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Katherine LaNasa is reflecting on a meaningful sentiment from Stephen Colbert that changed her life.
The Emmy award-winning actress, 59, appeared on The Late Show on Wednesday, Jan. 28, and spoke about a particularly difficult period in her life before securing her role on The Pitt. What helped her get through this time, LaNasa said, was a powerful statement from none other than Colbert himself.
Roughly one year before LaNasa landed her role on The Pitt, she recalled, she was in a “very dark place.” She had been unemployed for some time and was grappling with a cancer diagnosis, she said.
“I felt like a failure, and I was riddled with regrets,” LaNasa said, adding that she afforded herself “no grace” during that time.
That’s when she came across a clip of Colbert speaking with Anderson Cooper, in which The Late Show host — who at age 10 lost his father and two brothers in a 1974 plane crash —spoke about grief.
CBS
In the video, which LaNasa paraphrased, Colbert said life’s difficult moments are ultimately experiences to be embraced.
“Our grief and our loss is part of what makes us human, and it allows us to understand and connect with other people,” LaNasa recalled Colbert telling Anderson. “And if we’re really going to love our life, then we have to love all of it. We can’t turn our back on that part.”
Colbert’s wise words were incredibly moving, LaNasa said, and as she navigated the “depths of my despair,” the idea resonated with her. From then on, LaNasa began to live by a new sentiment: “Sometimes you lose.”
Her new mindset really helped her go easier on herself, she said, and months later, she landed the role of Nurse Dana Evans on The Pitt. That’s when she began to appreciate her experience with cancer, which she said “played so beautifully into that role.”
LaNasa’s work on the medical drama’s first season won her an Emmy. Accepting the honor was a thrilling experience, and though she “had the good sense to take in all the joy and energy” of that moment, the actress recalled worrying about her speech.
At the end of the awards show, to LaNasa’s surprise, Colbert approached her. LaNasa beamed as she remembered what he told her that night: “Do you know how much joy you brought the room?”
“I was so gobsmacked when we met,” LaNasa admitted. “It was a whole full-circle moment for me; you really changed me.”
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LaNasa’s The Pitt character Nurse Dana is known to be a veteran of the high-stress ER, and a reliable leader among the staff. The Emmy winner returned for the show’s season 2, which debuted on Jan. 8.
New episodes of The Pitt debut Thursdays on HBO Max.
