Julianna Margulies Husband: Meet Keith Lieberthal

In a 2021 interview, Julianna Margulies discussed how she had to work hard to be able to pursue theater without worrying about money, which had influenced her choice to turn down NBC’s startling $27 million offer for two more seasons of ER.

She had a year’s worth of work scheduled and had already mapped out how her character’s story arc would end. Margulies explained that another reason for departing ER was her wish to shield her character from specific story alterations that had a place in later years in an interview with The New York Times.

When not matched with George Clooney’s role, she thought that her character became overly preoccupied with romantic connections, which went against the study she had done to play an only child. She expressed grief at her character’s development and the role’s loss of intricacy.

Margulies’ decision to leave ER drew criticism, but she stuck by it, saying that she valued her acting development and kept her word to playwrights and directors.