When Katherine LaNasa began creating the voice of Dana Evans, the unflappable charge nurse on HBO Max’s hit medical drama “The Pit,” she didn’t consult a dialect coach first. She started in the tub.
The current Emmy winner for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series immersed herself in high-end television while studying Dana’s unmistakable Pittsburgh accent, drawing inspiration from two critically acclaimed performances. These include “Abbott Elementary School” (which shares a restroom hallway with “The Pit” on the Warner Bros. lot), starring Lisa Ann Walter as a Philadelphia schoolteacher, and Julianne Nicholson’s “Mare of Easttown.” “I was watching them even though I knew it wasn’t (the accent) for Pittsburgh,” LaNasa told Variety. “I just wanted to know what it felt like, so I often listened to it while I was taking a bath.”
LaNasa’s path to stardom was anything but conventional. LaNasa, a professional dancer and choreographer, took only one acting class after meeting and marrying actor Dennis Hopper at age 22, an experience she describes as “terrible” and one that left her intimidated by the profession. She remembers seeing Hopper holding auditions at his home, where he had built a small theater. Years later, while pregnant with her son Henry Lee Hopper and living in a house undergoing renovations, she discovered a documentary about legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner. “I have to find that guy,” she remembers thinking. “That’s where I want to study acting.” She eventually sought out Meisner and studied with him for about three years. She considers this experience to be the real beginning of her acting career.
That commitment to craft resurfaced during the preparation of “The Pit.” During production, LaNasa noticed that many of the local background actors effortlessly captured the unique rhythms of the area. She was introduced to Suzanne Salby. Her expertise in Pennsylvania speech patterns has made her one of the industry’s go-to dialect coaches. The result was a performance that made Dana one of TV’s most beloved characters, but the road wasn’t easy. “Learning the accent was difficult,” LaNasa said. “The way your mouth moves is completely different from the way your muscles build up.”
A commitment to accent work is now standard across her projects. She co-stars with Shailene Woodley in Hulu’s upcoming miniseries “Count My Lies,” and is mastering a North Florida accent for the role. She also filmed Mr. with Walton Goggins in Spain, where she adopted a German accent. “I’m the one divorcing you, darling,” she quotes from the script, effortlessly slipping into her voice. Peace covers up the conflict. “I started crying because I thought it was over and I was stupid for trying,” Lanasa said. “There was a moment of complete despair, and then all of a sudden it clicked.”
After nearly 25 years as one of Hollywood’s most reliable character actors, LaNasa remains amazed at the recognition he’s reached at this stage of his career. She often cites Oscar-nominated Jacki Weaver for her roles in Animal Kingdom and Unique Playbook as a source of inspiration. When Weaver later reached out to her on Instagram, LaNasa said she was overwhelmed. “‘You can’t even imagine what this means to me,'” she recalled telling Weaver. “‘You’re what kept me going.'”
Despite winning television’s top honor nine months ago, her inner critic hasn’t been silenced. “If The Pit had been a self-tape, I honestly would have reshot the entire first season,” she says with a laugh. “If no one had given me an award for that performance, I would have been like, ‘Okay, I get it.'”
She believes it is Dana’s humanity that resonates most with audiences. LaNasa says she and the writers have intentionally resisted turning charge nurses into saintly TV archetypes. Dana is difficult, impatient, and imperfect, which makes her feel authentic. “I think it’s healing for people when you see people on TV who are multifaceted, real, flawed and heroic characters,” she says. “Because that’s what humans are like.”
After finishing his latest project, LaNasa plans to return to the emergency room at “The Pit” soon. But she’s also pursuing another long-held ambition: Broadway. “I’m meeting with a producer while I’m in New York,” she reveals. During our conversation, she enthusiastically brainstorms about her dream role and even asks what kind of work she should consider next. She loves the idea of re-enacting Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County. Indeed, it is a film adaptation of this play, directed by John Wells, executive producer and director of The Pit. She also laments what she considers a major oversight at the Tony Awards, namely the lack of Debbie Allen as a nominee for “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” And she singled out her Pitt co-star Patrick Ball for his performance on The Becky Show.
As for Dana’s future, LaNasa is entrusting it to someone he trusts, “Wherever (‘The Pit’ creator) Scott Gemmill puts me, wherever he puts me.”
Emmy nomination voting will continue until June 22nd.
