It was announced July 7 that ABC’s “The Rookie” re-cruited two new actors who will be appearing in Season 7 of the critically-acclaimed television show. One of these talents happens to be Patrick Keleher, a Carbondale local who — in addition to his newfound daytime television success – has been starring in an off-broadway production at the iconic Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, California. “Fatherland” is set to have a run in New York City once through its California dates.
“I had a great time shooting some crazy scenes today,” Keleher told The Sopris Sun after wrapping up shooting scenes for “The Rookie.” “It was one of the hottest days in LA this summer yet, so it was pretty awesome.”
Having grown up in Carbondale, Keleher has been acting since the fifth grade when he first performed in a talent show and was told he should audition for theater. He went on to work with Stage of Life Theatre Company, Aspen Community Theatre and Theatre Aspen — where he starred in such shows as “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “School of Rock.”
“The first time I was ever on stage, I memorized this Brian Regan comedy bit called “Stupid in School” — and it was perfect, as it related to being in middle school — and these kids could not stop laughing. The feeling that that gave me was so addictive that it drove me to become an actor,” Keleher confessed.
“I am so proud to be a Carbondalian and I am so proud to have come from Carbondale. I would give credit for a lot of the things that I’ve learned in life to having grown up in my small town.” He continued, “The first movie that I’m in that’ll go to the box office, I want played at the Crystal Theatre.”
After graduating from Roaring Fork High School in 2020, Keleher traveled the country and parts of South America. Upon returning from a trip to Paraguay, he decided to attend film school at Full Sail University in Florida where he graduated in 2023. He described this experience as life-changing when he decided to take his craft seriously.
“I got sober when I was a year into school. I said to myself, ‘Let’s really take this stuff seriously.’ I made some pretty kick-ass films, met some really great people and I worked on set as a production assistant, director of photography, a director — I did every job apart from makeup, and that was a lot of fun,” he explained.
Keleher said that diving into the role in “Fatherland” came at the perfect time when he was figuring out what to do with his life after graduating from college. After spending 75 days doing another stint of traveling around the world, he returned to the Valley to work for Aspen Skiing Company, knowing he wanted to make the move to California. On a whim, while researching his desired destination, he reached out to the Fountain Theatre and inquired about auditions, only for them to respond 10 minutes later to say that there was one and that they would see him at the allotted time.
“I slept on a buddy’s couch, then I went out, did the audition and booked this job,” he said. “We have a guy named Larry, and his wife is one of the most well-known casting directors in LA, and she had an audition open for an Amazon pilot, and she came to me on the second night of the show and said, ‘Patrick, I would like for you to audition for this.’”
Though the pilot was not in the cards, Keleher would go on to tape more auditions before eventually landing his role on “The Rookie.” Asked for words of wisdom for any hopeful actors reading this article, Keleher encouraged living life to the fullest and taking all the chaos of life as motivation.
“Live in freedom,” he said. “Find reasons to be alive. If you’re trying to pursue acting, you gotta live. We gotta be able to have experiences and have things coming from all different directions. That car crash or that heartbreak is all part of it. If there’s any inspiration I can give, it would be to live your life the way that you would want to see somebody living their life. In order to be free, you gotta have the courage to find that freedom for yourself.”