If you've been watching The Pitt on MAX, about emergency room staff and patients, you've certainly noticed Dennis Whitaker. The fourth-year medical student moved to Pittsburgh from a farm in Broken Bow, Nebraska, which causes a lot of derision from the big city doctors, and got a degree in theology before going to med school. Don't you need a lot of courses in biology and chemistry? He gets squelchy scenes where he is splashed with the body fluids squirting out of patients, but also heart-tugging scenes where he establishes an emotional connection with a dying patient.
So far Dennis hasn't expressed a romantic interest in anyone, although fans on the Pitt Reddit eagerly pair him with Nurse Kim, because she offered to find him new scrubs after a patient urinated on him, or the wife of a dying burn victim whom he comforts.
Left: Artistic interpretation of Noah Wyle.
That's enough to warrant researching the actor, Gerran Howell.
Well, being 5'7" and exceptionally cute helps.
Turns out that Gerran is not Nebraskan, he's Welsh, born in Barry a resort town near Cardiff, in 1991. He's bilingual in the Welsh language, and got to speak it as a fan service during Season 2 of The Pitt.
Nice bulge, mate.
After attending Barry Comprehensive School, Gerran studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. His first on-screen roles came in 2006, in a PSA about the dangers of swimming in the Welsh Reservoir and the short Mummy's Boy, about a boy traumatized by his brother's death.
Next he starred in Young Dracula (2006-2013), as the teenage Vlad, The Chosen One (of course) who moves from Transylvania to Wales with his family. According to the episode synopses, he may have gotten a few gay-subtext buddy-bonds along with the usual assortment of girlfriends.
The role brought Gerran a lot of fame in Britain: talk-show interviews, cooking on Blue Peter, a tutorial on how to spot a vampire.
In The Spartacle Mysteries (2011-15), everyone over age 15 is zapped into a parallel dimension. It's up to the kids to survive -- and bring them home. So, was it a one-time deal, or does everyone who turns 16 zap over? Gerran plays Ernesto, the leader of a rebel gang who doesn't want the adults back: the world is better and safer without them. He gets a girlfriend.
Emerald City, the dreary, depressing take on the Wizard of Oz mythos (2016-17), stars .Oliver Jackson-Cohen (left) as Dorothy Gale's boyfriend. Gerran plays Jack (based on Jack Pumpkinhead), who helps Tip escape from the witch Mombi, and falls in love with her after she turns into a girl. But she's not into him. Being into trans women makes him a LGBT ally.
