Patrick Ball wouldn’t be where he is today without Max‘s popular television show, “The Pitt.” In a new interview, the 36-year-old opened up about how his role on the show helped him escape a crushing $80,000 burden.
Patrick Ball Made His Broadway Debut In ‘Becky Shaw’
Ball recently made his Broadway debut as Andrew in “Becky Shaw,” a dark comedy about a bad first date that sets off a domino effect among a group of emotionally unstable adults grappling with complex issues.
During his interview with Cultured Magazine, Ball called being in the show “bittersweet,” reflecting on his early days as a theater kid.
“I’m very excited to get my days back and be able to spend time in the park, but being in rehearsal is my favorite place in the universe. It’s something that you don’t really get in film and television. The tinkeringness of theater is something that I just absolutely love and I’m kind of sad that it’s gonna be over,” he said.
How Did Patrick Ball Become Involved In ‘Becky Shaw’ On Broadway?
While Ball is playing the role of Andrew, a 31-year-old office manager who hopes to build a thriving career as a writer, he said he was first drawn to the role of Max, an arrogant NYC financial advisor.
“Most of my career, I would be playing the bull in the china shop—the overtly aggressive a**hole that you realize may not be an a**hole,” he said.
However, after speaking with the show’s director and writer, Ball said he saw his character in a different light.
“Then I spent a week with the play and I came back, like, ‘Now that I look a little bit closer at this Andrew guy, there’s a sort of insidious, performative, nice guy thing here that is very layered and very interesting and something that I actually think I do need to talk about right now,’” he continued.
There’s A Reason Ball Felt Closely Alligned To The Role Of Max
The more time Ball spends with the production, the more he recognizes the deeper complexities within the script.
“I didn’t realize how funny the play was from the page, but this whole conversation around the overt aggression versus covert aggression, the assumption that this person is a sweetie pie, your best friend, rubs your back and tells you everything you want to hear, but is secretly taking over your life and emotionally blackmailing you—that is an interesting thing to talk about,” he shared.
The aggressive nature of the show is something Ball is familiar with in real life, he said. “I just genuinely believe that clarity is kindness, and I try to be straightforward with people. As a Scorpio, I’m very aware of people’s indirect aggressions, so I like to just be straight up. I’m a fairly boundaried person and I’ve learned that over my now long life of not writing checks you can’t cash,” he added.
How Starring In ‘The Pitt’ Helped Patrick Ball Escape An $80,000 Burden He Thought He’d Live With Forever
When Ball isn’t on the stage, he’s playing the role of Dr. Frank Langdon on Max’s medical drama, “The Pitt.”
Elsewhere in his interview with Cultured, the actor got emotional while discussing how his role on the show helped him escape $80,000 in student loan debt.
“I paid off my student loans like three months into The Pitt, and that was a really profound moment ‘cause I thought I was gonna die with it,” he told the outlet through tears.
Ball went on to call the debt a “huge burden to carry,” adding that he had been involved in several failed relationships due to his financial insecurity.
“I had just thought that was going to be my life forever, and that is a really heavy thing to live with. Paying off those student loans and getting back to zero, I remember being like, ‘Man, if this show works, great. If it doesn’t work, they can’t take that away from me. I am out of debt.’ No take-backsies on that,” he said.
Ball’s tearful confession struck a chord with social media users, one of whom noted the actor’s only television role was on “Law & Order” in 2023.
“I’m glad he booked ‘The Pitt’ because he must’ve been STRESSED about those student loans,” they wrote on Reddit.
Another user resonated with the relief of becoming debt-free, noting they have seen that same transformation in family and friends.
“It’s why the emotion of it lingers for so long because your body, your nervous system, it is just by default used to that stress pinching it closed, like it’s second nature. It rears its filthy head in some strange ways for awhile. It does take YEARS to come to terms with having made it out from under that debt,” they said.