Walking the red carpet at the 2026 Emmys, The Pitt's Patrick Ball couldn't help but wonder how he'd reached this full circle moment.
Because before the 36-year-old was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series thanks to his work on HBO's must-watch medical series, he was scrubbing in for another of the network's hit shows.
"I was nowhere close to that important," the North Carolina native joked in an exclusive interview with Keltie Knight during Live From E!: 2026 Emmys of working as a wardrobe production assistant for And Just Like That in 2024, two years after graduating from Yale's drama school.
But while he wasn't necessarily selecting the Manolo Blahniks Sarah Jessica Parker would slide into to reprise her role as Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City spinoff, he added at the Sept. 14 event, "My job was to take the shoppers who were going around from store to store buying shoes for Carrie Bradshaw and buying the outfits and everything."
While the set costumers were looking for the perfect stilettos, real stilettos, ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can’t-live-without-each-other shoes, "I was the production assistant that was driving the car," Ball explained. "So I would just drive the car from store to store and carry the boxes and stuff."
Which means should he run into series alum Cynthia Nixon inside the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live during the Mariska Hargitay-hosted event, he joked, "I have pictures of her shoebox!"
As for the prognosis for his career, it's improved dramatically, Ball thisclose to leaving the business before landing on The Pitt.
So, does he have advice for anyone who still may be struggling? Abso-f--king-lutely.
"Keep going," he stressed to E! News, "keep believing, just know that what's meant for you will find you. Trust the timing of your life."
Because a scant few years after he was a glorified chauffeur, he's now firmly in the driver's seat. See how he, and countless other celebrities, rocked the Emmys red carpet.
in Christian Siriano (Cuoco) and Giorgio Armani (Pelphrey).
in Brunello Cucinelli (Mulaney) and FFORME (Munn).
in Honor, Tyler Ellis bag, and Jessica McCormack jewelry.
in custom Paul Smith (Ford) and Zuhair Murad (Flockhart).