Tim Allen and Kat Dennings on ‘Shifting Gears’.Photo:Disney/Mike Taing
Disney/Mike Taing
Over the course of her decades-long career, the actress, 38, has had her fair share of on-screen dads. As she embarks on a brand-new journey with ABC’sShifting Gears, Dennings reflects on her relationships with her former costars and exclusively tells PEOPLE why Allen, 71, holds a special place in her heart.
Kat Dennings and Tim Allen on ‘Shifting Gears’.ABC
ABC
“We have a very funny banter. We really enjoy these scenes where we’re arguing. It’s really fun,” she adds of their on-camera rapport.
According to the show’s official logline, the new series follows Matt (Allen), a “stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop.” When his estranged daughter Riley (Dennings) and her two kids move back into his home, “the real restoration begins.”
Before Dennings got the call forShifting Gears, she was in a “dark, sad moment in time,” feeling lost and unsure of her next move.
“I was like, ‘God, I don’t know what I want to do. I am just feeling so crazy,'” she recalls. When a friend suggested she think about what her “dream job” looked like, the2 Broke Girlsalum realized she wanted to do another multi-cam sitcom.
“Then the next day I got this call to do this show. So it felt like I wished for something and I got it. It just felt like a meant to be thing,” she continues. She also “grew up watchingHome Improvement,” she says, so starring in a show alongside a “cultural mainstay” like Allen was a no-brainer.
“He’s Santa Claus [inThe Santa Clausefilms] and Buzz Lightyear [in theToy Storyfranchise]. He’s a big part of my consciousness growing up, so it was very surreal to work with him, but in a great way because he’s a very kind person,” she says.
“I’m so sad that he’s gone,” she says of Saget, whodied at age 65in January 2022. “But he was a lovely, lovely person.”
Steve Carell and Kat Dennings in 2005’s ‘The 40-Year-OId Virgin’.Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
In 2005’sThe 40-Year-Old Virgin, Dennings played Marla, the stepdaughter ofSteve Carell’s title character. She describes the movie as “such a moment in time.” Not only did it become Carell’s breakout film, but the hit comedy was alsoJudd Apatow’s directorial debut.
Dennings recalls feeling an anxious energy on set from the cast and crew, who were all banking on the movie’s success.
“Steve Carell, I remember him being like, ‘God, I hope this works out.’ And he had just doneThe Officepilot or something like that, and now he’s one of the biggest stars in the world, rightly so,” she says. “He is the loveliest man you’ll ever know.”
“I’ve been very lucky. I’ve had very good experiences,” she adds of her screen dads.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Shifting Gearsairs Wednesdays on ABC.
source: people.com
