Carbondale native Patrick Keleher debuts in television with ‘The Rookie’

Carbondale native Patrick Keleher made his television debut on Jan. 7 as a reoccurring guest star in Season 7 of “The Rookie” on ABC. He plays Seth, a new rookie who seems adept, but, as it turns out, quick, decisive action doesn’t come to him naturally.

His character portrays somewhat the opposite of Keleher’s story. The 22-year-old was born in Carbondale and grew up onstage with Theatre Aspen, Aspen Community Theatre, and Sol Theatre Company. Before moving into the larger world of theater — and television — his last performance at Thunder River Theatre Company, in “A View from the Bridge,” took place in 2020, the week before shutdowns.

While growing up in the Roaring Fork Valley making short films and acting in two to three plays annually from fifth-grade through high school, he didn’t hesitate to take advantage of Aspen’s Hollywood connections.

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His dad worked at the airport, ushering in the likes of Timothy O. Johnson, producer of such series as “Dead Man Walking” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” so he asked if his dad could arrange lunch with the producer. Keleher was 14 or 15 at their first meeting, where he immediately said, “How ’bout I come work for you?”

Johnson was impressed.

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“He looked over at my dad and said, ‘That kid’s got some balls,'” Keleher said.

That began a professional relationship and friendship, which lasts to this day.

“He told me, ‘You can do it. You can do anything you put your mind to, but you have to work for it,'” he said. “That was a defining moment; it was my first introduction to a producer.”

His first “defining moment” related to acting came in fifth grade, when he recited Brian Regan’s “Stupid In School” routine during a talent show.

“Just the way I could move the audience — like I had them at my fingertips — started the trajectory,” he said. “I knew I wanted to take it to the movies and television.”

After graduating high school, he spent two months living out of the back of his dad’s pickup truck, visiting as many National Parks as possible. Then, he moved to Paraguay in South America for six months.

Upon his return, he debated on whether to attend acting or film school. He didn’t have the grades to break into schools well-known for their programs, so he opted for Full Sail University, a trade school in Florida.

“The college has a 100% acceptance rate. Nobody was an actor. They all wanted to work electric, grip (etc.), and there were very few producers. I was the only actor in class, so I got into every student’s film in class,” he said.

His education taught him how to work a film set and how to quickly turn on emotions.

“It just really helped me get set aware, which is what every position on set needs,” he said, adding that, often, the crew and cast don’t interact off the set, which creates a chasm that could otherwise be used to network. “The way I look at it is: The actors are a part of the crew. We just get special treatment. But we’re all in this together. The biggest takeaway is: We all want the same thing. A lot of actors get lost on set because they get special treatment and special food. But if you treat (the crew badly), you’re not coming back anytime soon.”

After his accelerated, 20-month university program, which ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday, he decided to travel to Africa for six months. Then, he returned to Aspen to teach skiing.

One of his professors had told him he needed to ask for what he wants, which was a job in Los Angeles. So he googled “top theaters in LA,” and The Fountain Theatre popped up first on the list. He sent a single email to the theater, fibbing that he was a L.A.-local and asking if they had any parts for which he could audition. That day — a Friday in January 2024 — they responded, asking him to audition in person at 2:30 p.m. on Monday. Needless to say, he hopped on a plane.

“In the audition, I was sitting next to a kid who looks like me, and another kid walks in who looks like me, and I thought, ‘Well, welcome to LA,'” he said.

Turns out he got the part, out of 528 men who auditioned, for “Fatherland.” The play is based on a 18-year-old son who turned his father into the FBI for the attack on the Capitol.

“It’s a giant Greek tragedy, and it’s all true. It’s based on court transcripts,” he said.

Rehearsals began in February and ran for six months. “Fatherland” received rave reviews, and he attracted the attention of managers, agents, and casting directors. It ended up Off-Broadway, at City Center Theatre, with the original cast Sept. 18 through Nov. 10, 2024. While Keleher found the emotionally demanding role challenging to recreate for nine months, particularly when they had two shows a day, he loved it.

“Sometimes, I’d get home, and it just felt like I had run a marathon,” he said, also comparing it to a hard, fun ski day. “It was never anything negative. It was just demanding.”

The demand intensified when he secured a spot on “The Rookie.” He had auditioned for the part in Mexico in June 2024, and they began shooting the following week. That meant spending last fall working in both New York City and Los Angeles. Within his eight-show-a-week schedule Off-Broadway, he had one day off, so he’d catch a plane after the matinee, shoot “The Rookie” the entire next day, and hop on a red-eye back to New York to do “Fatherland” that day.

Through the experiences, he gained plenty of knowledge, partially because he asked established actors questions. For example, he had worked on memorizing a two-page scene in “The Rookie” for a week, but he kept messing it up. Meanwhile, Nathan Fillion, who stars in the show as the oldest rookie, delivered his lines perfectly.

“He has this monstrosity of a monologue, and he rips this thing out,” he said. “I asked him, ‘How did you do that?’ and he said, ‘This morning, I looked at it for the first time.'”

So, of course, he asked him, as well as other actors, how to hone his skills.

“He helped me sink into my roots as an actor by telling me stories about when he was my age. I saw a trajectory — footsteps to follow, and I thought, ‘It’s all going to be OK. Everything’s going to work out,'” he said. “It was a master class every episode.”

His confidence contrasts that of his character’s.

“He’s very insecure. He’s a thoughtful person. He knows everything by the book. He’s a great cop when it comes to the test and when it comes to the book, but when it comes to the action, he stumbles a little bit. He’s a little nerdy and geeky. I pulled inspiration from Brian from ‘The Breakfast Club,'” he said. “It does have a lot of me in it because it’s based on what the directors and producers saw. It’s just an anxious version of me.”

Keleher appears in about a dozen of the 18 new episodes and is hosting a private event Jan. 17 at the Crystal Theatre to screen the first two episodes beside fellow actors and friends.

His next projects include working on his own film, a feature-length follow up to his short film, which he shot at the end of college. Titled “Frick,” it’s about a homeschooled kid who has Tourette’s Syndrome and enters public school his senior year.

He aims to be a film actor since he grew up watching movies and believes they have more of a shelf life than television series. And, he plans to keep in touch with the 200 or so people he met on set.

“I love working connections and talking to people and finding out what are the next steps and how can I help you?” he said. “It’s working connections, staying grounded, being patient, and taking things one day at a time — and just being a good person and helping people out.”

Currently, he’s between Carbondale and Crested Butte until February and plans to move back to Los Angeles soon. When he finished his Off-Broadway run, he took a motorcycle trip through India.

“My favorite films are ‘Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark,'” he said. “Part of the thing (as actors) is we get lost in our own industry. They love that adventure on the screen, but they don’t know how to (recreate) that in real life. I’m getting real-life experience and getting my own stories (from traveling). You can build such an incredible life for yourself. In acting, you’re your own entrepreneur; it’s your own business.”