"He didn't confiscate a phone or car keys or even ground the kid as retribution, but he did send a message that damn near branded itself on Ball's brain. "Here's the thing, man," Dad starts. "One of the most important freedoms that someone has is the freedom to fail. This is your life. If you want to fuck it up, go ahead, but you only get one of them.""
""Telling the story of addiction, it's my responsibility to put it out there for all its pockmarks," Ball says. "I got a lot of people thanking me and telling me how this affects their lives and the lives of who they love. I got a bunch of health-care workers reaching out and saying that this really affects them and has affected people in every hospital that they've ever worked in.""
Patrick Ball received a pivotal lesson from his father in North Carolina: one of the most important freedoms is the freedom to fail, and you only get one life. Ball was busted for drugs in high school and nearly squandered his chances but carried that warning into adulthood. He developed his craft over more than a decade in American theaters, starred in Robert O'Hara's Hamlet, and broke out on an HBO Max medical drama as Dr. Frank Langdon. The character stole prescription drugs to manage a back issue and returns in season two facing limited forgiveness while trying to make amends. Ball insists on portraying addiction with its full flaws and has received both gratitude from viewers and harsh criticism, and he performs opposite Emmy winners Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa.
Read at Esquire
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