“The Pitt”’s Jeff Kober Wasn’t Offended When HBO Didn’t Submit Him for an Emmy: Why He Submitted Himself (Exclusive)

Raven BrunnerWed, August 19, 2026 at 11:56 PM UTC

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Jeff Kober in ‘The Pitt’ season 2.Credit: Warrick Page/HBO Max -

Jeff Kober nabbed his first-ever Primetime Emmy nomination after submitting himself for The Pitt

“I knew it was a job that I wanted to have seen. I knew the material and my particular wheelhouse were perfectly aligned,” Kober tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview

The Pitt swept this year’s drama categories with 25 nods, including Outstanding Drama Series

Jeff Kober has been in the entertainment industry long enough to know how things work.

Over 40 years ago, Kober made his small-screen debut in an episode of 1985’s V and then two episodes of Highway to Heaven. The actor went on to appear in a number of shows and movies before becoming a mainstay on China Beach. In 2020, he made his debut as Cyrus Renault in General Hospital, a role that he last reprised in 2025.

This year, he was in six episodes of The Pitt season 2 as mechanic Duke Ekins. His gut-wrenching performance in a storyline tied to the show’s lead, executive producer, director and writer Noah Wyle nabbed him his first-ever Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

While HBO didn’t submit him for the category, his performance clearly resonated with voters as he earned the nomination after submitting his own name.

“There are so many great performances on this show, and they have a limited number of people that they can submit. But I knew it was a job that I wanted to have seen. I knew the material and my particular wheelhouse were perfectly aligned, so I really wanted to at least have it be seen,” Kober, 72, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.

Jeff Kober at the HBO Max Emmy Nominee Celebration on Aug. 16, 2026 in Los Angeles.Credit: JC Olivera/Variety/Getty

“When I heard that they weren’t submitting me, it wasn’t really that big a deal. It was just, ‘Okay, what do I have to do?’ And I just went through the process of doing it myself,” he continues, noting that he won a Daytime Emmy in 2022 for General Hospital, for which he also self-submitted for consideration.

“You know when you do work that merits inclusion and those sorts of things,” the actor says.

The Pitt swept this year’s drama categories with 25 nods, including Outstanding Drama Series. Kober is going head-to-head with another of the show’s guest actors, Ernest Harden Jr., in his category. He also made history as the only actor to be nominated for a Primetime and Daytime Emmy in the same year, with his Daytime Emmy nomination for his recent guest spot in General Hospital.

Looking ahead, the actor is already making plans for the awards ceremony in September. “I’m bringing my wife. She gets to go out shopping and buy some new clothes,” he says of his wife, Adele Slaughter.

As for what the nomination means to him, he shares, “There are people in my life who have loved me and supported me and whom I have loved and supported, who haven’t had this opportunity. It feels like I get to do this for all of them as well. It feels very crowded with love around me right now.”

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Jeff Kober and Noah Wyle in ‘The Pitt’ season 2Credit: Warrick Page/HBO Max

In The Pitt, which follows workers at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center during a 15-hour shift, Kober played a friend of Wyle’s Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch. Duke visited the hospital for testing at his friend’s insistence. He ultimately received a potentially fatal aortic aneurysm diagnosis and was encouraged to undergo surgery.

Throughout the season, Robby had his sights set on his upcoming sabbatical, during which he intended to go on a cross-country motorcycle trip. Many of his colleagues expressed concern for him and in the penultimate episode, written by Wyle, he admitted to experiencing suicidal ideation in a conversation with Duke.

“I did my time but that doesn’t wash away the regret. I wish I’d done things differently, I think about it every day… Some things can’t be changed, like death. Death can’t be changed,” Duke said to Robby during their serious talk.

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Kober tells PEOPLE that he and Wyle worked well together because of their seemingly similar acting processes.

“You bring yourself into this imaginary world and you assume this relationship with another person. You open yourself up and are vulnerable to the extent you’re able. Then you let yourself fall into the relationship and let it play itself out. I was doing that from my side and he was doing that from his side,” he says.

Kober, who next stars in Apple TV’s Brothers, recalls that the aforementioned scene with Wyle was the most challenging to film.

“It’s challenging to just keep staying open and to let yourself be seen, to let yourself be vulnerable, and to let yourself be intimate with another human being to that degree. But it’s the kind of challenge that really turns something on in every good actor,” he says.

The 78th Emmy Awards air live on Monday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”