Patrick Ball (actor)

Ball was born to Jim and Lee Ann Ball;^[4] his father is a former paramedic and his mother is a former emergency room nurse.^[5][6] He has two younger siblings.^[4] One of his sisters works as an occupational therapist.^[7]

Ball grew up in Summerfield, North Carolina, and attended Northwest Guilford High School.^[8][9][10] As a student, he participated in athletics and theatre, though he did not view performing as a particular passion at this time.^[11] He attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he studied broadcast journalism, but he dropped out before graduating to pursue acting.^[12][13] He was motivated to pursue acting after a friend requested that he perform a 10-minute theatre scene; the head of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's theatre department subsequently encouraged him to become an actor.^[11]

After moving to New York City and spending five years acting in local theater productions throughout the United States, Ball received a Certificate in Drama from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University in 2022.^[1][10] He auditioned to the program with Hamlet's first soliloquy.^[14] That year, he also completed a BFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, which allowed his Certificate in Drama to be converted to a Master of Fine Arts degree.^[10]

Ball has been in a relationship with actress Elysia Roorbach since October 2023. She guest starred as a patient of his character on season 2 of The Pitt.^[30][31] They met while performing in a stage production of Las Adventuras de Juan Planchard in Miami.^[32]

Ball has experienced addiction. He faced suspensions throughout high school, and often took drugs.^[7] He was initially only accepted into the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's BFA program on probation due to his habit of drinking, partying and getting arrested.^[11] As of February 2026, he has been sober for four years.^[12]

Prior to his television success, Ball worked four jobs in New York, including in a coffee shop and as a wardrobe assistant for And Just Like That....^[11] He considered joining the FBI, becoming a Merchant Marine, and working in an Alaskan fishing camp in order to financially support himself.^[33] While studying at the David Geffen School of Drama, his parents urged him to drop out and pursue a more stable career so he would not accumulate more debt.^[12] After three months of working on The Pitt, Ball was able to clear $80,000 worth of student debt.^[11][34]