She's an electric scene partner: Laetitia Hollard on working with Katherine LaNasa

There's a reason Laetitia Hollard's debut as nurse Emma Nolan in the Emmy-winning medical drama The Pitt felt so real. Part of it was her training – four years at the Juilliard School and a childhood spent in theatre. But a significant part of it was the woman standing next to her on set: Katherine LaNasa, who plays the experienced nurse Dana in the series.

At a recent roundtable conversation, Hollard was asked about this relationship, specifically about how LaNasa had been as much of a guiding light to her off-screen as Dana was to Emma. Her answer was warm, immediate and generous.

"I was gifted. I mean, as much as I was honoured to be in the show, I was honoured to be able to perform with Katherine LaNasa. She's an electric scene partner," said Hollard.

For a first-time screen actor stepping onto the set of a high-pressure, critically acclaimed production, self-doubt is inevitable. Hollard didn't hide that.

What she described instead was how LaNasa quietly, physically dismantled it. "The gift she gave me was just the self-confidence. She'd take me by the shoulders and say, 'You got this, kid.' When I'd be, like, I don't know how to act with a camera, she'd say, 'You've been doing this since you were a kid,'" she said.

It was a reminder Hollard clearly needed. But beyond the pep talks, it was something quieter that left the deepest impression. "The biggest gift is this aspect of ease, of breathing. She dances between shots, so we would dance together, and we would laugh together and say, 'This felt like the right one,'" she said.

On a show like The Pitt, which takes on some of the most emotionally demanding cases in emergency medicine, that cheerfulness wasn't incidental. It was survival. "It was just a lot of having a good time – to bring levity to some of the harder cases we work on, and some of the pressure you can feel on set," she continued.

What makes this dynamic particularly resonant is how closely it echoes what unfolds on screen. Emma, the eager and wide-eyed new nurse, finds her footing partly because Dana sees something in her worth nurturing. Hollard lived that same arc in real life, with the same woman.

The Pitt also stars Noah Wyle, Patrick Ball, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones and Gerran Howell, and is currently streaming on JioHotstar.