Actress Katherine LaNasa is one of the many cast members of Max’s “The Pitt” who’s received rave reviews. In the medical drama, which takes place in a Pittsburgh emergency room, she plays charge nurse Dana Evans. Each pulse-racing episode takes place over an hour in the ER, reminiscent of the 2001 to 2010 hit show “24.” As expected, Evans wears scrubs and isn’t overly made up; she wears her blonde hair in a simple twist secured with a butterfly clip and pulls off the ‘no makeup’ makeup look. In one episode, she even gets brutally punched by a patient and has a black eye and blood on her face.

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Nurse Evans is as far from a glamorous Hollywood actor as one can be, yet Dana Evans, a.k.a. LaNasa, is seriously stunning in real life. Fans may recognize her from other roles, including Noa on “Truth Be Told,” Sally on “Imposters,” and a memorable one-off episode of “Seinfeld,” as Sgt. Cathy Tierny, who makes Jerry take a polygraph test to see if he’s watched “Melrose Place” before. Or there are her marriages to fellow actors, which have included Dennis Hopper (of “Easy Rider” and “Speed” fame), French Stewart (who she met during a guest role on his show “3rd Rock from the Sun”), and Grant Show (“Melrose Place,” the “Dynasty” reboot). Since she arrived in Hollywood, LaNasa’s star has slowly risen, as has her natural beauty.

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Katherine LaNasa arrived in Hollywood in 1987, when she was working as a dancer and choreographer. She met actor Dennis Hopper and the two wed in 1989, when she was 22 and he was 53. The reformed Hollywood bad boy was sober and taking on a new role as husband and father to their son Henry.

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During their marriage, New Orleans native LaNasa accompanied Hopper to red-carpet premieres. At the time, he said reporters asked if his date was his daughter because she was noticeably younger than him. In photos from the time, LaNasa usually wore her hair down and her makeup simple, but for the addition of a red lip. She and Hopper weren’t meant for the long haul, however. Though it doesn’t exactly rank as one of Hollywood’s shortest celebrity marriages, the union only lasted three years, which is much longer than Hopper’s one-week marriage to Mamas and the Papas singer Michelle Phillips.

Though Katherine LaNasa, who has become a hot topic thanks to her “The Pitt” role as nurse Dana Evans, didn’t intend to get into acting, she has had a decades-long career in Hollywood. Most roles have been guest-starring ones on TV shows, including one-off roles on “ER,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “House.” (Seeing a theme with the medical dramas?) She once revealed that she was difficult to cast because she was pretty as well as quirky. 

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During one of her guest stints, this time in 1996 on “3rd Rock from the Sun,” she caught the eye of series regular French Stewart. As a comedian, Stewart was praised for his ability to make his character come across as an extreme idiot, which garnered him an Emmy nomination. He and LaNasa lasted much longer than her and Hopper’s relationship. The two married in 1998, but by 2009, they had called it quits. Throughout this era and beyond, LaNasa lightened her hair and established herself as a blonde beauty in Hollywood. On the red carpet, she continued to fall back on a signature red lip.

Like many a celebrity couple who met on set, Katherine LaNasa and Grant Show met in 2010 on the set of the polygamy series “Big Love.” Show said that he didn’t pursue anything at the time because Dennis Hopper had just passed away. But when their paths crossed half a year later, he went for it. In fact, the “Melrose Place” alum took the blonde beauty to Cambodia for their third date. In 2012, Show popped the question with a four-carat diamond ring.

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The pair welcomed a daughter, Eloise, in 2014. Grant had previously alluded to needing fertility treatments to make his desire to become a dad a reality. At the time, stepson Henry Hopper was 23. Motherhood looked good on LaNasa, who continued to age gracefully as she accepted TV roles, including a regular one in 2014 fan favorite “Satisfaction.”

In 2022, LaNasa posted the above photo on her Instagram to commemorate a decade of marriage to Show; she’s in her mid-50s and looking fabulous.

Because “The Pitt” takes place over one shift in the hospital’s ER, we don’t see charge nurse Dana Evans in anything other than her scrubs. We certainly haven’t seen her scrub up this nicely (pun intended). The above photo shows us yet again that Katherine LaNasa is stunning in real life. This selfie, posted to her Instagram in September 2019, carried a caption that tagged fellow actor Meagan Good, saying that she’d see her in an hour at a movie theater in Manhattan’s Times Square for the Good-directed “If Not Now, When?” She also appeared in Good’s short film “Black Karen.” In honor of that role, LaNasa posted a selfie from the set with the caption, “They pay me for this!?!?!”

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Good and LaNasa’s friendship appears to have formed when they were co-stars on the 2013 TV show “Deception.” Good served as LaNasa’s date for the latter’s 2016 red carpet premiere for “Love is All You Need?” And LaNasa has posted on her Instagram other times to celebrate her friend, as was the case for Good’s birthday in 2023 (above right).

As nurse Dana Evans on “The Pitt,” Katherine LaNasa’s character is the mother hen, the boss of sorts, the comforter, and the one who has a finger on the pulse of all the moving parts of the ER. And it seems like a role that LaNasa was born to play.

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A look at LaNasa’s extensive acting resume, which dates back to 1990, shows the range of characters she has played through the years. One of her more memorable roles in recent years was on “Truth Be Told.” The Apple TV show followed a true crime podcaster and the drama that followed her in real life. LaNasa played her producer. As a true pro, she ditched her signature blonde locks and red lips. Along with a selfie of her on set, she wrote, “I love creating new characters. The hair, the clothes, the jewelry, the nails. The walk, the talk, the sexuality, the soul. This is Noa Havilland from @truthbetold.” Though the show was canceled after three seasons, it’s a testament to LaNasa’s enduring career, one that she continues to show with Dana Evans on “The Pitt.” For LaNasa, it’s not about showing off her stunning looks; it’s about making a character believable.

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