Patrick Ball's dad will tell you he doesn't remember this story, but here it is anyway. When Ball was growing up in North Carolina, he was busted for drugs in high school, so Dad pulled him aside. He didn't confiscate a phone or car keys or even ground the kid as retribution, but he did send a message that damn near branded itself on Ball's brain. "Here's the thing, man," Dad starts. "One of the most important freedoms that someone has is the freedom to fail. This is your life. If you want to fuck it up, go ahead, but you only get one of them."
Ball never forgot it, even when he exercised that freedom so much that he almost did fuck it all up.
"That was a really pivotal moment for me," Ball, now 36, tells me from his home in Los Angeles. The God-given gift to fall flat on his face has fueled a remarkable acting career so far: more than a decade leveling up his talents in America's theaters, the starring role in Robert O'Hara's Hamlet, and a breakout turn in HBO Max's almost unbearably tense, award-sweeping medical drama The Pitt. Ball plays Dr. Frank Langdon, a charismatic young father who, in season 1's big twist, we learn has been stealing prescription drugs from patients to nurse a back issue. In season 2, Langdon is back in the hospital for the first time in ten months, trying to make amends but quickly realizing that not everyone is so willing to forgive him.
"Telling the story of addiction, it's my responsibility to put it out there for all its pockmarks," Ball says. "I got a lot of people thanking me and telling me how this affects their lives and the lives of who they love. I got a bunch of health-care workers reaching out and saying that this really affects them and has affected people in every hospital that they've ever worked in."
He pauses. Smiles. "And, you know, a bunch of people reaching out and telling me that I'm a huge piece of shit."
Playing against Emmy winners Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa, Ball nails all the awkwardness, earnest apology making, and microaggressions that a man in Langdon's position may face in the workplace. It's not only a portrait of early recovery that we rarely see on TV, but it's also an issue that's highly personal to the actor. "I'm coming up on four years sober," he says. "I got a lot of people that are very, very close to me that have struggled with addiction, some of which have gotten help, some of which haven't."
Langdon's journey so far comes to a head in season 2, episode 7, "1:00 P.M.," when he finally corners Robby long enough to deliver an apology he's likely rehearsed for months. The only problem? Robby isn't ready to hear it—and it seems like there's a strong chance he never will. After Langdon bares his soul, screaming regrets through the deafening buzz of a landing chopper, Robby hits him with a savage line: "I'm really glad you got the help that you need, but I don't know if I want you working in my ER."
"That first year of recovery in particular can be really disorienting," Ball explains of what Langdon is going through at this point in season 2. "You're having to learn to metabolize your life and feel feelings for the first time, which you have been burying for your entire life, and come to terms with the wreckage that you've made and take ownership over that. It is worthwhile work, because once you get through it, life is a lot better. But it's not like a light switch."
When we speak in mid-January, Ball is in the middle of filming the season 2 finale—but he's still looking ahead. HBO already renewed The Pitt for season 3, which means there's a nonzero chance that we'll be back on Zoom—same time, same place—talking about Langdon's next chapter in January 2027. "I am very excited for season 3, because it is a story that requires a third act," Ball says, referring to Langdon's arc specifically.
Next up right now is a rare three-week break. Then he moves to New York City to begin rehearsals for his first Broadway appearance, in the dark comedy Becky Shaw, in which he'll star alongside Alden Ehrenreich and Linda Emond. "I am very thankful to be able to go back to the theater and go back to New York," he says. "I was living in Brooklyn when The Pitt came along, and it's still where I feel most at home."
How could Ball possibly have nerves for his Broadway debut? He's got that freedom to fail.
By Brady Langmann
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