This interview is part of Variety and CNN’s Actors on Actors series. Watch the full video interview now at CNN.com/Watch (or on the CNN app) and on Variety’s YouTube channel starting at 11:59 pm ET.
Paul Anthony Kelly plays his first-ever professional acting role in “Love Story,” where he takes on the role of John F. Kennedy Jr. in his doomed romance with Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon). Meanwhile, Patrick Ball’s character on “The Pitt,” Dr. Frank Langdon, has become a much-debated figure given his Season 2 return from rehab and attempt at redemption after stealing hospital narcotics in the first season. (As the season ends, Langdon urges Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby, his sometime antagonist, to seek help.) After years of searching for the right part, Kelly and Ball have both landed in the right place — JFK Jr. and Dr. Langdon were among the TV season’s defining heartthrobs.
Paul Anthony Kelly: Let’s start it off. I heard that it took you quite a while to break into the industry. You were a theater actor before, correct?
Patrick Ball: I did theater almost exclusively for about 15 years, traveling across the country, doing regional theater and learning how to tell a story with an audience. It took until about a year and a half ago, when “The Pitt” came along, to get my first swing at television.
