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Kat Dennings

 
Actor: Kat Dennings
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  • Born: Jun 13, 1986 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: 2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Shorts, The House Bunny
  • First Major Screen Credit: Raising Dad (2001)

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, PA, actress Kat Dennings broke into television before she could drive, landing a one-off appearance on Sex and the City. She continued to work steadily on the small screen in a variety of shows including Raising Dad, Less Than Perfect, and Without a Trace. While still a teenager, Dennings landed a role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, as well as a supporting turn in the independent drama Down in the Valley. She had a recurring role on ER as Zoe Butler, and continued her work on the big screen with a supporting turn in the high-school comedy Charlie Bartlett. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
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Kat Dennings

Dennings at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born Katherine Litwack
June 13, 1986 (1986-06-13) (age 23)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 2000–present
Official website

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, The House Bunny, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Contents

Early life

Dennings was born and raised in the Bryn Mawr area near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Ellie 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 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 as a child in commercials, her first job was an advertisement for potato chips.[6] She appeared on the HBO cable television series Sex and the City in 2000, where she played a 13-year-old girl who hires the character Samantha to handle publicity for her bat mitzvah in the episode "Hot Child in the City".[7] Dennings was then cast in the short-lived TV series Raising Dad (2001–2002), starring as Sarah, a 15-year-old with a pre-teen sister (Brie Larson), who is being raised by her widowed father (Bob Saget). Dennings then appeared in The Scream Team in 2002, a Disney Channel movie, playing a teen that stumbles into a group of ghosts. Dennings was cast for 5 episodes on The WB series Everwood that year.[9] The role was later recast, going to Nora Zehetner.

Dennings guest-starred on the television series Without a Trace, as a teen girl whose boyfriend goes missing, and on Less Than Perfect in 2003. She made her feature film debut in Hilary Duff's Raise Your Voice in 2004, with the small role of Sloane, a somber piano student.[10] Dennings was cast in the CBS television drama Sudbury, about a family of modern-day witches, based on the 1998 film Practical Magic. The series only produced a pilot episode. She landed a role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005, as Catherine Keener's daughter. Dennings appeared on several episodes of ER in 2005 and 2006, playing a character named Zoe. She was a guest star on CSI: NY, playing Sarah Endecott, in the 2005 episode "Manhattan Manhunt", and appeared in the film Big Momma's House 2 (2006), starring Martin Lawrence.

In 2008, Dennings starred in Charlie Bartlett, the story of a wealthy teenager (Anton Yelchin), who acts as a psychiatrist for his new public high school. Dennings played Susan Gardner, Bartlett's love interest, and the daughter of the school's principal (Robert Downey, Jr.).[8] Dennings also appeared in The House Bunny, playing Mona, a pierced, caustic feminist misfit sorority girl.[11] Dennings starred with Michael Cera in the 2008 teen romance film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, where she played Norah Silverberg, the daughter of a famous record producer. Dennings was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, an annual award from the International Press Academy, for this performance.[12]

In 2009, Dennings appeared in The Answer Man, a story about a celebrity author whose manifestos become a sort of new Bible. The same year, she co-starred in Shorts, a dark children's film directed by Robert Rodriguez;[13] Dennings played Stacey Thompson, the teenage older sister of the protagonist Toe (Jimmy Bennett).[14] For the August 2009 issue of Vanity Fair, Dennings and other rising stars were featured in remake shots of famous Depression-era films, hers being the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?[15]

Dennings will appear in the superhero film Defendor, starring Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh, playing a crack-addicted prostitute.[16][17] She was cast in the romantic comedy Liars (A to E), to be directed by Richard Linklater.[18] The film was cancelled however due to cut backs at Miramax by the studio's parent company Disney.[19] Dennings has joined the cast of Thor as Darcy, a character who works with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Dennings will begin shooting the Marvel Studios film, directed by Kenneth Branagh, in January 2010.[20] She also hopes to make End Zone, a film based on the novel of the same name by Don DeLillo. Although actors Sam Rockwell and Josh Hartnett are involved, the project as of September 2008 had yet to be greenlit because of its controversial subject matter of nuclear war.[21]

Personal life

Dennings has been blogging since January 2001, and has since also transitioned into video blogging on YouTube.[13] She is a self-proclaimed lover of baby animals, Shōjo manga, and cheese. Dennings had received a yellow belt in Karate at a young age. 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."[22]

In 2005, Dennings dated Ira David Wood IV (brother of Evan Rachel Wood), whom she brought to the world premiere of The 40-Year-Old Virgin.[23] In 2007, she began seeing Criminal Minds star Matthew Gray Gubler.[24] 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]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

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
2011 Thor Darcy

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. http://www.jewishjournal.com/films/article/nick_and_norah_star_kat_dennings_is_infinitely_jewish_in_her_own_way_200810/. Retrieved 2008-10-31. 
  5. ^ Elkin, Michael. "Kid Kat: A local suburban teen plans on 'Raising Dad'", The Jewish Exponent, July 19, 2001.
  6. ^ a b c 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. ^ Hain, Phillip (August 26, 2008). "REEL CRITIC: ‘Bunny’ is fluff, but it’s funny". Burbank Leader. Retrieved on September 3, 2008.
  12. ^ a b "Satellite nod for Ricky Gervais". December 1, 2008. Metro. Retrieved on December 1, 2008.
  13. ^ a b Miller, Jenni. "Exclusive Interview: 'Nick and Norah' Star Kat Dennings". Premiere. Retrieved on September 2, 2008.
  14. ^ Gire, Dann (August 20, 2009). "Subversive comedy 'Shorts' long on imagination". Daily Herald. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.
  15. ^ "Ain’t We Got Style?". August 2009. Vanity Fair. Retrieved on July 27, 2008.
  16. ^ Kilday, Gregg (October 3, 2008). "Kat Dennings negotiating to play 'Defendor'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on October 4, 2008.
  17. ^ Debruge, Peter (October 24, 2008). "Kat Dennings - 10 Actors to Watch". Variety. Retrieved on October 28, 2008.
  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. ^ McNary, Dave (November 24, 2009). "Kat Dennings joins 'Thor' cast". Variety. Retrieved on November 25, 2009.
  21. ^ Slotek, Jim (September 8, 2008). "Dennings revels in her dark side". Toronto Sun. Retrieved on September 8, 2008.
  22. ^ Horkins, Tony (December 7, 2008). "The New Regime: Kat Dennings". BlackBook. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
  23. ^ "Premiere Of Universal Studios "40 Year Old Virgin" - After Party". Zimbio. Retrieved on September 7, 2008.
  24. ^ Small, Jonathan (February 28, 2007). "Meet Criminal Minds' Chic Geek, Matthew Gray Gubler". TV Guide. Retrieved on September 7, 2008.
  25. ^ Carroll, Larry (June 1, 2009). "Miley Cyrus? 'Mamma Mia's' Amanda Seyfried? Who Will Win Female Breakthrough Performance?". MTV. Retrieved on June 7, 2009.

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