Patrick Ball is opening up about a moment in his life that completely changed his reality, and it is tied directly to his role in ‘The Pitt‘.
While the HBO Max medical drama continues to gain attention in its second season, the actor’s personal story behind the scenes is drawing just as much interest. In a candid interview, he spoke about finally letting go of a heavy financial burden that had been part of his life for years.
‘The Pitt’ Helped Patrick Ball Clear Longstanding Debt
Patrick Ball’s journey on ‘The Pitt‘ has turned into more than just a career milestone. While speaking to Cultured magazine, the actor became emotional as he shared that he “paid off my student loans like three months into ‘The Pitt,’” calling it a really profound moment. He admitted he genuinely thought he was “gonna die with it.”
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He explained that it had been a huge burden to carry and said many people deal with it. Ball revealed that he was $80,000 in debt and had gone through failed relationships where his financial insecurity became a real problem. He added that he had believed this would be his life forever and described it as a heavy thing to live with.
He recalled that paying everything off and getting back to zero felt unreal, and he remembered thinking, “Man, if this show works, great. If it doesn’t work, they can’t take that away from me.” He made it clear that being out of debt was something no one could take back.
Patrick Ball Worked Multiple Jobs Before His Big Break
Before landing ‘The Pitt‘, Ball’s path in the industry was far from stable. He admitted that the financial pressure made him question whether he should continue acting and said the outlook could be bleak, adding that he was looking for an off-ramp.
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He also shared that his then-girlfriend’s dad tried to convince him to join the FBI. Instead, he moved to New York City and worked multiple jobs at once just to support himself and stay in the industry.
Ball said he was working at a coffee shop, a restaurant, and also as a wardrobe assistant for ‘And Just Like That‘, while taking on corporate coaching seminars. He revealed that these seminars involved companies like BlackRock, Blackstone, and Goldman Sachs, where he helped train administrators to handle difficult conversations, including firing employees.
He explained that he was brought in as an actor so people could practice firing someone and joked that he had been fired more than anyone, saying he had been fired thousands of times. Everything changed, he noted, when the call for ‘The Pitt‘ finally came in.
Since joining ‘The Pitt‘, Ball has not only found stability but also gained strong recognition for his work. His role as Dr. Frank Langdon earned him a Critics’ Choice Television Award nomination for best supporting actor in a drama series.
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