Patrick Ball

Dr. Frank Langdon

Your storyline represents something we don’t often see — a doctor who struggled with addiction making amends to colleagues and patients. What has been the fan response?

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This spring, while doing [the play Becky Shaw], I’d come out of the stage door and be face-to-face with a lot of Pitt fans. They would tell me recovery stories and hand me beautiful letters about loved ones who struggled with addiction and how seeing the scenes of betrayal or the loss of the sense of self that was portrayed onscreen helped them understand their family members. In real life, I am four and a half years sober, and the fact that I’m able to be a part of telling a story that gives people some direction or a sense of feeling seen is what you dream of your whole life.

It seems the universe put you exactly where you need to be?

I spent 15 years trying to break into this industry. I would have done a pimple cream commercial in Korea if they called, but nobody did. My mom’s an ER nurse, and my dad’s a paramedic, so the fact that this became the job and I get to tell the story of my parents, and of a high-functioning addict, is pretty amazing. 

What was the day of your nomination like?

We were at work, and we stopped shooting for about 20 minutes and had a full team huddle. We gathered around the central hub and [showrunner R. Scott Gemmill] stepped up to the mic and went down the full list of 25 nominations. We got to celebrate each other — not only the actors but everyone from the special effects and sound teams to [Nina Ruscio], our production designer, who is one of my favorite people in the world. It felt incredibly right.

What’s the best Emmy party you’ve ever been to?

Last year, we got the whole Pitt cast on a party bus the night before the Emmys. Noah Wyle rented it, and we got to ride from party to party in this whack-a-doodle bus with poles attached to the ceiling. Scott was doing backflips on the poles. It was amazing and truly felt like we were landing on the moon together. I’ve already begun the campaign for this year to get Noah to rent a double-decker party bus so we can go harder than last year. 

Katherine LaNasa

Nurse Dana Evans

The Pitt received so many nominations. Was there someone who got singled out that really touched your heart?

I was really happy for Tina Ivlev, who played a rape victim [in episode seven “1:00 p.m.”]. She’s honestly one of the finest actresses I’ve ever worked with. She made that whole show work, and it was super exciting to see a dark horse come out of nowhere. I’m thrilled for [Fiona Dourif], who is one of my favorite people. Seeing Taylor Dearden and Patrick Ball get up there on the board, God, it’s just great. I’m very grateful for my nomination, but that’s just icing on a cake.

What was your most challenging scene during season two?

The rape episode was really meaningful, so I wanted to do a lot of research on it ahead of time. I went to a rape treatment center to really understand the experience of nurses and caregivers. Nurses can’t always tell you about their emotional experience because they don’t think about it. Actors think about how they feel, but nurses are different, so you have to go observe them and ask them questions in order to get how they feel. In episode 12, when I stabbed the guy with the Versed [syringe] and had a conflict with Dr. Robby, that was also really “challenging,” and I say that in quotes because it is difficult work, but I like difficult, intricate work that is demanding and requires more intimacy. The Dana-Robby relationship is so beloved on the show, so it was a little scary for me to crack that and go so hard on Noah, but I trust Noah and I trust [Gemmill], so I went for it.

What’s the best Emmy party you’ve ever been to?

At the end of the night last year, I went to Nate Bargatze’s Emmy party. Stephen Colbert was there, and he approached me to say that he liked my speech. I thought I had messed up my speech and was feeling kind of bad about it. I had tried to put it out of my mind and have a good time, but I was saying to myself, “Dang, girl, you kind of blew that.” I’m such a huge Colbert fan, and I had never met him. We ended up talking, and that’s how I ended up on his show. I’m a massive Nate Bargatze fan, too, so the fact that he was the host on the night that I won and I got to go to his party at Chateau Marmont, it was a nice bit of kismet.

Sepideh Moafi

Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi

What was it like joining an already established cast? 

It was somewhat intimidating but also enthralling. Being able to step into this well-oiled machine that was creating such beautiful and impactful art felt like a huge honor. Carrying the weight of somebody who’s managing so much, that was a little bit overwhelming as well, but I felt very supported by our medical advisers. I spoke to a lot of my own friends who are doctors, my colleagues abroad who practice medicine in the humanitarian field, and I feel like at this stage in my life, it’s less about panicking around what I don’t know and embracing what I do know. And as soon as we started, I felt like I understood why they hired me. 

Your character has an interesting arc, where she comes on very strong, and then we see more of her sympathetic side as the episodes go on. How did you approach that throughline?

I was really drawn to her steadiness. How she’s aware of it. She’s misunderstood, and yet that doesn’t stop her from pursuing the ways and the things that she knows will help in the long run. She’s used to being an outsider, and she’s used to keeping things close to the chest and working in systems that don’t necessarily favor her. And yet she plows forward with such conviction, such care, such confidence. And she lives in such close proximity to her own mortality in a way, and I think that changes the way she listens. It deepens her sense of patience and her presence with her patients. She’s somebody who’s deeply driven by equity in health care, and part of that is the inequity that she’s experienced in her own life.

This is the first time an Iranian woman, as well as a woman from the Middle East, is being recognized in the supporting actress in a drama series category. How does that feel? 

My mind is blown, and it makes me so happy, the idea of exciting and inspiring and empowering so many girls all over the world to live with conviction and pursue exactly what they want. I’ve received so many messages from people who have said, “This character inspired me to go into humanitarian aid work,” or, “This character inspired me to go into medicine.” It feels deeply gratifying just knowing that somebody will see that the door is open for them.

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Brittany Allen 

Patient Roxie Hamler

What went into your decision to self-submit for Emmy consideration? 

When my episodes were airing, I started to see the impact that it was having on the audience. That, of course, is an ode to the show as a whole, to the writing, the directing, the editing, the entire ensemble, and then also to the work that I put into that character. Shortly after, there were some early predictions lists coming out, and I was on [those lists]. And then I heard that I wasn’t being submitted by HBO, so it was a no-brainer. Also, as a working-class actor, I have become very familiar with being overlooked in my career, and you toughen your skin, and you just keep your head down, and you keep working, and you keep bettering yourself. And then you reach a point where you go, “You know what? I don’t want to get overlooked anymore.”

Did you run your own FYC campaign? 

I worked with a publicist for a month or so, and they were lovely and hardworking, and we got a little bit of press out of our time together, but I decided, for financial reasons more than anything, that I needed to fully look after the campaign myself. Without the support of the network or a publicist, my partner and I sat down in that final week of voting and thought, “What can we do to stir up some attention?” And we first shared one of the scenes from my audition tape, which really made the rounds online, and then, secondly, a post which pointed out that I was self-submitting, and it was really beautiful to see the way people rallied around that.

Do you have a goal for what will happen at the Emmys, other than taking home this award?

My biggest goal with this moment is that I can use it as a jumping-off point to do more roles like Roxie. I love what I do, and I was so grateful to step inside such a complex, deep, profound human in the role of Roxie, and on the set of a show like The Pitt, and when you touch that, it only makes you want to do it more.

Tal Anderson 

Patient Becca King

What does this recognition mean to you, particularly as an actress with autism?

Growing up, I never saw myself onscreen in any character. I loved every story I watched and fell in love with so many characters, but none of them were like me. So this acknowledgment of my work, doing my best to tell the awesome story writers on The Pitt gave Becca to tell, it seems like an acknowledgment of me and that it’s OK to be autistic and disabled and different. 

What aspects of Becca’s story did you find most important in season two?

Highlighting her fight for bodily autonomy. It’s a challenge that disabled people have been fighting for a long time, and it was so amazing to be able to help Becca shine a light on it for the world. 

Did you have a favorite line of dialogue that you delivered this season?

Oh, for sure. My favorite line was, “I wanted to have sex; sex is great,” because Becca is allowed to like sex. Everyone should be allowed to love sex if they want to. I think that was a ground-shaking line.
And I could hear all of my fellow disabled community members cheering around the world when Becca said it.

Taylor Dearden, who plays Dr. Mel King, is a huge part of Becca’s storyline. What has it meant to you to have her as a scene partner?

Taylor is an amazing actress to work with. She also seems to understand me and she’s super smart and knowledgeable at her job, just like Mel is with hers, so she naturally feels like a sister to me. 

What is the set experience like for you in terms of your needs being accommodated?

The environment on The Pitt is super positive and very welcoming. I get everything I need on set and the crew is so good to me, but the best accommodation for me is being treated like every other member of the cast and crew because everyone is expected to do their job. And I appreciate being treated like a pro by everyone.

This story appeared in the Aug. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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