George Clooney, Julianna Margulies Call Each Other ER Characters’ Names

George Clooney and Julianna Margulies are bonded forever after starring together on ER.

“It always had to be Carol and Doug, in the end,” Margulies, 58, shared with the Television Academy for the 30th anniversary of ER on Monday, September 16. “George and I, to this day, still sign our personal emails to each other ‘Love, “Carol” or “Doug.”’

From 1994 to 2000, Margulies starred as nurse manager Carol Hathaway in the long-running drama series while Clooney, 63, appeared as her love interest, Dr. Doug Ross.

Margulies and Clooney’s characters were torn apart in season 5 when Ross was forced to leave the Cook County General Hospital for Seattle after some ethical breaches. However, viewers were shocked when ER reunited the characters in the season 6 finale, which aired in May 2000. (The episode ended up being the last time Clooney or Margulies appeared on the show until the series finale in 2009.)

“I remember I did a lot of phone interviews from my hotel room [in Prague] for the episode, so I finally saw it when I got back [to the U.S],” Margulies recalled to the Television Academy. “And, it really worked. Honestly, every now and then I’ll catch it when I’m flipping channels or something. And I still — that music — I still get very emotional.”

Margulies shared that her mom was “so shocked” because she thought Clooney was “off the show.”

“My mother said she screamed, which I think was a lot of people’s reactions. It was the right ending for them because Carol and Doug were destined to be together,” she explained, adding that ER is “responsible” for her and Clooney’s careers. “I will always be indebted to ER.”

In April 2021, the cast of ER, including Margulies and Clooney, reunited for a virtual reunion.

“I remember when we were at the Upfronts. We were standing backstage — Julianna wasn’t allowed to be there, because [Carol] was supposed to be dead — and they showed [the trailer], and the place went apes–t,” Clooney recalled on their Zoom call. “We knew the time slot was great, because there had only been two shows in 16 years in that time slot — and suddenly it was like, ‘Oh, we’re going to be working for a while.’”

Although ER took home 23 Emmy awards during its time on air, Clooney is still hesitant about the possibility of ever doing a reboot.

“The hardest part is that when you look at the show and consistently over many years — it would be hard to say that you could do it at the level that we did,” he explained. “I’m not sure that’s available. I’m not sure [about a reboot]. It’s hard to catch lightning again.”