The Pitt Star Patrick Ball Reveals How Self-Tape Audition Became Career Turning Point

Ball talks about how his self-tape for the hit medical drama led to his big break after years of trying to land an on-screen role.

Mar. 24, 2026 at 10:18am

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After years of auditioning and working side jobs, actor Patrick Ball landed a role on the hit medical drama The Pitt, which he says was a turning point in his career. In an interview on CBS Mornings, Ball revealed that he sent in a self-tape audition from his apartment, just like he had done "probably 1,000" times before, and was surprised when he got a call the next day saying they liked the tape. This led to a Zoom meeting, a screen test, and ultimately the role of Dr. Frank Langdon on the show.

Why it matters

For Ball, The Pitt represented a big break after years of struggling to find his big on-screen role, even as he juggled multiple side jobs to make ends meet. The self-tape audition process, which he was so familiar with, ended up being the key to him landing the life-changing part on the popular medical drama.

The details

Ball had been auditioning since 2013 and was close to giving up on his acting dreams when he finally got cast in The Pitt. From his small apartment in Brooklyn, he decided to send in an audition tape, just as he had done many times before. To his surprise, he got an email the next day saying they liked the tape. This led to a Zoom meeting, a screen test in Los Angeles, and ultimately the role of Dr. Frank Langdon on the show. Ball said the role felt personal to him because his mother is a longtime ER nurse and his father is a paramedic, so the script resonated with his family's experiences.

  • In 2013, Ball began auditioning for on-screen roles.
  • In the years leading up to landing The Pitt, Ball was working multiple side jobs, including at a coffee shop, restaurant, and in the wardrobe department of And Just Like That...
  • Ball sent in the self-tape audition for The Pitt from his apartment in Brooklyn.

The players

Patrick Ball

An actor who landed the role of Dr. Frank Langdon on the hit medical drama The Pitt, which he says was a turning point in his career after years of struggling to find his big on-screen break.

Scott and John

The producers of The Pitt who conducted a Zoom meeting with Ball after liking his self-tape audition.

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What they’re saying

“Yeah I mean it was a self- tape just from my apartment, just like any other self tape. I've probably done like a 1000 of them over the last ten years and I had no reason to think this was gonna be any different.”

— Patrick Ball, Actor

“I made peace with the idea that this is what my life would be: doing plays for two or three months at a time.”

— Patrick Ball, Actor

The takeaway

This story highlights how a single self-tape audition can sometimes be the key to an actor's big break, even after years of struggling to land a major on-screen role. For Patrick Ball, The Pitt represented the opportunity he had been waiting for, and the self-tape process that he was so familiar with ended up being the path to his career-changing part on the hit medical drama.