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The Pitt’s Katherine LaNasa got her role thanks to a last-minute trip to the hardware store, a friend’s ring lights, and some Zoom troubleshooting
Katherine LaNasa shares the chaotic story about how she won the role of Dana Evans on HBO Max’s The Pitt
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Becoming a nurse takes years of schooling, hard work, sleepless nights, and lots of dedication.
Becoming a TV nurse isn’t as hard, but actress Katherine LaNasa still went through a wringer to get the role of nurse Dana Evans on HBO Max’s The Pitt. All it took was a ring light, an extension cord, Zoom troubleshooting, and getting through to her agents.
“The Pitt came along with another audition for Righteous Gemstones,” LaNasa says during an appearance at ATX TV Festival. “I was up for that, and I had played a character similar to that. I mean, just a big southern loudmouth in The Campaign, the Will Ferrell movie. And so, my agents just thought I was a shoo-in for that. They were trying to get them to offer it to me.”
“I got both of the auditions, and on paper I’m a southerner and I’m right for it, and I just thought I was okay. Sometimes I do an audition, I do my best, and I have two days to do it, and it’s like it came out all right. I thought I was alright. But something about Dana. Noah [Wyle] wrote this letter, and I think he still sends this out to everybody that auditions for The Pitt, and it talks about what they’re looking for, and now they want this top to toe immersion. At all times you’re invested in what you’re doing. You’re always busy. You’re not standing around waiting for your line. He wrote leave your ego and bring your creativity.”
“One thing about me is that I was always a little bit of a leading lady looking lady, but inside I was a total weirdo. And so, the writers were like, ‘it’s our unicorn.’ But TV executives were like, ‘Uh, okay, no.’ So, I just thought I could be my weird self in this. So, I just brought it all. I don’t know what it was. I put it down on tape, I gave it to my agents, and I asked them about it. And they were, ‘Oh, they don’t know what they want. They’re seeing everybody. But the Righteous Gemstones, you’re going to get that. We’re going to try to get them to offer it to you.’”
“I thought The Pitt was kind of good. And it just kept going. I did a Zoom with John [Wells] and it was really spastic. They didn’t have a Zoom waiting room, and I was away from home, and I didn’t have any clothes for Dana, and I had to borrow a ring light from somebody, and it was all super stressful. And they didn’t have an extension cord, and I was at the hardware store like 20 minutes before the audition getting an extension cord to set up the ring light. And then I got on, and the Zoom was upside down. I put it rightside up and then I fucked up my lines. And then I was like, ‘Can I start over again.’ And John, I love John Wells so much, he goes, ‘Yes, but that was exactly how you play that scene.’”
That chaotic energy helped LaNasa land the role of Dana Evans, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in her scrubs. And to think all it took was a trip to the hardware store.
The Pitt is streaming on HBO Max.
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