Stephen Presents: Katherine LaNasa (Extended) | 'The Pitt'

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Stephen Presents: Katherine LaNasa (Extended) | 'The Pitt'

Date: February 11, 2026
Host: Stephen Colbert
Guest: Kathryn LaNasa
Producer/Co-host: Becca

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth interview with Emmy-winning actress Kathryn LaNasa, best known for her role as Nurse Dana on HBO Max's hit series The Pitt. The conversation covers LaNasa’s personal and professional journey, her connection with Colbert, the emotional resonance of her recent successes, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes about her career and life. The tone is warm and candid, balancing humor with heartfelt moments about resilience and artistry in the face of adversity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Pitt: Fan Reactions and LaNasa’s Role

• (01:23–02:44) Colbert and producer Becca discuss binge-watching The Pitt and their admiration for LaNasa's portrayal of Nurse Dana.
  • Stephen Colbert (02:00): “Watching Kathryn LaNasa do that part was like the first time I heard ‘One’ by U2…I went, they can’t have written this. This is too much of a classic.”
• (02:55–03:36) They relate the show’s high-paced atmosphere to classic medical dramas like ER and 24, appreciating “quality, quality TV.”

2. Kathryn LaNasa’s Personal Journey to Emmy Night

• (05:03–09:19) LaNasa recounts her emotional journey before landing her role in The Pitt, her struggles with unemployment, battling cancer, and finding new paradigms for handling regret and imperfection.
  • Kathryn LaNasa (05:23): “About a year before I got The Pitt, I was in a dark place. I had been unemployed for a while. I had cancer…if I just did everything perfectly…I would insulate myself from loss and bad things.”
  • She shares how a viral clip of Colbert discussing grief helped her reframe her perspective:
    • Kathryn LaNasa (05:23–07:05): “I saw that clip of you talking to Anderson Cooper…you say that grief and our loss is part of what makes us human…and if we’re really going to love life, we have to love all of it.”
    • “In the depths of my despair, I heard you.”
  • She talks about channeling that grief into her performance and being “gobsmacked” by her Emmy win, feeling she “whiffed” her speech but took in the room’s joy regardless.

3. The Legacy of Imperfection and Joy

• (09:06–09:23) LaNasa reflects on Colbert’s encouragement after her win:
  • Stephen Colbert (08:53): “Do you know how much joy you brought the room?”
  • Kathryn LaNasa (09:07): “That moment was such a testament to how we think we need to do everything perfectly…just be like, yes, I won.”
• (09:23) Colbert underscores the value of honesty and joy in her acceptance.

4. Acting as a Nurse — On-Set Training and Realism

• (09:28–10:47) Discussion shifts to LaNasa thanking “valiant nurses” in her Critics Choice speech and what she learned in the medical boot camp for the show:
  • Kathryn LaNasa (10:07): “[I learned] not much...I can trach pretty well. I can do an intubation pretty well. That’s about it.”
  • Humor arises over the technical jargon of medical scenes:
    • Kathryn LaNasa (10:25): “I’d done so little of that…they said, ‘and then you hang a bag’…all it means is you take the bag and put it on the hook!”

5. Accents and Roots — Louisiana to Pittsburgh

• (10:49–11:22) LaNasa describes losing her Louisiana accent after attending an international high school.
  • Kathryn LaNasa (11:10): “I went to North Carolina School of the Arts…when I was around 14, and I kind of just naturally lost [the accent].”
• (11:28–12:08) Colbert shares tales of comedy gigs in Baton Rouge, bonding over crawfish. LaNasa jokes she became allergic after eating too much.

6. Uncertainty and Renewal in Hollywood

• (12:12–12:57) Addressing The Pitt’s season two uncertainty:
  • Kathryn LaNasa (12:22): “Yes, I was worried. We bought a house…then I got a call, and I’m like, please don’t fire me, I just bought a house.”
  • The relief of learning her job was safe and recognizing “it had taken me so long to get ahead.”

7. Personal Life & Classic Hollywood Stories

• (13:08–14:47) Colbert brings up LaNasa’s husband, Grant Show (of Melrose Place fame); she says she never watched the show and quips, “I think that’s why I got him.”
• (14:08–15:39) On being married to Dennis Hopper, dinner with Roddy McDowell, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, and her favorite anecdote:
  • Kathryn LaNasa (14:47): “My great joy was freaking out Vincent Price with my ultrasound…he was so freaked out by that.”
  • She shares how Vincent Price’s influence led Dennis Hopper into modern art collecting.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Life and Loss:
  • Kathryn LaNasa (07:05): “Sometimes you lose…life is gonna bring us great beauty and great joy, but it’s also gonna knock us on our ass and bring us grief and loss.”
• On Emmy Night:
  • Kathryn LaNasa (08:57): “Do you know how much joy you brought the room?”
  • Stephen Colbert (09:06): “That’s where the joy came from.”
• On Medical Training for the Role:
  • Stephen Colbert (10:42): “Got a little too technical for you?”
  • Kathryn LaNasa (10:43): “Yeah, back it up, sister.”
• On Her Marriage to Grant Show:
  • Kathryn LaNasa (13:23): “I think it’s why I got him…he was just a guy with bad pants.”
• Classic Hollywood Anecdote:
  • Kathryn LaNasa (14:47): “[Vincent Price] was so freaked out by [the ultrasound]. So that was my great joy.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:23–02:44 — Binge-watching The Pitt and LaNasa’s performance
• 05:03–09:19 — LaNasa’s cancer, loss, and Emmy night
• 10:01–10:47 — On-set “doctor/nurse school” and nursing skills
• 10:49–11:22 — Accent stories and family background
• 12:12–12:57 — Uncertainty about her role’s future on The Pitt
• 13:08–14:47 — Marrying Grant Show, Dennis Hopper, and celebrity dinner tales
• 14:47–15:39 — Vincent Price and Dennis Hopper's art collection

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Tone and Takeaways

The exchange is genuine, funny, and occasionally poignant, with LaNasa demonstrating vulnerability, gratitude, and wit. Colbert’s empathy and humor elevate the conversation, making for a compelling look at the unexpected ways grief, chance, art, and human connection shape both life and performance. For fans and newcomers alike, this episode offers both entertainment and inspiration.

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Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Becca (Producer)]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Kathryn Lanasa]

Hey, everybody.

[Becca (Producer)]

This is the Late Show Pod Show. I'm here with my boss, Stephen Colbert. Hi, Stephen.

[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, Becca.

[Becca (Producer)]

I'm Becca. I'm a producer here at the Late Show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes, you are.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah. And previously on the Late Show Pod Show. If you tuned in last night, we were talking about the Winter Olympics. People are watching tv, but not the Late show. Because we're off this week, but we'll be back next week.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm definitely watching tv, though, and, you know, not missing any of the Olympics.

[Becca (Producer)]

I'm not watching that. And you know what else I'm watching the Olympics of tv. Watching the Pit. I'm watching the Pit.

[Stephen Colbert]

So good, I'm binging.

[Commercial Announcer]

So good.

[Becca (Producer)]

I'm rewatching. Because they talk kind of fast sometimes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Dr. Robbie.

[Becca (Producer)]

Dr. Robbie.

[Stephen Colbert]

So troubled.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah. This is Kathryn Lanasa, who is just.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, how lovely. What a lovely. I only met her once at the Emmys before, but I so enjoyed this interview. She seems like just a. Just a capital person.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah. And love nurse Dana. Great character. Great love that accent. Honestly. One of those situations where she comes out on the show and you're like, where's the accent?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Why don't you sound like you're from Pittsburgh?

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah, exactly.

[Stephen Colbert]

My reaction when I saw the Pit the first time, I mean, I watched a couple episodes in. I'm like, who is this actress? She's so great. It's like watching Catherine Lanasa do that part was like the first time I heard won by U2, I went, they can't have written this. This is too much of a classic. This has to be a cover. How can this be like new? And when I see her I was like, how could I not know who this person is?

[Becca (Producer)]

Totally.

[Stephen Colbert]

How can she be this good? How can she be this good? And I've never seen her.

[Becca (Producer)]

Totally. She's great. Best part of the pit. But please enjoy.

[Stephen Colbert]

I don't know, but the best part of the pit, I mean there are many very good structure of the pit. Many very good people on the pit.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Kathleen Nest is fantastic. I just want to take him. I have to talk to all of these people.

[Becca (Producer)]

I know. Great ensemble cast. Love the. It's. You know, I was, I was big on 24 as a kid. I watched 24 kind of that following that high paced, fast deadline environment.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, when we had little one, when my daughter was first born is when. I don't know why this is. I just remember that she was young when ER was really hitting.

[Becca (Producer)]

Oh yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And we called it boop woop. Because the opening, you know the opening credits that started with boop because it was all like, you know those alarms in er, kind of an ambulance, kind of like a heart monitor going beep boop. So we're like ready for some boop boop. And we would have to watch it when it was on. So the thing was get the baby down, get settled before boop boop came on.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because boop Boop I think was at 9:00'. Clock.

[Becca (Producer)]

Oh, perfect time.

[Stephen Colbert]

Just shout out to John Wells for just quality, quality TV. Mr. Wells, thank you, thank you for so many decades of quality tv.

[Becca (Producer)]

So this is Kathryn Lanassa on the late showpod Show. Please enjoy.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Folks.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know my next Emmy winning guest as nurse Dana on the pit, Mr. Digby. Just Digby.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Digby. Why'd you wait so long to come see us?

[Stephen Colbert]

I don't like going to doctors.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Well, that makes two of us. We all need help from time to time. Think maybe we could arrange for someone going care?

[Stephen Colbert]

I just kind of want to get patched up, you know?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

I do know. But that's today. What's tomorrow?

[Stephen Colbert]

Sunday.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Use the system. That's what it's there for. Buddy of mine, Dylan, knows all the angles. He even works the occasional miracle. You think maybe I could have him stop by?

[Stephen Colbert]

I guess. Yeah, right.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

How about a sandwich?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Yes, please, please welcome to the late Show. Katherine Lanassa. Hi.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Hi.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's nice to see you again.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

It's nice to see you.

[Stephen Colbert]

The first time we met, I don't know if you remember everything about it. I came over to say hi to you at one of the parties after the Emmys. We both had a really nice Emmy night that night.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yes, you did.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes, you did.

[Stephen Colbert]

And so did you. And I came over just to say that I really enjoyed your speech. And what do you remember about that night? I remember asking you if you'd come on the show.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes. Well, that's my great honor. It's such an honor to be here. You're just such an elegant. Right. You're just such an elegant man, and you mean so much to me. And I was so gobsmacked when we met. It was a whole full circle moment for me. You really changed me, and I was so gobsmacked that I wasn't able to express myself that night. So I'm so glad I'm here. I want to tell you the story. So about a year before I got the pit, I was in a dark place. I had been unemployed for a while. I had cancer. And when I was growing up, if something didn't go your way, it was like, well, why'd you do it like that? Right? And so I had subconsciously developed this paradigm where I thought that if I just did everything perfectly, that I would insulate myself somehow from loss and bad things. And so when I found myself in this place, I felt like a failure, and I was riddled with regret. And I just had these ongoing thoughts of like, well, God, if you'd only hadn't whiffed that meeting, or, why did you say that? Or why did you use hormones to get pregnant? Or why did you drink so much? Or if only I'd started using botox in my 30s, you know, like, no grace. Right. And I saw that clip of you talking to Anderson Cooper that's so very famous. And you and I, paraphrase, say that our grief and our loss is part of what makes us human, and it allows us to understand and connect with other people. And if we're really going to love our life, that we have to love all of it. We can't turn our back on that part. Yeah, you're pretty smart. You're pretty smart. And I heard you. I heard you. In the depths of my despair, I heard you. And I started to live by this new thing, which was, sometimes you lose, sometimes you lose. Sometimes you get the short end of the stick. Sometimes you do it wrong. And that life is gonna bring us great beauty and great joy, but it's also gonna knock us on our ass and bring us grief and loss. And so I started to live by this. I started to lighten up, and I go on, and I get the pit and I get Dana, and all of that loss and grief and the cancer fed so beautifully into playing that role, and it connected with people. And they gave me an Emmy. And I got up on the stage, And I was so overwhelmed that I just felt like I whiffed everything I wanted to say, but I had the good sense to take in all the joy and the energy that was coming from the room. And I got off the stage, and the first thing I said to my husband was, can I whiff my speech? And then I saw Sarah Paulson. I was like, can I whip my speech? And she said, honey, you just won an Emmy. Like, get over it. And.

[Becca (Producer)]

Sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because you don't know. It's all happening. No, it's all awash. No.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

It's crazy. And so then at the very end of the night, you, who I did not know, came up to me, and do you remember what you said?

[Stephen Colbert]

I said something like, we were all so moved by what you said up there.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes. And you said that. You said, do you know how much joy you brought the room?

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

And, like.

[Becca (Producer)]

It was.

[Stephen Colbert]

It was lovely.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

That moment, it was just such a testament to how we just think that we need to do everything perfectly. And here I was just gobsmacked, just being like, oh, screw it. Just take it and just be like, yes, I won.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, that's where the joy came from. Yeah.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

It was very honest. It was very honest. Well, I'm glad it was a nice night for you.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, that's great. It was lovely anyway. But everybody's so happy for you, too, because it's a fantastic performance as Dana. That's extraordinary. You also. And thank you for that memory. Thank you. Earlier this month, you won the Critics Choice Award as well. I got a lovely. You wear a gown very nicely there. There you go. And you thanked. In your speech, you thanked the valiant nurses who do what I only pretend to do. Now, I understand that you and a lot of the cast went to, like, a doctor nurse school.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

What did you learn?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Oh, God.

[Stephen Colbert]

What was it like?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Not much. Yes, not much. I can trach pretty well. I can do an intubation pretty well. That's about it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Maybe later.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yeah. Well, Stephen, the night is young. The night is young.

[Stephen Colbert]

My friend really can slip that Thing down.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Whatever floats your boat.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. You like give people shots and stuff like that.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Oh no. Oh no. In fact, I had done so little of that when we got to the mass casualty last year. They said the nurse, I mean the doctor who runs the scenes, the medical scene says, and then you hang a bag. I'm like, hang on, let's hang a bag. You know, and all it means is like, you take the bag and you put it on the hook.

[Stephen Colbert]

I got a little too technical for you.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yeah, I think. Back it up, sister.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know it takes place in Pittsburgh, the Pit.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And your character's from Pittsburgh. Yes. But you're from like the Louisiana, New Orleans, Baton Rouge area. Yes. Okay, so first of all, you don't sound like you're from there. Do they beat it out ya in acting school?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Well, you know, it's in this thing called Broca's area. Do you know this thing, like the language part of your brain fuses between like 11 and 14.

[Stephen Colbert]

Uh huh.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

That's why kids can lose their accents, but adults have a really hard time. Well, I went and lived, went to the North Carolina School of the Arts, which was an international school for high school when I was around 14. And I kind of just naturally lost it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, wow, good for you.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

But I can turn it on.

[Stephen Colbert]

I want to ask about the time I've spent in New Orleans or actually Baton Rouge. A gig down there at an old club called the Grin Room that used to be, when I was a young man, you know, touring around doing comedy. And they would give us, they would pay us a little, but we would get giant bags of crawfish.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like really big bags of crawfish that would come like cooked and steaming.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And we would just drink all night and just eat that. And they'd say, don't forget to suck the heads.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes, yes, they like to suck.

[Stephen Colbert]

Are you a crawfish fan?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

No, I'm a proper young lady. No, I ate so much crawfish that I became allergic to it. So I was a big fan and I developed an allergy.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's why you had to leave.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

And that's why I left that second season. I left that state.

[Stephen Colbert]

Second season of the Pit started a couple weeks ago. Fans were really worried that your character may not come back following the finale of season one. Were you worried?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes, yes, I was worried.

[Stephen Colbert]

So you had no guarantee it wasn't like there was a secret knowledge you had that we didn't.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

No, no, no. And in fact we decided at some point, well, the show had Gotten picked up. So we. We bought a house in la. We were moving back from Atlanta and we bought a house. And I got a call from. I got a call that day and they said, excuse me, we have John Wells. Can you hold for John Wells, please? And I'm like, oh, Lord. So he gets on the phone and I'm like, please don't fire me. I just bought a house. And he's so kind. He said, I just called to thank you for an excellent season. Job well done. And here we go.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, good.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

That's nice. Yeah, it worked out. Yes, it worked out. No, really. It had taken me so long, long to get on ahead. I was like, don't dump me now.

[Stephen Colbert]

Your husband right there, Grant, show that guy. Major heartthrob in his Melrose Place days. Did you, like, so many people, have a crush on him when he was on Melrose?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

No, I. I never saw Melrose Place.

[Stephen Colbert]

Does. Does he know this or is he finding out now?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

I think it's why I got him. I think it's why I ended up with him. He was just a guy with bad pants.

[Stephen Colbert]

He was go into these pants.

[Becca (Producer)]

Well, we were.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

I first met him on Big Love. He kind of replaced me on Big Love. I fired Marjean and he came in the same scene and hired her. So we met there, and then about six months later, we met in Canada and he was on a job and I was on a different job and we were staying in the same hotel and we had mutual friends, and he was walking around with these, like, cargo pants with these giant holes in them in the dead of winter in Canada. And I was like, what is with this grown. This grown man with these terrible pants? Wow. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is he Canadian?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

No. You just had bad. He just had bad fans. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Was it your first husband was Dennis Hopper?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yes. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like, what was. What were. Do you. What sticks out in your mind from those years of being with someone who's perceived as a bit of a wild card?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yeah, well, he was a real wild card. They're all wild cards in my life.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes. You were not watching Melrose Place with him?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

No, no. That's why I didn't watch Melrose Place. But we used to go to dinner at his friend Roddy McDowell's and there would be Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Liza Minnelli, Johnny Depp and Winona when they were dating. And my favorite was Vincent Price. Vincent Price.

[Stephen Colbert]

What was he like at dinner?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

He was really, really sweet. And one of my best memories is of freaking out Vincent Price with My ultrasound of Henry. It's when ultrasounds were kind of new. My 35 year old son. And I said, look, Vincent, and here's the body, here's the head and here' here's the little arm buds and here's the leg buds. And he was so freaked out by that. So that was my great joy that I had found. Freaked out Vincent Price.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you ever see Tingler?

[Kathryn Lanasa]

No.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, it's about this thing that attaches to your spine inside your body and he's this mad doctor.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

He was really sweet, you know, he was a modern art collector. And that's how Dennis started collecting art.

[Stephen Colbert]

Was through Vincent Price.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Yeah. He and another friend, Vincent hired them when they were unemployed in the 50s to come paint his. And he had a modern art collection and he taught Dennis about modern art and that's how Dennis Hoffer got into modern art, which was one of the main passions of his life. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, Kathryn, it's so lovely to have you on.

[Kathryn Lanasa]

Thank you so much for being here. Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Best of luck with season two and season three and everything else.

[Becca (Producer)]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

So lovely to see you.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

New episodes of the Pit debut Thursdays on hbo. Max. Kathryn Lanasa, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

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[Kathryn Lanasa]

We must make a massive demonstration.

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[Stephen Colbert]

I got you it.

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