessed it and shared the story had never seen another driver (in any series) do this before, and appreciated it.
Story #2: Singapore 2014. A fan with a paddock pass who had received multiple signatures from Jules on previous visits (presumably this was a paddock regular as well as a fan), spotted Jules surrounded by a crowd of fans wanting things signed.
The fan reached in, shook Jules' hand and wished him good luck. Jules walked 50 metres, group of fans in tow - then turned round and walked straight back to the fan who shook his hand. He said, "Thank you. It means a lot".
I can confirm that even nowadays, not all drivers are so effusive about thanking someone for such a straightforward gesture. Also, drivers usually organise their walks past fans for efficiency. It is an unwritten rule that they don't double-back on themselves unless there is a very good reason.
For Jules, a handshake was "a very good reason".
As for how Jules was on-track, I'd say Leclerc 2020 was probably the best comparison on the current grid to where Jules was in terms of driver development. Jules 2014 and Charles 2020 were both in cars where the team atmosphere was good but the car disappointing. Both found that spectacularly over-driving the car was the only way to get performance out of it at all - and were perfectly willing to do so. Occasionally this caused DNFs that team-mates did not have, though in Jules' case the car typically broke down before it could be crashed because the Marussia of 2014 was far less reliable than anything any team fielded in 2020.
Both resourceful. Daring. Technically skilful.
Both were/are creative overtakers - there's a reason passing at Rascasse in a modern F1 car is mostly associated with those two - both could be relied upon to make a dull race exciting and both were in the process of developing a reputation for looking after tyres. Jules was head and shoulders the brightest talent in the back half of the grid. Charles only missed having that reputation in 2020 because some of his friends (specifically Lando Norris and George Russell) were also known and reputed as strong drivers in their own right by that point.
Jules might have been one of 5 rookies on the 2013 grid, but nobody thought any of the others was going to be a serious title contender during those first two years. (Valtteri Bottas improved his reputation slowly over the rest of the 2010s by making good use of his opportunities, but he was seen as being about as good as the non-Jules rookies of that year at the time Jules was racing). But by 2014, Jules had shown enough that many people felt he could be a F1 race winner in the right car. Monaco 2014 convinced some he was going to be a champion by trophy - and most considered him to have the attitude worthy of a champion already. He just needed a car that wasn't 3 seconds slower than the title contenders' vehicles…
Even Charles 2020 and Jules 2014 had the same main weakness. Both got criticised by their teams for talking too much on the radio when things weren't going well, although as far as I know, Jules has no on-record equivalents to Charles' Turkey 2020 slowdown lap peroration…
Val, do you ever get distracted by lights sometimes?
"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT! I'M A PROFESSIONAL, NOT SOME DUMB EARTH MOTH! FUCK OFF!"
{Vox sighs}.
"Val, I turned my brightness up in the middle of the night last week because I needed to get up to go to the bathroom and you were unmovable for 15 minutes,"
