Kat Dennings is hardly a sitcom newbie. The long-time Marvel Cinematic Universe star (who’s returned to her role as Darcy Lewis, one of the best minor Marvel characters, many times) spent six seasons playing Max Black on the instantly popular CBS comedy 2 Broke Girls, and has now taken her talents to ABC for the 2025 TV schedule entry, Shifting Gears. And, the star just got real about performing in front of a live audience now, as compared to in her Broke Girls era.
What Did Shifting Gears’ Kat Dennings Say About Performing In Front Of A Live Audience Now?
After wrapping her time on 2 Broke Girls in 2017, Kat Dennings has returned to sitcom star life in Shifting Gears. The WandaVision actress portrays Riley, the daughter of Tim Allen’s character, widowed car restoration specialist Matt. Unfortunately for Riley, when she tires of her husband’s lackadaisical attitude toward their family, she and her two teens have to move back in with Matt, with whom she’s always had a contentious bond.
The comedy sees Dennings return to performing in front of a live sitcom audience every week, and when asked about the experience by Collider, she spoke about how it’s different for her now, versus when she was on her previous, horse-filled show:
The live audience is really incredible. I remember on 2 Broke Girls, I had only previously done small films and things like that, so it really freaked me out, at the beginning of that show. I was really unsure of how to navigate the crowd, and it just felt really crazy. And then, I got used to it. Now, I really love it. They feel almost like another character. They’re a tool. We know something works if they laugh. Sometimes they laugh in a place that you don’t expect, where you don’t think that’s the joke, but they think it’s funny, so you’re like, “Oh, my God, I have to reorganize this joke now.” So, it can be a challenge, but in a very good and fun way. I love it now. I think it’s the most fun thing ever.
As the relatively recently married Dennings noted, when she started on her CBS hit in 2011 she didn’t have any experience working in a studio full of live and in person sitcom fans, so it makes a lot of sense that it would take some getting used to and that it “freaked” her out at the beginning. However, even though it’s been a while since she’s performed this way, she did say that she’s grown to “love” having the audience there, as they “feel almost like another character.”
While she’s having “the most fun ever” performing for the live studio audience, the Thor star did admit that there is a part of the process that’s still a bit nerve-racking for her, and that would be when everyone applauds her entrance. As she said:
It’s very weird. The intro is my least favorite part, actually. It’s before we start shooting and I get so nervous. And then, as soon as we roll and do a scene, I’m not nervous at all. It’s just when I’m trying to say hi to everybody, I feel like I’m 6 years old and scared, but it’s great.
Awww. I love that Dennings was willing to open up about what makes her nervous about filming Shifting Gears, but also that she’s able to get past it and help deliver laughs on a regular basis.
