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Kat Dennings

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Kat Dennings
Dennings at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born
Katherine Litwack

(1986-06-13) June 13, 1986 (age 38)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active2000–present
Websitehttp://www.katdennings.com/

Katherine Litwack (born June 13, 1986), better known by the stage name Kat Dennings,[1] is an American actress. Emerging with a role in an episode of the HBO dramedy series Sex and the City, Dennings has appeared in the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Big Momma's House 2, Charlie Bartlett, Raise Your Voice, The House Bunny, Defendor and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Early life

Dennings was born and raised in the Bryn Mawr area near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Ellen Judith Litwack, is a poet and speech therapist,[2][3] and her father, Gerald J. Litwack, is a molecular pharmacologist and the chair of the Basic Sciences department of The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Dennings is the youngest of five children, including an older brother, Geoffrey S. Litwack.[1][4] Her family is Jewish.[4][5]

Dennings was home schooled; her only enrollment at a traditional school was for a half-day at Friends' Central School.[1] She graduated from high school early, at the age of 14.[6] She moved with her family to Los Angeles, California around 2002 so that she could act full time. She adopted the name Dennings as her professional name when she was younger.[7] According to Dennings, as stated in Interview magazine in 2007, her parents initially considered her idea of pursuing an acting career to be "the worst idea ever".[8]

Career

Dennings began her career in commercials as a child; her first acting job was an ad for potato chips.[6] She broke into television with an appearance on HBO's Sex and the City in 2000. She played a 13-year-old who hires Samantha to handle publicity for her bat mitzvah in "Hot Child in the City".[7] Dennings then starred on the short-lived series Raising Dad from 2001–2002 as Sarah, a 15-year-old raised by her widowed father (Bob Saget), with a pre-teen sister (Brie Larson). In 2002, Dennings played a teenager that stumbles into a group of ghosts on The Scream Team, a Disney Channel movie, and was cast for a 5 episode run on The WB's Everwood.[9] Her role on Everwood was recast however, going to Nora Zehetner.

Dennings continued working in television, guest-starring on Without a Trace, as a teen whose boyfriend goes missing, and on Less Than Perfect, in 2003. She was cast in a pilot for CBS, "Sudbury", about a family of modern-day witches, based on the 1998 film Practical Magic, but the series wasn't picked up. Dennings had a recurring role on ER from 2005-2006 as Zoe Butler, and guest-starred on CSI: NY as Sarah Endecott, in the episode "Manhattan Manhunt", in 2005.

Dennings made her feature film debut in Hilary Duff's Raise Your Voice in 2004, as Sloane, a somber piano student.[10] In 2005, she landed supporting roles in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, as Catherine Keener's daughter, and in Down in the Valley.[6] She played a rebellious teenager in Big Momma's House 2, starring Martin Lawrence, in 2006.[11]

Dennings starred in Charlie Bartlett in 2008, the story of a wealthy teenager (Anton Yelchin), who acts as a psychiatrist for his new public high school. She played Susan Gardner, Bartlett's love interest, and the daughter of the school's principal (Robert Downey, Jr.).[8] Dennings appeared in The House Bunny that year, as a Mona, a pierced feminist sorority girl.[12] She also starred in the teen romance, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, with Michael Cera. Dennings played Norah Silverberg, the daughter of a famous record producer, and was nominated for the International Press Academy's Satellite Award for Best Actress for the performance.[13] In September 2008, Dennings hoped to make Don DeLillo's novel, End Zone into a film. Actors Sam Rockwell and Josh Hartnett were involved, but the project was not greenlit because of its controversial subject matter of nuclear war.[14]

In 2009, Dennings appeared in The Answer Man, a story about a celebrity author whose manifestos become a sort of new Bible. She also co-starred in the Robert Rodriguez-directed dark children's film, Shorts, that year.[15] She played the protagonist Toe (Jimmy Bennett)'s teenage older sister, Stacey Thompson.[16] Dennings and other rising stars were featured in the August 2009 issue of Vanity Fair, re-enacting scenes from famous Depression-era films, hers being Sydney Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969).[17] Dennings was cast in the romantic comedy Liars (A to E) in 2009.[18] The Richard Linklater-directed project was cancelled however, due to cut backs at Miramax Films by the studio's parent company, Disney.[19]

Dennings appeared in the superhero film Defendor in 2010, starring Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh, playing a crack-addicted prostitute.[20][21] She started shooting Daydream Nation in Vancouver in early 2010, written and directed by Michael Golbach.[22] She stars in the independent feature as a girl caught in a love triangle with her high school teacher (Josh Lucas) and a teenage drug dealer (Reece Thompson), after moving to a strange rural town.[23]

Dennings joined the cast of the Marvel Studios film Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh, which went into production in January 2010. She plays Darcy, who works with Natalie Portman's character, Jane Foster.[24] As of April 2010, Dennings was filming for 6 weeks in New Mexico.[23] Dennings appeared in a music video for "40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)", a single by Austin, Texas-based musician Bob Schneider in May 2010. Robert Rodriguez directed the video, filmed in various locations around Austin.[25] She will star in the drama Lives of the Saints, alongside Meg Ryan, 50 Cent, John Lithgow and Joe Anderson. Written and directed by Chris Rossi, the film will begin shooting in Los Angeles in November 2010.[26]

Personal life

Dennings has been blogging since January 2001, and later transitioned into video blogging on YouTube.[15] She is an avid reader and is friends with author Andrea Seigel. Dennings stated to The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles that Judaism "is an important part of my history, but, as a whole, religion is not a part of my life."[4] In December 2008, Dennings told BlackBook magazine, "I don’t drink and I don’t smoke and I don’t like being around people who do."[27]

In an interview with The Times in January 2009, Dennings stated, “I don’t have a boyfriend. I have friends, girl friends, great friends. We just hang out in other’s places and have one-on-one bonding time.”[6] Later, in an interview with Daydream Nation co-star Josh Lucas and interviewer David Poland, Dennings admitted to having a boyfriend.[28] In October 2010, a number of news outlets, including CBS and The Toronto Sun, reported that nude cellphone photos she had taken of herself were leaked to the internet.[29][30][31][32] Her lawyers confirmed it was her and requested all the pictures be taken down.[28]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Dennings at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International
Year Film Role Other notes
2000 Sex and the City Jenny Brier TV series, in the episode "Hot Child in the City"
2001–2002 Raising Dad Sarah Stewart TV series
2002 The Scream Team Claire Carlyle TV movie
2003 The Snobs TV movie
Without a Trace Jennifer Norton TV series, in the episode "Our Sons and Daughters"
Less Than Perfect Kaitlin TV series, in the episode "The Girl Next Door"
2004 Sudbury Antonia Owens TV pilot
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Missy Wilson TV series, in the episode "Early Rollout"
Raise Your Voice Sloane
2005 Down in the Valley April
The 40-Year-Old Virgin Marla
London Lilly
CSI: NY Sarah Endecott TV series, in the episode "Manhattan Manhunt"
ER Zoe Butler TV series, 5 episodes in season 12
2006 Big Momma's House 2 Molly
Wanderlust Lila TV movie
2008 Charlie Bartlett Susan Gardner
The House Bunny Mona
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Norah Silverberg
2009 The Answer Man Dahlia
Shorts Stacey Thompson
Defendor Kat
American Dad! Tanqueray TV series, in the episode "G-String Circus"
2010 Daydream Nation Caroline Wexler
2011 Thor Darcy Post-Production

References

  1. ^ a b c Rys, Richard (October 2008). "Exit Interview: Kat Dennings". Philadelphia. Retrieved on October 4, 2008.
  2. ^ Abcairn, Robin (August 26, 2006). "SWAG!". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on August 12, 2008.
  3. ^ "Charlie Bartlett - Kat Dennings interview". IndieLondon. Retrieved on October 4, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Klein, Amy (2008-10-29). "'Nick and Norah' star Kat Dennings is infinitely Jewish, in her own way". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 2008-10-31. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Elkin, Michael. "Kid Kat: A local suburban teen plans on 'Raising Dad'", The Jewish Exponent, July 19, 2001.
  6. ^ a b c d Maher, Kevin (January 29, 2009). "Kat Dennings offers directors a touch of va-va-voom". The Times. Retrieved on January 29, 2009.
  7. ^ a b Gross, Dan (February 18, 2008). "Dan Gross: 'Charlie Bartlett' co-star Kat Dennings fond of Philly roots". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved on August 12, 2008.
  8. ^ a b Cosgrove, Julia (August 2007). "Kat Dennings: giving vapid portrayals of teenage girls the high-heeled boot". Interview.
  9. ^ "Ch. 3 is wooing a familiar Philly face - Nancy Glass". Philadelphia Inquirer. December 16, 2002.
  10. ^ Gates, Anita (October 8, 2004). "Lost Your Voice? Head West Young Woman.". The New York Times. Retrieved on November 18, 2009.
  11. ^ Lemire, Christy (January 25, 2006). "‘Big Momma’s House 2’ is a one-joke movie". Associated Press. msnbc.com. Retrieved on June 19, 2010.
  12. ^ "No 'Bunny' knows funny". Sun News. August 21, 2008. Retrieved on June 18, 2010.
  13. ^ a b "Satellite nod for Ricky Gervais". Metro. December 1, 2008. Retrieved on June 18, 2010.
  14. ^ Slotek, Jim (September 8, 2008). "Dennings revels in her dark side". Toronto Sun. Retrieved on September 8, 2008.
  15. ^ a b Miller, Jenni. "Exclusive Interview: 'Nick and Norah' Star Kat Dennings". Premiere. Retrieved on September 2, 2008.
  16. ^ Gire, Dann (August 20, 2009). "Subversive comedy 'Shorts' long on imagination". Daily Herald. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.
  17. ^ "Ain’t We Got Style?". Vanity Fair. August 2009. Retrieved on June 18, 2010.
  18. ^ Swart, Sharon (July 27, 2009). "Richard Linklater favors 'Liars'". Variety. Retrieved on August 2, 2009.
  19. ^ Collura, Scott (November 17, 2009)."Linklater's Latest Un-Link-Likely". IGN. Retrieved on November 18, 2009.
  20. ^ Kilday, Gregg (October 3, 2008). "Kat Dennings negotiating to play 'Defendor'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on October 4, 2008.
  21. ^ Debruge, Peter (October 24, 2008). "Kat Dennings - 10 Actors to Watch". Variety. Retrieved on October 28, 2008.
  22. ^ McNary, Dave (January 7, 2010). "Dennings caught in 'Daydream'". Variety. Retrieved on January 10, 2010.
  23. ^ a b "EXCLUSIVE: Kat Dennings Speaks Out on Thor, Daydream Nation and Her Possible Directorial Debut". MovieWeb. April 7, 2010. Retrieved on April 11, 2010.
  24. ^ McNary, Dave (November 24, 2009). "Kat Dennings joins 'Thor' cast". Variety. Retrieved on November 25, 2009.
  25. ^ Kim, Brandon (May 4, 2010). "Exclusive Robert Rodriguez Music Video Premiere". Independent Film Channel. Retrieved on May 6, 2010
  26. ^ McClintock, Pamela (October 20, 2010). "Actors set for 'Saints'". Variety. Retrieved on October 21, 2010.
  27. ^ Horkins, Tony (December 7, 2008). "The New Regime: Kat Dennings". BlackBook. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
  28. ^ a b http://www.viddler.com/explore/mcnvideos/videos/227/33.74/
  29. ^ http://cnmnewsnetwork.com/130379/report-kat-dennings-photo-scandal/
  30. ^ http://www.adannews.com/18721/kat-dennings-photo-scandal/
  31. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20021939-10391698.html
  32. ^ http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/celebrities/2010/11/08/16025056.html
  33. ^ Carroll, Larry (June 1, 2009). "Miley Cyrus? 'Mamma Mia's' Amanda Seyfried? Who Will Win Female Breakthrough Performance?". MTV. Retrieved on June 7, 2009.
  34. ^ Heldman, Breanne L. (July 8, 2009). "Shocker! Twilight Leads Teen Choice Noms". E! Online. Retrieved on November 2, 2010.
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