Diona Reasonover is a champion for smashing stereotypes.
She successfully transitioned from comedy to drama with her starring role on NCIS, and
her career as a multi-talented writer and performer is only just getting started.
Reasonover has always been open about her sexuality, which has translated into her TV
roles as well.
In an interview with AfterEllen, she described her character Charmaine on the TBS show Clipped
as "a lesbian's lesbian."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"They're a couple for 42 years.
We call 'em 'Broke Hip Mountain.'"
She further explained her connection to her Clipped role to Bustle by saying,
"I think it's so interesting in a way getting to play this character who is a queer person
of color, and I am a queer person of color."
In an interview with TheBlot Magazine, Reasonover talked about growing up queer, revealing that
her family was not "super supportive" of her sexuality.
However, she got some closure while starring in Clipped alongside George Wendt of Cheers
fame.
As she explained,
"The fact that one of my father's idols is playing a queer character in an interracial
relationship, and I'm a queer person in an interracial relationship, it's like we're
practically the same person."
Reasonever was likely referring to her future wife, writer and actress Patricia Villetto,
whom she married in 2018.
Reasonover had a physically tough time while landing her biggest TV role.
When she found out she had an audition for NCIS, it was just two days after she had knee
surgery.
She was fortunately able to delay the audition since she was hopped up on painkillers and
thus probably couldn't even drive.
Still, when she finally made it into the casting call, she was on crutches.
Obviously, she landed the gig, but she was still recuperating on her first day on the
job.
She discussed the experience during an interview on Los Angeles' KTLA 5.
"I had just had knee surgery, so I was walking a little bit like a baby deer."
Thankfully for Reasonover, the entire cast and crew were super supportive.
Her new co-stars constantly gave her ice packs and genuinely welcomed her to the NCIS family.
She revealed to the New York Post that other people even showed off "battle scars" from
their own previous surgeries.
The CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase is an annual event held by the network to showcase
amazing talent from all backgrounds.
It was here that Reasonover improved her comedy writing skills and gained industry exposure.
As she explained to Newsweek, writing for the showcase prepared her for the pacing of
TV writing and acting.
The aim of the showcase was to pump out a lot of content, so she just had to write quickly
and then try to sell the sketch.
As she explained,
"Now, luckily, in this case, the scripts are great, the beats are already worked out, and
they're funny and touching, but it doesn't make the time frame any different.
You get in there, you do the work, you commit to it, and then you move on to the next one."
Reasonover's skills didn't go unnoticed after her first year in the showcase.
She went on to land three pilots, including Clipped, the TBS show she would later star
in.
Then in her second year of the program, she became the first black and female head writer
of the showcase.
Reasonover identifies with the nerdy aspect of her NCIS character, but she's admitted
that she herself is not particularly good at science.
At least, that's what she told KTLA during a December 2018 interview.
So then how does she pull off some of the complexities of portraying a forensic scientist?
"It's all, like, these multisyllabic words…"
"Right."
"...but my sister is a doctor, so I just call her, and I'm like, 'Hey...'"
Even though Reasonover isn't a real scientist but just plays one on TV, she hopes her role
inspires women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Pauley Perrett, the actress whom Reasonover replaced on NCIS, gave out scholarships in
these fields, and Reasonover hopes that she'll also be able to provide similar grants, specifically
to women and people of color.
This is a topic that is also close to her personal life, as her sister is a real-life
woman of color in the medical field.
She even gave her sis an up-close look on the NCIS set once, which she commemorated
with a sweet Instagram photo.
Improvisational acting is difficult to master, but Reasonover for one is clearly gifted in
the art.
In fact, she was a writer and performer for two of the most famous improv groups in North
America.
She graduated from the conservatory program at the Hollywood branch of The Second City,
and she was also a member of the Upright Citizen's Brigade, which counts Amy Poehler and Donald
Glover among its many famous alumni.
Within UCB, she was part of the "Ham Radio" group that performed improv shows in the Los
Angeles area.
Reasonover opened up about her improv background during a 2018 interview with Parade, in which
she revealed that she started with the method in 2011.
She also has a classically trained dramatic theater background, and her reason for jumping
into the world of unscripted comedy has a lot to do with wanting to break out from the
heaviness she was used to.
As she explained,
"I simply started doing improv and sketch because I was tired of going on stage and
pretending to cry for two and a half hours.
My tear ducts were all dried up.
I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, I can't deal with this anymore.'"
Here's to Reasonover saying "yes, and" to the many more opportunities that are sure
to come her way!
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