'The Pitt' star Patrick Ball cries after paying off debt with TV earnings

Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY Thu, April 9, 2026 at 3:18 PM UTC

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Patrick Ball is debt-free, thanks to "The Pitt."

The actor got emotional recalling that he was able to pay off $80,000 in student loan debt from starring as Dr. Frank Langdon in the runaway hit HBO Max series.

In an interview with Cultured magazine, published Tuesday, April 7, Ball cried when asked about his loans and the "risk" of going back to school for acting.

"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," Ball, 36, said. "It's a huge burden to carry, and a lot of people carry it."

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1 / 0Who's new on 'The Pitt' Season 2? Meet Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi and more

Sepideh Moafi steps into "The Pitt" Season 2 as the new attending physician, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi. Who else is new for Season 2 of HBO Max's Emmy-winning drama? And why are they at the Pittsburgh ER? Find out on January 8.

He added, "I had just thought that was going to be my life forever, and that is a really heavy thing to live with."

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His "financial insecurity" played a part in the breakdown of past relationships, he said, adding that regardless of the success of the show, "they can't take that away from me."

The medical drama, of course, turned out to be wildly popular and a cultural phenomenon of sorts.

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Patrick Ball attends the 32nd Annual Actor Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 1, 2026, in Los Angeles.

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The series has won five Emmys, a Golden Globe for best drama and is acclaimed by critics and viewers, as well as the medical community, for its accuracy. The show was renewed for a third season before Season 2 premiered in January.

Ball told Cultured that before he got the call for "The Pitt," he had been at a low point, with "no money" and recently out of a three-year relationship. He was considering leaving acting entirely, including paths like working at an Alaskan fishing camp, the FBI or the Merchant Marines. After nearly taking a $100,000 fundraising job he felt was "inauthentic to who I am," he chose to do "one last play" in Miami and didn't look back.

There, he met girlfriend Elysia Roorbach, took an eight-day trip with her to Iceland and eventually moved back to New York and worked odd jobs, including as an actor for Goldman Sachs – so company administrators could practice firing people – and as a wardrobe assistant in "And Just Like That..."

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He made his TV debut on "Law & Order" in 2023 before landing "The Pitt" in 2025. "Everything was different" after that, he said.

Ball's interview coincides with his Broadway debut, in Gina Gionfriddo's previously off-Broadway play "Becky Shaw," with his castmates Brandon Mendez Homer, Sepideh Moafi, Isa Briones, Supriya Ganesh, Laetitia Hollard and Lucas Iverson showing up to support him.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Pitt' star Patrick Ball paid off student loans with TV money

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