What NCIS Star Diona Reasonover Did Before She Was Famous

Diona Reasonover joined the "NCIS" team after previous fan-favorite Pauley Perrette left the CBS crime drama back in 2018. Her character, Kasie Hines, came in to replace the quirky and lovable Abby Sciuto. Although viewers were sad to see the forensic scientist leave the series, Reasonover has managed to fill the enormous shoes Perrette left behind and work her way into the hearts of "NCIS" fans. 

In an October 2018 interview with TV Insider, the actor admitted feeling nervous about living up to Perrette's name. It didn't help that the show had already been around for 15 years before she was brought on. Despite this, she was pleasantly surprised when fans welcomed her with open arms. "... The fans were so open and so generous," Reasonover told the publication. "I was really worried coming into a show that was already established. Fifteen years is a long time. People know [the series] and people love it. To be coming in as the new person in this dynamic is really hard." However, Perrette sent Reasonover into the role with some words of wisdom, instructing her to just be herself, which Reasonover makes a goal to do whenever she is in front of the cameras.

But before starring in "NCIS," Reasonover was already making it big in the acting industry. She was seen in many successful films and shows, including the movie "The Night Watchmen" and the comedy series "Clipped." But what did Reasonover do before she made her way into the limelight? 

Before Diona Reasonover became a household name, she was struggling to make ends meet and was forced to pick up random side hustles. Speaking with Black Enterprise in July 2018, the star revealed that growing up in Detroit, she initially didn't want to be an actor. She participated in random acting gigs, some of which she found on Craigslist, and was just focused on paying her bills. 

"I've had so many jobs before and during acting — I used to always be on Craigslist — just little [acting jobs] here and there to make a couple of bucks while I was in school," Reasonover explained, adding that she had to work more than one job at once. At one point, money was so tight that she couldn't even buy groceries, and she lived on coffee shop pastries while working as a barista.

Part of the reason the Detroit native thought she wouldn't be able to make it as an actor was because she didn't think it would be stable enough, she shared with Urban Magazine in 2019. With that in mind, Reasonover spent her pre-fame years focused on her education. She earned her bachelor's degree in theater and dance from Oberlin College, as well as a master's degree in acting from the California Institute of the Arts, per BookTrib. Reasonover thanks her education for helping her define what she wanted to do with her life, especially when it came to acting.

Although Diona Reasonover was involved in theater acting growing up, she didn't take acting seriously as a career until after graduating college. With a bachelor's degree in theater, Reasonover originally set out to pursue an acting career within this subgenre but realized that the seriousness of drama was not for her, as per Urban Mag. "I got in one Shakespeare play and I was like, 'Wow! My characters have to kill themselves on scene every day!,'" Reasonover told the publication, adding, "It was depressing! ... I was like I want to do something different. The door [that] opened for me was the door of joy!" This is when she realized comedy was more up her alley.

Reasonover started developing her comedy-writing skills at the annual CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase, according to Newsweek. While participating in the program, the actor became a writer and actor in the TBS comedy series "Clipped," which follows a group of hairstylists who couldn't be more different from one another, per BookTrib. 

This comedy trajectory saw Reasonover finally make her way into the public eye, but she still managed to find her way back to drama when she was cast in "NCIS." This was intentional, however. Speaking with Parade in October 2018, Reasonover explained, "It's been actually a cool transition ... This is getting to combine my two worlds ...  I get to have those serious moments and ... those really funny Kasie-is-nervous-and is-spilling-coffee-all-over-the-place moments. It's great."