Noah Wyle Calls Arrest at Protest 'Slightly Surreal'

04/24/2012 at 04:00 PM EDT

Like any actor, Noah Wyle prepared for his moment in the spotlight.

The former E.R. star had warned his estranged wife and two children, ages 6 and 9, that he might run into trouble with the police at a Washington D.C. protest this week.

"I think they're really proud of the old man right now," Wyle, 40, told the Associated Press Monday while waiting to be processed after his arrest.

The actor, who now stars in TNT's Falling Skies, was among about 100 protestors taken away in handcuffs during a Capitol Hill protest by the group ADAPT to urge Congress not to cut Medicaid.

RELATED: Noah Wyle Arrested in Washington, D.C., Protest

Calling the experience "slightly surreal," Wyle was arrested just a month after his former E.R. costar George Clooney was handcuffed at a protest outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington.

Wyle tells AP he would "let George focus on the international; I'll deal with the small domestic issues."