ER Picture Gallery 4! abby, luka, carter

Maura Tierney

Abby Lockhart

Maura Tierney, a familiar face to television viewers after her five-year role as newswriter Lisa Miller on NBC's critically acclaimed series "NewsRadio," has shifted to a more dramatic gear on the full-throttle pace of "ER" as Abby Lockhart, a third-year medical student and former OB nurse.

Born in Boston, Tierney says she prefers living in New York over Los Angeles or, for that matter, any other city she's visited. She has made a habit of travel: she and her husband drive cross-country for fun and adventure and they've only missed two states so far (Kansas and Iowa). However, she divides her working time between New York and Los Angeles, where she also voiced her role on the recent NBC animated series "Sammy" (starring David Spade, who also is executive producer).

Tierney, who has always been interested in the dramatic arts, attended New York University and Circle-in-the-Square Theatre School.

The young actress had her first starring role on television in Norman Lear's comedy series "704 Hauser Street." Tierney's additional credits include starring in the television films "Out of Darkness," "Student Exchange" and "Crossing the Mob." She guest-starred in the series "Growing Pains," and NBC's "Family Ties" and "Law & Order."

Tierney starred with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock in the feature film "Forces of Nature," opposite Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Instinct" and alongside John Travolta and Emma Thompson in Mike Nichols' "Primary Colors." She recently completed filming "Scotland P.A." with Christopher Walken and her "NewsRadio" costar Andy Dick.

Tierney's birthday is February 3.

From NBC.com:

Goran Visnjic

Dr. Luka Kovac

Goran Visnjic joined the cast of NBC's "ER" last season playing the role of Dr. Luka Kovac, a Croatian doctor.

Visnjic grew up in a town in his native Croatia off the Adriatic Sea, where he decided at an early age that he wanted to be an actor. He first performed in local theater groups and then entered the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. He gained popularity in Croatia when, at the age of 21, he was cast as Hamlet in the prestigious Dubrovnik Summer Festival's staging of Shakespeare's play. The production received rave reviews, with Visnjic's own performance earning him three national Best Actor awards, including an Orlando (the Croatian equivalent of a Tony).

His additional theater credits include "Les Fourberies de Scapin," "L'Ecole des Femmes," "Miss Julie," "Ivanov," "The Brothers Karamazov" and "Le Baruffe Chiozotte."

During his summer hiatus, Visnjic completed the independent film "The Deep End" opposite Tilda Swinton. He can also be seen in Miramax's "Committed" with Heather Graham, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His other film credits include "Practical Magic," in which he starred alongside Nicole Kidman, and "The Peacemaker" also with Kidman as well as former "ER" star George Clooney. He has starred in three Croatian feature films, and made his American motion picture debut in the critically acclaimed drama, "Welcome to Sarajevo."

In his leisure time, Visnjic enjoys fencing, swimming and diving. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Ivana, and his birthday is September 9.

From NBC.com:

Noah Wyle

Dr. John Carter

For his role as Dr. John Carter on "ER," Noah Wyle has received five Emmy Award nominations, as well as three Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series.

Though the Dr. Carter that viewers first met was inexperienced and often overwhelmed by the furious pace in the ER, Wyle reflects that the character's development mirrors his own acting career: "When the series first started, I was extremely nervous and bumbling and I was playing a character who was nervous and bumbling," Wyle explains. "The second and third years, I got far more comfortable on the set. Now the character has matured and caught up to me and we're sort of going through the same life issues. I would be his patient today."

Wyle, one of six brothers and sisters, was born and raised in Hollywood, California. He developed a genuine interest in acting after his junior year in high school, when he participated in a theater arts program at Northwestern University. After graduation from high school, he found a seedy apartment on Hollywood Boulevard and began studying with acting teacher Larry Moss.

Wyle scored his first professional role in the NBC miniseries "Blind Faith" and followed that with his first feature film, "Crooked Hearts," in which he played a son in a dysfunctional family. In 1990 he worked in another feature, "There Goes My Baby."

After appearing in several local plays in Los Angeles, he was cast in the box-office hit "A Few Good Men." He also appeared in the feature "Swing Kids" as a leader in the Hitler Youth and in "The Myth of Fingerprints" with Roy Scheider and Blythe Danner. Wyle starred as Steve Jobs in the cable movie "The Pirates of Silicon Valley" and as the President's interpreter in last year's live production of "Fail Safe."

Wyle is the artistic producer of his own Los Angeles theater company, the Blank Theater Company, which stages an annual young playwrights festival. He also recently acquired Second Stage Theater in Hollywood, where the company has mounted numerous successful productions.

Wyle devotes much of his free time to the international non-profit organization Doctors of the World. He enjoys basketball, traveling, photography and going to the movies. He lives in Los Angeles, and his birthday is June 4.