By Michaela Gordoni
Kat Dennings recently spilled that she and Tim Allen let the tears fall while filming the first episode of their sitcom, SHIFTING GEARS.
“We were both dreading it,” she said of her and Allen on the March 13 episode of the “Not Gonna Lie” podcast. “We were like, ‘Oh God, we have to cry. What is this?’ It’s like, I looked at him and I started crying, he looked at me and he started crying. It was real.”
“In the first episode, we both got emotional, and it was real,” she elaborated.
She said filming was an unusual experience, due to its grief content and issues that mimic real-life scenarios. In the show, she plays Allen’s estranged adult daughter as they try to rebuild their relationship.
“It feels kind of crazy to be raw and emotional in front of an audience like that,” the THOR actress explained. “And it’s this incredible combination of theater and burlesque or something like that. But as soon as I look into Tim Allen’s little face, I’m in there.”
“I forget about everything else because…he’s a very present actor, and he’s really feeling these things,” she continued. “I mean, I really haven’t experienced that a huge amount because, like me, people are thinking about their next line or whatever they’re doing.”
She admires Allen as an actor and how he’s just “there with you.” In January, she told US Weekly that she had immediate trust with Allen after she accepted the role. She felt his candor right away.
“I [was] like, ‘OK, this guy is like letting me in,’” she thought.
In January, she told PEOPLE that Allen is her “favorite TV dad” ever, and she’s had a blast filming with him.
“We have a very funny banter. We really enjoy these scenes where we’re arguing. It’s really fun,” she added.
She observed the same crew from Allen’s other sitcoms, HOME IMPROVEMENT and LAST MAN STANDING, work with him on SHIFTING GEARS.
“They followed him through all of his projects, which I think is a real testament to him as a person,” she told PEOPLE.
Allen also thinks very highly of Dennings.
When he had the script, he thought, “‘How am I gonna do this?’ And Kat made it simple,” he told ComingSoon earlier this year.
“She and I, for some reason, born the same day, many years apart, have…I feel like this conundrum that I do feel like I’m related to her,” he explained. “And I said it, our…attitude is very similar. When we argue, it’s the same decibel. It’s hard to describe how organic this thing feels.”
Related: SHIFTING GEARS: Episode 1.1: “Restoration”
Dennings says it’s “incredible” working with Allen and her two on-screen kids.
“Everybody is really amazing that just makes the funny parts even funnier and such a relief to do,” she said. “It’s just been a very good, organic-feeling show to me, which is new, it’s a new experience for me,” especially portraying a mom for the first time, because she still feels “12.”
“I was excited about the idea of doing something that I’ve never done before and playing this side of my life,” she said.
As an aunt, godmother and stepmom of two, Dennings was eager to work with kids.
“I have this big side of me where there are a lot of children involved in my life so I was really excited to do that. I’ve never gotten to do that before,” she explained.
Also, “This is Tim Allen’s next sitcom. He’s an icon of television, so I was like I can’t really pass up this opportunity, this would be really fun. And it is,” she expressed.
There may not be many more episodes of tears and rollercoaster emotions, though. Deadline reported on Monday that the show is at risk of cancellation, despite a strong launch and some high ratings. Fans will have to hang on a little longer to see if ABC decides to renew the series or not.
Read Next: Tim Allen Thanks Fans for Making SHIFTING GEARS No. 1 Comedy
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