George Clooney praises former ‘ER’ costar Noah Wyle for ‘The Pitt’ success

After months of strangers praising Noah Wyle for his performance on The Pitt, his former ER costar George Clooney is finally weighing in.

As soon as the buzzy medical drama came up during Clooney’s recent visit to Late Night with Seth Meyers, the actor made it clear that the HBO drama has his seal of approval.

“Have you guys seen that show?,” Clooney asked the studio audience, who immediately cheered. “It’s so good.”

The Good Night and Good Luck actor then shared that he and Wyle have been “really dear friends” ever since filming the pilot of ER, adding, “He is just the most honorable, talented young man — I get to say, because I’m an old man — and I cannot be happier for his success on the show. The show is just a beautiful show, he does just a great job with it.”

But just because he loves the show doesn’t mean Clooney is above ribbing his old pal. When Meyers joked that Wyle is now back where they started, memorizing medical terminology for TV, Clooney admitted that it was more challenging for him than his former costar.

“He never had trouble, he always could do it,” Clooney said, quipping, “I hated him for that.”

Meyers joked, “I think we all should. I think it’s unfair.”

Clooney then deadpanned, “People should hate Noah.”

Luckily, word of Clooney’s jealousy over Wyle’s long memory for medical terms has yet to reach The Pitt star. Wyle recently told E! that Clooney had only good things to say about the HBO show, last he heard.

“George watched it and he was very complimentary, which I think was his way of getting me to come see his show,” Wyle joked, referencing Clooney’s Tony-nominated Broadway play Good Night, and Good Luck. “Which worked. He was equally phenomenal.”

The duo recently reunited — along with fellow ER alums Julianna Margulies and Anthony Edwards — for the opening night of Clooney’s show on April 3.

Clooney and Wyle spent several years as fan-favorite characters Doug Ross and John Carter on ER, which ran for 15 seasons between 1994 and 2009. While Clooney left during the fifth season, Wyle was a main cast member through season 11. Both returned for additional episodes throughout the show’s run.

ER would go on to become a medical megahit for NBC and take home 23 Emmy awards during its 15-season run. Clooney received two Emmy nominations while Wyle received five nominations, but neither won.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Clooney and Wyle also shared the screen for a brief cameo on a season 1 episode of Friends. Reflecting on it years later, Wyle said he went into the cameo with pure excitement, not even thinking about either show’s popularity.

“I remember thinking it was almost like a gas that we were doing it. It was just doing a walk-on. I didn’t think it had any pressure or attendant pageantry. That’s how naive I was,” he told EW’s Awardist. “I’m sure at all the levels above us, they were just thrilled at this like, ‘We’re taking the guys from the ER! We’re putting them on Friends!'”

Watch Clooney talk The Pitt and his new Broadway show above.