{"id":1794,"date":"2026-06-10T17:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T17:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1794"},"modified":"2026-06-10T17:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T17:38:18","slug":"variety-virtuoso-honoree-katherine-lanasa-on-her-skyrocketing-fame-and-how-she-found-the-key-to-the-pitts-dana-i-just-understood-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1794","title":{"rendered":"Variety Virtuoso Honoree Katherine LaNasa on Her Skyrocketing Fame and How She Found the Key to \u2018The Pitt\u2019s\u2019 Dana: \u2018I Just Understood Her\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tCharge nurse Dana Evans embodies the heart and soul of HBO\u2019s \u201cThe Pitt.\u201d She\u2019s smart and reacts with her gut; she\u2019s tough and empathetic, a fierce fighter for her patients and staff, but knows when not to pick a fight.<\/p>\n

Katherine LaNasa\u2019s portrayal of this complicated woman has made her a fan favorite and earned her a Critics\u2019 Choice Award, an ensemble Actor Award and an Emmy, with more on the horizon after her sterling performance in Season 2 of \u201cThe Pitt.\u201d LaNasa will be honored June 20 with the Variety Virtuoso award at the Bentonville Film Festival in Bentonville, Ark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pitt\u201d has catapulted her into what seems like overnight success, but LaNasa is a veteran of stage and screen, quietly doing great work for decades. But the newfound fame \u201cfeels great,\u201d she admits. \u201cI loved what I was doing anyway. I loved it as it was. I really just wanted to keep working, so hopefully this ups the odds of that happening. That\u2019s kind of the main takeaway \u2014 I just want to keep working. It\u2019s not something that I expected, so it\u2019s all just lagniappe, as we say in Louisiana.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she first got the script for the medical drama, she immediately thought of the different types of people who could be cast and wondered, \u201cAre they going to cast an older white lady for this part? There\u2019s probably a more interesting way to go than that, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

But after a second read, she realized that the show contained such a rich tapestry of cultures and ethnicities and worked hard to honor diversity on screen, including Deepti Gupta\u2019s Dr. Shamsi and her relationship with her daughter, Dr. Javadi, played by Shabana Azeez. Plus, LaNasa says, \u201cthe Filipino nurses speaking Tagalog.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking on Dana came to LaNasa rather easily, as they have many similarities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just understood her. I mean, I\u2019m not heroic like Dana, I\u2019m not a real nurse, and I don\u2019t sacrifice myself for people the way that Dana does. She\u2019s pretty amazing. But I am strong-willed like Dana. I\u2019m a get-it-done kind of person. So, I think those things were similar, but Dana\u2019s amazing in ways that I certainly am not,\u201d she says, musing on another role that \u201ccame easily\u201d with a laugh: \u201cWill Ferrell\u2019s bitch wife in \u2018The Campaign.\u2019 That was another great role to get, and I\u2019d worked zero on that part. I also completely understood that person who\u2019s a total narcissistic bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Dana is a juicy role for an actress over 50, but perhaps showrunners are recognizing the rich natural resource of the female performer of a certain age that they can tap into \u2014 Jean Smart, Demi Moore, Kathy Bates, Viola Davis, etc. LaNasa name-checks Barbara Stanwyck as an example of an actress who continued to get strong roles throughout her career. \u201cPeople always compare me to her,\u201d she says, and yes, Stanwyck would have killed as Dana.<\/p>\n

LaNasa concedes that she thinks there are more and better roles for women now, but notes that in the 1930s and 1940s, \u201cthere were so many strong female leads in movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a whole period of time where there were these great female leads, and then we kind of backed off of that for a while,\u201d she says. \u201cI think in television there [still] are. What\u2019s nice is we\u2019re seeing a trend toward natural-looking older women \u2014 that\u2019s kind of a big thing. We\u2019ve got a lot to offer. I mean, look at Kathy Bates, she\u2019s freaking crushing it in that show, she\u2019s so wonderful. Age ain\u2019t nothing but a number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more If Hollywood Is So Liberal, Why Did Movies and Shows Like \u2018Dirty Dancing,\u2019 \u2018Party of Five\u2019 and \u2018Sex and the City\u2019 Portray Abortion as Dangerous and Shameful?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Variety Virtuoso Honoree Katherine LaNasa on Her Skyrocketing Fame and How She Found the Key to \u2018The Pitt\u2019s\u2019 Dana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1574,1575],"class_list":["post-1794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-bentonville-film-festival","tag-katherine-lanasa"],"yoast_head":"\nVariety Virtuoso Honoree Katherine LaNasa on Her Skyrocketing Fame and How She Found the Key to \u2018The Pitt\u2019s\u2019 Dana: \u2018I Just Understood Her\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1794\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Variety Virtuoso Honoree Katherine LaNasa on Her Skyrocketing Fame and How She Found the Key to \u2018The Pitt\u2019s\u2019 Dana: \u2018I Just Understood Her\u2019 - 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