What Happened To Kat Dennings After 2 Broke Girls?

It was back in 2000 that Kat Dennings made her television debut, and it was particularly auspicious: appearing as a demanding youngster whose million-dollar bat mitzvah is being organized by Kim Cattrall's character, Samantha Jones, on "Sex and the City." That led to a series-regular role on "Raising Dad," a Bob Saget sitcom that ran for just one season, followed by a series of guest spots on various TV series, ranging from "CSI" to "ER." She also appeared in movies, with high-profile supporting roles in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Charlie Bartlett," and "The House Bunny" leading to her first starring role on the big screen, in the 2008 rom-com "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist." Then came the cherry on top of her career sundae, joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in "Thor." 

In 2011, Dennings was cast in "2 Broke Girls," a risqué sitcom in which she and co-star Beth Behrs starred as servers in a low-rent diner while trying to scrape together enough cash to launch a cupcake business. The show proved to be a massive hit and Dennings its standout as wisecracking server Max Black. After six successful seasons, the show finally ended its run in 2017.

So what's she been up to since then? To find out, keep on reading to discover what happened to Kat Dennings after "2 Broke Girls."

Count Kat Dennings among the celebrities to have guest starred in "The Simpsons." In late 2017, several months after "2 Broke Girls" wrapped, Dennings lent her voice to an episode titled "Mr. Lisa's Opus," which looked into the future of middle child Lisa Simpson as she attends college at Harvard. Dennings voiced her college roommate, Valerie, and fans of the show were intrigued by a brief yet memorable moment.

In that scene, Lisa and Valerie become fast friends, particularly when they compare SAT scores and Valerie demonstrates her skills at telekinesis by levitating a digital clock radio. "I have a friend," Lisa says to herself in a voiceover, just as Valerie moves closer, grasping Lisa's hands in her own while gazing deeply into her eyes. "Oh, maybe more than a friend," Lisa adds.

While the nature of their relationship remained ambiguous for the rest of the episode, viewers were left with the lingering impression that there could be a same-sex romance between the characters. "Simpsons" showrunner Al Jean addressed that in an interview with Digital Spy, agreeing it wouldn't be out of character for Lisa. "In my opinion, and this is just my opinion, that is definitely a possibility for Lisa's life," Jean said. "She is open and, you know, somebody who loves everything. Why not?"

Kat Dennings clearly enjoyed working in the world of animation with "The Simpsons" — so much so that her next big project was "Dallas & Robo," an animated comedy. Dennings voiced Dallas Moonshiner, an outer-space trucker whose best friend is a cowboy hat-wearing robot named Robo with a passion for poetry, voiced by WWE star John Cena. Created by Mike Roberts — whose other projects include "Bojack Horseman," and "Final Space" — the series was initially produced for YouTube Red, a short-lived subscription service. 

As it turned out, though, neither YouTube Red nor "Dallas & Robo" stuck around for long; the series was axed after just eight episodes, and the YouTube subscription service was shuttered in 2018.

Yet that wasn't the end of the road for "Dallas & Robo." In 2020, reruns of those eight episodes were picked up by the Syfy network, set to air as part of its late-night TZGZ adult animation block. Promoting the series' revival, Cena said he remained proud of the show, but felt that the timing of its release was what ultimately led to its demise. "We came out at a time where a lot of services came out and, for lack of a better term, ['Dallas & Robo'] just kind of got lost in the shuffle," he told Newsweek. 

"Dallas & Robo" wasn't the only project that Kat Dennings had in the works during 2018. Another was "How May We Hate You," an ABC comedy pilot in which she starred. The series was spawned by the book of the same name, which itself was an offshoot of a now-defunct blog in which New York City hotel concierges share horror stories from the hospitality industry. 

That February, Variety announced that Dennings was attached to the series, an ensemble comedy set in a luxury resort. Dennings was set to play Ellie, described as "a guest services specialist forced to wear a plastic smile as she deals with hotel clientele who pay more per night than she pays in rent each month." Along with Dennings, the cast also included Jason Michael Snow as her best friend and co-worker, Gabe, along with "The Office" alum Angela Kinsey, and comedian Nicole Byer, who would go on to fame as host of Netflix's competition for inept bakers, "Nailed It!"

A few months later, The Hollywood Reporter predicted "How May We Hate You" as having a solid shot at being picked up to series. That, however, was not the case; when the network announced its 2018-2019 lineup, Dennings' show was not among those invited to the party.

When "How May I Hate You" failed to make the grade, Kat Dennings picked herself up, dusted herself off, and launched into a new female-led comedy produced by Margot Robbie. "Basically, my manager said, 'Margot Robbie wants you to read a script.' And I was like, 'Okay! Sounds good! Whatever it is, I'll do,'" Dennings told BuzzFeed. That show was "Dollface," which debuted on Hulu in 2019. Dennings starred as Jules, who, after her boyfriend dumps her, decides to rekindle the female friendships she let fade while she was coupled up; Shay Mitchell and Brenda Song played those friends, with Esther Povitsky joining the cast in the second season as a co-worker who joins Jules' friend group. 

As Dennings told Collider, she found the role — and the premise — entirely relatable. "Yeah, that's been me. I've been that person," she admitted. "You've done it to your friends, and you have friends who've done it. ... We've all been a Jules ... "

The second season arrived in February 2022, with the lengthy gap between seasons resulting from the pandemic shutdown of film and TV projects. Absence did not cause viewers' hearts to grow fonder; while the first season was streamed by enough viewers to warrant a second, that was not the case with Season 2. It wasn't long after that TVLine broke the news that "Dollface" had been canceled — making Dennings a free agent once again.

In between the first and second seasons of "Dollface," Kat Dennings starred in another project, the comedy movie "Friendsgiving." This time out, Dennings was one member of a large ensemble cast that also included Malin Akerman, Christine Taylor, Ryan Hansen, and comedians Wanda Sykes, Margaret Cho, Aisha Tyler, Chelsea Peretti, and Fortune Feimster, with the plot involving an intimate Thanksgiving celebration that unexpectedly swells to a huge gathering.

As Dennings revealed in an interview with Looper, the concept behind the film came from the actual lives of Akerman (who was also a producer on the film) and director/writer Nicol Paone. "This is loosely based on their real experience — they're obviously way more fun than I am," Dennings said. "They were kind of regaling me with stories in between takes. I was like, 'Oh, my God, this is real?' They were like, 'Um, yeah.'"

For Dennings, being surrounded by all that comedy talent made for one of the most enjoyable times she'd ever spent on a movie set. "It was kind of the most fun Thanksgiving in the world," Dennings said during an interview with "Today." She added, "Obviously, working with these people was a dream, but it was also just a fun time."

One interesting aspect to note about the projects in which Kat Dennings was involved after "2 Broke Girls" is the fact that she was a producer on three of them: "Dallas & Robo," the failed pilot "How May We Hate You," and "Dollface." Having that degree of control over her work is something that Dennings had long sought. "The executive producer thing was so exciting for me. It felt very long earned because, you know, this is my 25th year of working," she told BuzzFeed of her "Dollface" producing responsibilities. "You learn a lot as you go, just like in any job, but I felt really ready for that responsibility."

Working with Margot Robbie's production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, proved to be a great fit for Dennings, who'd come off "2 Broke Girls" looking to make a career shift. "I wanted to do something different," Dennings said in an interview with Collider. "I didn't really wanna do a sitcom again next, and I wanted to have a little more creative input on whatever the next project was."

While an executive producer credit is often awarded to people who have very little to do with a TV show on a day-to-day basis, Dennings insisted that she was very hands-on with "Dollface." "'Executive producer' is definitely a thing that some people like to just slap their name on and it's part of the deal," she explained to Marie Claire. "But I was very involved."

Kat Dennings made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2011's "Thor," playing Darcy Lewis, a grad student who interns with Natalie Portman's character, Dr. Jane Foster. She returned in the 2013 sequel, "Thor: The Dark World," but sat out the next one, "Thor: Ragnarok."

Marvel fans were in for a treat when Dennings reprised Darcy — not in another "Thor" sequel, but in the 2021 Disney+ series "WandaVision." Boasting a high-concept plot, the series found Avengers hero Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) starring in a TV sitcom. Dennings appeared in five episodes, with her character having completed her doctorate, now a world-renowned astrophysicist recruited by the government to deal with the fallout from the very real fantasy world that Wanda has created with her awe-inspiring telekinetic powers.

"I'm so lucky that they actually brought Darcy back for 'WandaVision,'" Dennings told Looper ahead of the series debut. "Obviously, [the plot is] a huge secret thing, like they always are. But anyone who liked Darcy in those 'Thor' movies will be like, 'Oh my God, this is it.' I mean, for me, I just couldn't believe they were giving me this gift because being in any of Marvel's work is a huge honor." After "WandaVision" had completed its run on Disney+, Dennings expressed her gratitude for being a part of it, telling BuzzFeed, "I'm so proud of the show ... I can't believe I got to be in it."

Kat Dennings returned to the Marvel fold for the fourth film in the series, "Thor: Love and Thunder." At first — whether she legitimately didn't know, or deliberately misled interviewers in support of Marvel's intense secrecy about its projects — Dennings claimed to have no idea whether or not she'd be in the movie. "Well, I have not gotten a call so I kind of doubt it since they're shooting it right now so probably not," Dennings told IGN. She did, however, add a caveat. "But anything Marvel ever asks of me the answer's always yes."

Dennings apparently received a call after all; when the movie came out, she was indeed in it — albeit in one brief scene that proved to be more of a cameo than a full-fledged return. That scene, appearing near the beginning of the film, featured Darcy visiting Natalie Portman's character in a hospital room, where she was being treated for cancer.

Dennings finally acknowledged that she was in the film after it had already come out. "Since ['Love and Thunder'] has been out for a while, I feel like it's finally time to post the Darcy selfie," she wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of herself wearing the character's glasses.

Toward the tail end of "2 Broke Girls," Kat Dennings revealed that she'd taken up knitting — and had even formed a knitting club, whose membership included former MMA champ Ronda Rousey. Since then, she's taken up another hobby typically associated with retirees: gardening. In fact, Dennings' Instagram feed is practically bursting with the bounty of her garden, ranging from a post detailing her excitement over the arrival of seeds she'd ordered, to another showcasing tomatoes she grew by herself, and another showing off the tomato jam they yielded. "Yes, it's true I have successfully morphed into the wizened old grandfather I have always dreamed of!" she joked in the caption. 

As Dennings explained in an interview with Glamour, her interest in gardening was sparked during her unanticipated time off during the pandemic, when she'd finally had the time to create the backyard garden she'd long envisioned. "I built the garden boxes myself and planted them last spring," she said. "I know it sounds like not a big deal, but for me it was."

She also expounded on her love of gardening during a virtual 2022 appearance on "The Drew Barrymore Show." She was joined by TikTok personality Garden Marcus, who shared all manner of gardening tips, tricks, and knowledge with her. "This really gets me going, I'm gonna be honest," Dennings said of all that garden talk.

While Kat Dennings has appeared in film and television, and even voiced the occasional animated character, in 2020, she dove into an entirely new medium for "The Sandman," an Audible podcast series based on the DC Comics character created by Neil Gaiman (which was also adapted into a 2022 Netflix TV series). In the podcast, Dennings plays Death — one of the Endless, and sibling to the titular Sandman, aka Morpheus, King of Dreams (voiced in the production by James McAvoy). Other actors in the prestige project included Andy Serkis, Bebe Neuwirth, and Riz Ahmed. 

As Dennings revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, it all started when she and Gaiman chatted via social media. "We became Twitter friends through the miracle of the internet," Dennings said. "He'd always said, 'I hope we can work together,' and I would be like, 'Uh, me too!' So one day he just texted and asked, 'Would you like to be the voice of Death? We're making "Sandman" as an Audible original.' She was always my favorite character, I could not believe it and agreed without any further thought."

As listeners know, Dennings' fun-loving take on the character is a major departure from the way the Grim Reaper is typically characterized. "The cool thing about Death is her 'job' really goes against her adorable bubbly personality," Dennings added. "Her storylines are obviously very serious and pretty dark, but her personality and attitude keeps it somewhat cheerful."

In 2021, Kat Dennings forged a partnership with Spindrift, a sparkling water brand that's sweetened with real fruit juice, not sugar. Dennings made the announcement via Instagram, revealing that unlike most celebrity sponsorship deals (in which companies typically approach celebs), the opposite happened in this case. "Never in my life have I approached a brand asking to partner with them out of sheer adoration," she said. That led to the Kat Pack, a Dennings-branded collection consisting of her favorite varieties of Spindrift.

According to Dennings, she discovered the brand as an extension of her love of gardening, searching far and wide for a sparkling water that didn't have artificial flavors added. "I may be part Spindrift at this point, as it is actually the only water I drink," she added. In a subsequent Instagram post, issued the following year, Dennings revealed that she'd branched out into promoting the company's new booze brand, Spindrift Spiked. 

According to Spindrift's senior director of consumer marketing, Melissa Shum, teaming up with influencers such as Dennings has been a hugely effective way to promote the company's products. "They are all super fans of the brand and considered the biggest advocates from our community, who are always the first to try and receive the new flavor ahead of the launch announcement," Shum told Digiday.

Static Media owns and operates The List and Looper.