2000–2003: Early career

Dennings made her professional debut with an appearance on HBO's Sex and the City in 2000, in the episode "Hot Child in the City", playing an obnoxious 13-year-old who hires Samantha to handle publicity for her bat mitzvah.^[3][13] She then starred on the short-lived WB sitcom Raising Dad from 2001 to 2002 as Sarah, a 15-year-old raised by her widowed father (Bob Saget), with a pre-teen sister (Brie Larson). In 2002, Dennings appeared in the Disney Channel film The Scream Team as a teenager who stumbles into a group of ghosts. She was cast for a five-episode run on The WB's Everwood, but the role was recast with Nora Zehetner.^[14]

2004–2011: Feature film debut and further roles

Dennings continued working on television, guest-starring on Without a Trace as a teen whose boyfriend goes missing, and on Less than Perfect in 2003. In February 2004, she was cast in a pilot for CBS titled Sudbury, about a family of modern-day witches, based on the 1998 film Practical Magic, but the series was not picked up.^[15][16] Dennings had a recurring role on ER from 2005 to 2006 as Zoe Butler, and twice guest-starred in the CSI franchise: first on CSI, as Missy Wilson in the 2004 episode "Early Rollout". Secondly, she played Sarah Endecott on CSI: NY, in the 2005 episode "Manhattan Manhunt".

Dennings made her feature film debut in Hilary Duff's Raise Your Voice in 2004 as Sloane, a somber piano student.^[17] In 2005, she landed supporting roles as the daughter of Catherine Keener's character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and as April in Down in the Valley.^[12] In 2006, Dennings played a rebellious teenager in the crime comedy film Big Momma's House 2, starring Martin Lawrence.^[18]

Dennings starred in Charlie Bartlett in 2008, the story of a wealthy teenager (Anton Yelchin) who acts as a psychiatrist among students at his new public high school. She played Susan Gardner, Bartlett's love interest and the daughter of the school's Principal Gardner, played by Robert Downey Jr.^[19] Dennings appeared in The House Bunny that year, as Mona, a pierced feminist sorority girl.^[20]

She also starred that year in the teen comedy romance Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, with Michael Cera. Dennings played Norah Silverberg, the daughter of a famous record producer. She was nominated for the International Press Academy's Satellite Award for Best Actress for her performance.^[21]

In September 2008, Dennings was involved in a project to adapt Don DeLillo's novel End Zone as a film. Actors Sam Rockwell and Josh Hartnett were also involved, but the project was not greenlit because of its subject matter of nuclear war was considered too controversial.^[22]

In 2009, Dennings appeared in The Answer Man, a film 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.^[23] She played Stacey Thompson, the teenage older sister of the protagonist Toe (Jimmy Bennett).^[24]

Dennings and other rising stars were featured in the August 2009 issue of Vanity Fair, photographed re-enacting scenes from famous Depression-era films. She was shown in a setting from Sydney Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969).^[25]

Dennings was cast in the romantic comedy film Liars (A to E), to be directed by Richard Linklater.^[26] But the project was cancelled due to cutbacks at Miramax Films by the studio's parent company, Disney.^[27] Dennings appeared in the superhero film Defendor in 2009, starring Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh, playing a crack-addicted prostitute.^[28][29]

The following year, she starred in the independent feature Daydream Nation, as a girl who moves from the city to a strange rural town, and is caught in a love triangle with her high school teacher (Josh Lucas) and a teenage drug dealer (Reece Thompson).^[30] The film began shooting in Vancouver in early 2010, and was written and directed by Michael Golbach.^[31] In May 2010, Dennings appeared in a music video for "40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)", a single by Austin, Texas-based musician Bob Schneider. Robert Rodriguez directed the video, which was filmed in various locations around Austin.^[32]

Dennings was part of the cast of the Marvel Studios film Thor, released in May 2011, and directed by Kenneth Branagh. She played Darcy Lewis, a tech-savvy sidekick and assistant to Natalie Portman's character, Jane Foster.^[33] The film went into production in January 2010, and was shot in New Mexico for six weeks in early 2010.^[30]

2011–present: 2 Broke Girls and future projects

In February 2011, Dennings was cast in 2 Broke Girls, a CBS sitcom written and produced by Michael Patrick King and comedian Whitney Cummings.^[34] The series debuted on September 19, 2011, and follows the lives of two underemployed girls. Beth Behrs co-stars as a Manhattan heiress who lost her inheritance, while Dennings plays a tough outspoken girl from Brooklyn.^[35] Dennings liked the idea of reaching a wider audience with her work, so she accepted the role on the network sitcom.^[36] On May 12, 2017, CBS canceled the series after six seasons.^[37]

Dennings starred in the drama film To Write Love on Her Arms (originally titled Renee) in 2012, with Chad Michael Murray and Rupert Friend. She played Renee Yohe, a Florida teenager who struggled with substance abuse and self-injury, and who inspired the founding of the nonprofit organization To Write Love on Her Arms. The film began production in Orlando, Florida, in February 2011.^[38]

In mid-2012, Dennings filmed the independent feature Suburban Gothic, playing a small-town bartender. The film premiered in 2014.^[39]

Dennings introduced The Black Keys at the 55th Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013.^[40] She appeared in a music video for the Hanson single "Get the Girl Back", alongside Nikki Reed. The actresses are close friends and are both fans of the pop group.^[41]

The video premiered on April 4, 2013.^[42] In 2013, Dennings reprised her role as Darcy Lewis in Thor: The Dark World.^[43] She worked on the film and 2 Broke Girls at the same time, flying to London to film for six months between breaks on her CBS sitcom.^[44]

In 2018, it was announced that Dennings would star as Abby in the comedy film Friendsgiving.^[45]

Dennings starred in the Hulu comedy series Dollface, beginning in November 2019.^[46][47] She reprised her role as Darcy Lewis in the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021),^[48] and in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

Relationships

From 2011 to 2014, Dennings dated her 2 Broke Girls co-star Nick Zano.^[51][52] From 2014 to 2016, Dennings dated singer Josh Groban.^[53][54][55]

On May 6, 2021, it was confirmed that Dennings was in a relationship with musician Andrew W.K.; the two met in Los Angeles earlier that year.^[56] A week later, on May 13, 2021, the couple announced their engagement on Instagram.^[57] They married on November 27, 2023, at their Los Angeles home.^[58][59]

Film

Television

Music video

Audiobooks