Noah Wyle Admits He Was MEAN To Kellie Martin on E.R.

Stringfield definitely ticked off one of her bosses at ER--namely, executive producer John Wells, who declined to comment for this article. But Steven Spielberg, who helped develop the show, was "amazingly understanding," even though Stringfield, an integral part of ER's ensemble cast, bailed just as Dr. Lewis got embroiled in a budding romance with Anthony Edwards' Dr. Green. "I wouldn't describe the situation as pleasant," she says. "[The producers] were in shock. They tried to talk me out of it. It took a long time to get out of my contract."

Exactly why she wanted to get out has been widely misunderstood, according to Stringfield. "At first the producers thought I was negotiating for more money or pulling like David [Caruso] s---. It took them a while to realize it was about having a full-bodied life and getting out before I felt I'd sacrificed so much to get somewhere that I couldn't afford to leave. I'm from the theater. I never wanted to be a star."

Which is not to say that Stringfield didn't cherish the part of Susan Lewis. "I played the best role I've ever seen on TV or film in the last five years. It was hugely gratifying." Less agreeable, however, was ER's punishing schedule. Stringfield says she routinely worked 18-hour days, suffered from sleep deprivation, and contracted both viral meningitis and pneumonia. "You get a cold, they won't let you off for a cold, then you get the flu, then you're running a fever, you're still coming in, you're taking a nap on the gurneys in between scenes, you push, push, push, and finally your body says no f---ing way."

Stringfield says that on occasion, ER cast members worked even when they were seriously ill and dehydrated. "There were a couple of episodes where people did scenes with IVs in their arms," Stringfield says, though she won't name names. "They'd have the bag inside their lab coat. One time I opened someone's trailer and the person was sitting there with an IV. It was scary." A source close to ER disputed some of Stringfield's claims, saying no one on the show ever works 18 hours a day and added that Stringfield had the lightest workload of any cast member except Gloria Reuben. "Sherry rarely put in a 40-hour work week," says the source, who did confirm, however, that at least one actor, Noah Wyle, was hooked up to an IV once on the set because he had a "really bad cold."

Even when Stringfield wasn't sick, she was stressed. "I had my electricity turned off three times because I never had time to pay my bills," she says, laughing. "It was a joke. I'm making a ton of money, and I'm walking around my apartment with flashlights." Stringfield wasn't given a goodbye party after she finished her final ER scenes last November, but says she misses the cast and is still close to Anthony Edwards and George Clooney. Edwards, however, declined to comment about Stringfield, and Clooney failed to return phone calls. She doesn't want to talk about the demise of her two-year relationship with Lambroza but says slyly that "contrary to reports that I was devastated and had given up my career for him, we're still friends and I'm incredibly happy to be doing my own thing in New York."

And considering she just snagged a leading role in her first feature film--a Miramax drama called 54, costarring Mike Myers and Salma Hayek--it appears that Stringfield continues to do her own thing quite successfully, thank you. "I had to have a 100 percent belief in myself to leave ER," she says. "I had to be my own champion. But I still don't know why it all has to be so strange to people." She bangs her glass of diet Coke on the table in mock frustration. "Why does anybody want to be famous?" she wonders. "You know what's important to me? Having lunch! Pasta! Seeing my friends! Is that so crazy?"

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