Out of all the characters in “The Pitt,” one stands out as a fan favorite. Dana Evans, played by Katherine LaNasa, stood out to many viewers. One of the many reasons fans loved her was because of her Pittsburgh accent which LaNasa discovered in a bathtub.
While preparing for her role in “The Pitt,” LaNasa would watch other shows to find inspiration for characters. Out of all the shows LaNasa watched, two of them in particular influenced how she played Dana: Lisa Ann Walter’s Philadelphia schoolteacher in “Abbott Elementary” and Julianne Nicholson’s work in “Mare of Easttown.” “I was watching them, even though I knew it wasn’t exactly that [accent] for Pittsburgh,” LaNasa said in an interview done by Variety. “I just wanted to get a sense of it, and I would listen to it when I was in the bathtub.”
When LaNasa was on the set of “The Pitt,” she was directed towards Susanne Sulby, who helped her craft the voice for Dana. Sulby, who had years of dialect coaching experience, was an expert in Pittsburgh accents, and helped LaNasa sell her voice as natural. Though it sounded easy, it was anything but. “It was a hard accent to learn,” LaNasa said. “It’s very muscularly different from how you move your mouth.”
Her dedication paid off, with LaNasa winning an Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama series. Despite an award citing her skill, LaNasa believes that she can always do better. “If ‘The Pitt’ was a self-tape, I would have re-taped the whole first season, honestly,” she says, laughing. “If nobody had given that performance a prize, I would’ve been like, ‘It’s OK. I get it.’”
While LaNasa will reprise her role in the next season of “The Pitt,” she also is taking steps to start a career in Broadway. According to LaNasa, she will be meeting with a producer while she is in New York with hopes to get into a Broadway performance. As for the future of Dana Evans, LaNasa said that she will go wherever Scott Gemmil, the creator of “The Pitt,” puts her.