The Pitt star Patrick Ball has revealed how the hit medical drama helped him pay off $80,000 (£59,615) of student debt, crediting the show with freeing him from the “really heavy” thought that he would never be financially secure.
Ball plays the divisive resident doctor Frank Langdon in the HBO Max series, which has won huge praise since debuting on the streaming platform last year.
In a new interview, the 36-year-old actor explained how life-changing the role has proven to be, breaking down in tears as he tells Cultured magazine about his financial situation.
“I paid off my student loans like three months into The Pitt, and that was a really profound moment because I thought I was gonna die with it,” he said. “It’s a huge burden to carry, and a lot of people carry it.
“I was $80,000 in debt and I had been through a series of failed relationships where my financial insecurity was a real problem. I had just thought that was going to be my life forever, and that is a really heavy thing to live with.”
Ball continues: “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.”
The actor studied broadcast journalism at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, but dropped out before graduating to embark on an acting career. He later earned a Certificate in Drama from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University before returning to his North Carolina university to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
Thankfully, The Pitt has definitely worked.
Each series covers one shift in the emergency room at a Pittsburgh hospital, with each episode charting the events of a single hour.
The cast is led by former ER star Noah Wyle as Dr Robby, the embattled team leader who is trying to process the death of his mentor, while locked in a war with the hospital’s profit-hungry executives.
Ball’s character Dr Langdon began series one as Dr Robby’s protégé and model resident – but their relationship soured when a new arrival spotted Langdon was stealing drugs from the hospital.
Series two, which takes place 10 months after the first, sees Dr Langdon make a cautious return to the ER after taking time off to kick his addiction.
The Pitt took home three awards at last year’s Emmys, winning Outstanding Drama Series, and Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress accolades for Wyle and Katherine LaNasa (who plays chief nurse Dana Evans).
A second series arrived on HBO Max in the States earlier this year, and episodes are currently dropping weekly on the newly-launched UK version. A third series has already been commissioned – but one fan favourite will be missing, with Variety reporting that Dr. Samira Mohan’s Supriya Ganesh won’t be returning.
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