With another Emmy nomination under her belt for playing nurse Dana Evans on "The Pitt," Katherine LaNasa is embracing the joy of this "fleeting, beautiful moment."Show Caption
NEW YORK – If you're seeking a spoiler for Season 3 of the hit HBO Max drama "The Pitt," you've come to the right place.Katherine LaNasa, the Emmy-winning actress who plays the no-nonsense nurse Dana Evans, is willing to give up one big storyline. And it involves the abandoned infant Baby Jane Doe, whom Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) shares a quiet final scene with at the end of Season 2."I'm pretty sure that Robby's not raising the baby," LaNasa, 59, tells USA TODAY while breaking out in laughter. "I'm pretty sure that suicidal doctor that went on a motorcycle trip is not going to raise the baby. I think I'm going to bet on that one."Each season of "The Pitt" is set over a 24-hour period in the emergency room of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Season 3 will take place on Nov. 12, 2026, which is the day after Veterans Day, and four months after the events of Season 2 on July 4."All I can say is that it's cold outside," LaNasa, only slightly more serious, dishes. "We are dragging in leaves and stuff. People are coming in [wearing] Steelers wool caps with little pompoms on the top."LaNasa recalls filming one scene where she leaves the hospital for a smoke break, "as Dana does.""After a couple of takes I realized, 'I went out without a coat. I better act cold when I come back in,'" she recalls. "So I came back in the next few times. I don't even know if anyone was paying attention to me, but I was like, 'Ooh, so chilly!' I went out there with no jacket. I must have been really desperate for that smoke."The show tries to nail down Pittsburgh, right down to the southwestern Pennsylvania accent LaNasa learned for her role. That accent helped the New Orleans-born star win the best supporting actress Emmy in 2025. And this year, LaNasa is nominated again at the 2026 Emmys in the same category.Katherine LaNasa reflects on her first Emmy win and her husband's supportLaNasa is an overnight sensation three decades in the making. The actress' first credited role dates back to the 1990 film "Catchfire," which her then-husband, the late Dennis Hopper, directed and starred in. Her TV credits include iconic shows: "Seinfeld," "NYPD Blue," "Touched by an Angel" and yes, even an appearance in "ER."But "The Pitt" opened a new chapter of LaNasa's career. The series' first season won five Emmys, including best drama. The second season earned 25 Emmy nominations, almost double from the the prior year. USA TODAY TV Critic Kelly Lawler called the show, "a cultural phenomenon.""I just had such a good time last year," LaNasa says of the 2025 Emmys. "I was surprisingly relaxed. So I hope I can just keep that joy, you know? It's such rarefied air to get to even go to the Emmys, much less to win or to be on a show that wins. I just don't want anything to take away the joy of recognizing just what a fleeting, beautiful moment it is."However, the recent success hasn't made LaNasa lose sight of the journey it took to get here. She can easily recall when she wasn't an Emmy-winning actress, grinding out auditions for the next role, but says she doesn't miss it."I didn't get any relief from the grind until I was 58," she says. "I was ground all the way down. And I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to work anymore."The actress remembers a point where she didn't want to quit, but thought show business "almost quit me.""I was sad because I love acting," she says of that time. "So this is just a joyful period. Really joyful."LaNasa credits her husband, actor Grant Show, with helping her get to this period. The two met on the set of "Big Love" in 2010, shortly after LaNasa's ex-husband Hopper had died. The actress "wasn't thinking about men" at the time, but later reconnected with Show. They married in 2012 and share a daughter. LaNasa also has a son from her relationship with Hopper."I'm really lucky to have a husband that really believes in me, and he's always really believed in me," she says. "I'm sure he's relieved for the success because he doesn't have to do a thousand self-tapes at midnight in the living room."LaNasa says that Show, who kept the actress saved in his phone as "Katherine Big Love," helped her "tape everything.""He really deserves half that Emmy," she continues.Before 'The Pitt,' Katherine LaNasa says husband filmed her auditionsEmmy-winning actress Katherine LaNasa tells USA TODAY's Ralphie Aversa how her husband Grant Show has supported her career.Katherine LaNasa dishes on working with Lindsay LohanLaNasa is currently filming "The Pitt" and says that the cast will still be in production when Season 3 premieres in January 2027. The actress recently wrapped "Count My Lies," a Hulu limited series based on the best-selling novel by Sophie Stava.In the series, LaNasa plays Tracy, the mother of compulsive liar Sloane Caraway (Shailene Woodley). The actress says didn't read the entire novel, in part because her character isn't based on the one in the book.The show also stars Sophia Bush, Kit Harrington and Lindsay Lohan. LaNasa reveals she shares one scene with Lohan, filmed at an outdoor location in Brooklyn."There were a lot of paparazzi," LaNasa remembers. "That's a lot to live with."And though LaNasa has dealt with the paparazzi "a little bit" since her first Emmy win, the actress jokes it's "way better than the alternative: being irrelevant.""It's all been good, knock on wood," she continues, emphasizing how she's thankful that she's no longer "scrambling to get a job." "I'll take all of it."
